[Transcriber's Note: Macrons (straight line above a vowel) are
indicated in this text by surrounding square brackets and an =
sign. For example, [=e] indicates an e-macron]
THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE COURT OF JUSTINIAN
PROCOPIUS
_LITERALLY AND COMPLETELY TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK FOR THE FIRST TIME
ATHENS: PRIVATELY PRINTED FOR THE ATHENIAN SOCIETY: MDCCCXCVI_
PREFACE
Procopius, the most important of the Byzantine historians, was born at
Caesarea in Palestine towards the beginning of the sixth century of
the Christian era. After having for some time practised as a
"Rhetorician," that is, advocate or jurist, in his native land, he
seems to have migrated early to Byzantium or Constantinople. There he
gave lessons in elocution, and acted as counsel in several law-cases.
His talents soon attracted attention, and he was promoted to official
duties in the service of the State. He was commissioned to accompany
the famous Belisarius during his command of the army in the East, in
the capacity of Counsellor or Assessor: it is not easy to define
exactly the meaning of the Greek term, and the functions it embraced.
The term "Judge-Advocate" has been suggested[1], a legal adviser who
had a measure of judicial as well as administrative power. From his
vivid description of the early years of Justinian's reign, we may
conclude that he spent some considerable time at the Byzantine court
before setting out for the East, at any rate, until the year 532, when
Belisarius returned to the capital: he would thus have been an
eye-witness of the "Nika" sedition, which, had it not been for the
courage and firmness displayed by Theodora, would probably have
resulted in the flight of Justinian, and a change of dynasty.
In 533 he accompanied Belisarius on his expedition to Africa. On the
way, he was intrusted with an important mission to Sicily. He appears
to have returned to Byzantium with Belisarius in 535. He is heard of
again, in 536, as charged with another mission in the neighbourhood of
Rome, which shows that, at the end of 535, he had accompanied
Belisarius, who had been despatched to Italy and Sicily to conquer the
territory in the occupation of the Goths. This expedition terminated
successfully by the surrender of Vitiges and his captivity at
Byzantium in 540.
As the reward of his services, Justinian bestowed upon him the title
of "Illustrious" (_Illustris_), given to the highest class of public
officials, raised him to the rank of a Senator, and, finally,
appointed him Praefect of Byzantium in 562. He does not, however, seem
to have been altogether satisfied: he complains of having been
ill-paid for his labours; for several years he was even without
employment. This is all that is known of his life. He died shortly
before or after the end of the reign of Justinian (565), when he would
have been over sixty years of age.
His career seems to have been as satisfactory as could be reasonably
expected, all things being taken into consideration; but the violent
hatred displayed by him against Justinian in the "Anecdota" or "Secret
History"--if the work be really his[2]--appears to show that he must
have had some real or imaginary grounds of complaint; but history
throws no light upon these incidents of his political career.
Another question which has been much discussed by the commentators is:
"What were the religious opinions of Procopius?"
His own writings do not decide the question; he seems to shew a
leaning towards heathenism and Christianity alternately. The truth
seems to be that, being of a sceptical turn of mind, he was
indifferent; but that, living under an orthodox Emperor, he affected
the forms and language of Christianity. Had he been an open and avowed
adherent of Paganism, he would scarcely have been admitted to the
Senate or appointed to the important official position of Praefect of
Byzantium. His description of the plague of 543, which is exceedingly
minute in its details, has given rise to the idea that he was a
physician, but there is no proof of this. The same thing might have
been with equal justice said of Thucydides; or we might assert that
Procopius was an architect, on the strength of his having written the
"Buildings."
Procopius, holding a position in a period of transition between
classical Greek and Byzantine literature, is the first and most
talented of Byzantine historians. His writings are characterized by an
energetic combination of the Attic models of the affected, but often
picturesque style employed by the Byzantine writers. Although he is
not free from errors of taste, he expresses his ideas with great
vigour, and his thoughts are often worthy of a better age. The
information which he has given us is exceedingly valuable. He had
ample opportunities of observation, and his works present us with the
best picture of the reign of Justinian, so important in Greco-Roman
annals.
His chief work is the "Histories," in eight books: two on the Persian
wars (408-553), two on the Vandal wars (395-545), and four[3] on the
Gothic wars, bringing down the narrative to the beginning of 559. The
whole work is very interesting; the descriptions are excellent: in the
matter of ethnographical details, Procopius may be said to be without
a rival among ancient historians.
He shews equal descriptive talent in his work on the "Buildings" of
Justinian, a curious and useful work, but spoiled by excessive
adulation of the Emperor. Gibbon is of opinion that it was written
with the object of conciliating Justinian, who had been dissatisfied
with the too independent judgment of the "Histories." If this be the
case, we can understand why the historian avenged himself in the
"Secret History," which is a veritable _chronique scandaleuse_ of the
Byzantine Court from 549-562. Justinian and Theodora, Belisarius and
his wife Antonina, are painted in the blackest colours. Belisarius,
who is treated with the least severity, is nevertheless represented as
weak and avaricious, capable of any meanness in order to retain the
favour of the Court and his military commands, which afforded him the
opportunity of amassing enormous wealth. As for Antonina and Theodora,
the revelations of the "Secret History" exhibit a mixture of crime and
debauchery not less hideous than that displayed by Messalina.
Justinian is represented as a monstrous tyrant, at once cunning and
stupid, "like an ass," in the the words of the historian, and as the
wickedest man that ever lived. The author declares that he and his
wife are spirits or demons, who have assumed the form of human beings
in order to inflict the greatest possible evils upon mankind. These
accusations seem to be founded sometimes upon fact, sometimes upon
vague rumours and blind gossip. Generally speaking, the author of the
"Secret History" seems sincere, but at the same time he shows a
narrowness by confounding all Justinian's acts in one sweeping
censure, and in attributing to him the most incredible refinements of
political perversity. Critics have asked the question whether the
author of such a work can be Procopius of Caesarea, the impartial
historian of the wars. Direct proofs of authenticity are wanting,
since the most ancient authors who attribute it to him--Suidas and
Nicephorus Callistus--lived centuries later.[4] But it is easy to
understand that a work of this kind could not be acknowledged by its
author, or published during the lifetime of Justinian. In later times,
it circulated privately, until the lapse of time had rendered the
Byzantine Court indifferent to the hideous picture of the vices of a
previous age. The work is evidently that of a contemporary of
Justinian; it can only have been written by a functionary familiar
with the ins and outs of Court intrigue, who had private grievances of
his own to avenge. It is true that it sheds little lustre upon the
character of Procopius, since it exhibits him as defaming the
character of the masters whom he had formerly served and flattered.
But this kind of inconsistency is not uncommon in writers of memoirs,
who often revenge themselves posthumously by blackening the reputation
of their former masters. Although the author writes under the
influence of the most violent resentment, there seems no reason to
doubt that, although details may be exaggerated, the work on the whole
gives a faithful picture of the Byzantine Court of the period.
The following sketch of the "Character and Histories of Procopius"
from Gibbon,[5] although modern authorities have taken exception to it
in certain points, will be read with interest: "The events of
Justinian's reign, which excite our curious attention by their number,
variety, and importance, are diligently related by the secretary of
Belisarius, a rhetorician, whom eloquence had promoted to the rank of
senator and praefect of Constantinople. According to the vicissitudes
of courage or servitude, of favour or disgrace, Procopius successively
composed the _history_, the _panegyric_, and the _satire_ of his own
times. The eight books of the Persian, Vandalic, and Gothic wars,
which are continued in the five books of Agathias, deserve our esteem
as a laborious and successful imitation of the Attic, or at least of
the Asiatic, writers of ancient Greece. His facts are collected from
the personal experience and free conversations of a soldier, a
statesman, and a traveller; his style continually aspires, and often
attains, to the merit of strength and elegance; his reflections, more
especially in the speeches which he too frequently inserts, contain a
rich fund of political knowledge; and the historian, excited by the
generous ambition of pleasing and instructing posterity, appears to
disdain the prejudices of the people and the flattery of courts. The
writings of Procopius were read and applauded by his contemporaries;
but, although he respectfully laid them at the foot of the throne, the
pride of Justinian must have been wounded by the praise of an hero who
perpetually eclipses the glory of his inactive sovereign. The
conscious dignity of independence was subdued by the hopes and fears
of a slave, and the secretary of Belisarius laboured for pardon and
reward in the six books of imperial _edifices._[6] He had dexterously
chosen a subject of apparent splendour, in which he could loudly
celebrate the genius, the magnificence, and the piety of a prince,
who, both as a conqueror and legislator, had surpassed the puerile
virtues of Cyrus and Themistocles. Disappointment might urge the
flatterer to secret revenge, and the first glance of favour might
again tempt him to suspend and suppress a libel, in which the Roman
Cyrus is degraded into an odious and contemptible tyrant, in which
both the Emperor and his consort Theodora are seriously represented as
two demons, who had assumed a human form for the destruction of
mankind. Such base inconsistency must doubtless sully the reputation
and detract from the credit of Procopius; yet, after the venom of his
malignity has been suffered to exhale, the residue of the 'Anecdotes,'
even the most disgraceful facts, some of which had been tenderly
hinted in his public history, are established by their internal
evidence, or the authentic monuments of the times."[7] It remains to
add that in some passages, owing to imperfections in the text or the
involved nature of the sentences, it is difficult to feel sure as to
the meaning. In these the translator can only hope to have given a
rendering which harmonises with the context and is generally
intelligible, even if the Greek does not seem to have been strictly
followed.
For a clear and succinct account of the reign of Justinian, the four
chapters in Gibbon (xl.-xliv.), which are generally admitted to be the
most successful in his great work, should be read.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Arrangement of the work--The manner in which it has been drawn up--The
causes of events omitted in previous writings--The duty of the
historian towards posterity--Lessons necessary to tyrants--Semiramis,
Sardanapalus, and Nero--Facts relating to Belisarius, Justinian, and
Theodora.
CHAPTER I
Birth and character of Antonina--Her marriage with Belisarius--Her
adulterous amours--Services rendered by her to the Empress
Theodora--Her passion for the Thracian Theodosius--Adoption of the
latter--The lovers surprised by Belisarius--His weakness--Revelation
made by the slave Macedonia--Flight of Theodosius--Vengeance of
Antonina upon Macedonia, and upon Constantine, who had spoken
insultingly of her--Theodosius refuses to return to her until the
departure of her son Photius--Retirement of Photius--Demands of
Theodosius--His return--Infatuation of Belisarius--His return to
Byzantium--Theodosius enters a cloister at Ephesus--Despair of
Antonina--She causes him to be recalled--His resistance--His secret
return.
CHAPTER II
Departure of Belisarius, accompanied by the "consular" Photius, for
the war against Chosroes, King of Persia--Antonina remains at
Byzantium--Her intrigues against Photius--The latter denounces her
adulterous intimacy with Theodosius--Indignation of Belisarius--His
agreement with Photius--His vengeance postponed--Entry of the Roman
army into Persia--Downfall of John the Cappadocian--Antonina's
perjuries--She sets out for the army--Theodosius sent back to
Ephesus--Capture of Sisauranum--Arrival of Antonina--Retirement of
Belisarius--Arethas and the Saracens--Colchis or Lazica invaded by
Chosroes--Capture of Petra--Reverse sustained by Chosroes--The Huns
defeated by Valerian--Insurrectionist movement amongst the
Persians--Letter of Theodora to Zaberganes--Return of Chosroes to
Persia.
CHAPTER III
Arrest of Antonina--Hesitation of Belisarius--Photius repairs to
Ephesus, and extorts from Calligonus a confession of his mistress's
secrets--Theodosius, having taken refuge in a temple, is given up by
Andreas the Bishop--Intervention of Theodora--Photius removes
Theodosius, and puts him away in Cilicia--The latter and Calligonus
set free--The Empress hands over Antonina's enemies to her--Her
vengeance--Punishment of the senator Theodosius--Forced reconciliation
between Belisarius and his wife--Arrest of Photius: his firmness under
torture--Calligonus restored to Antonina--Theodosius restored to her
arms--The Empress's favours--She promises him a high military
command--His death from dysentery--Long imprisonment of
Photius--Sacred asylums violated--Weakness displayed by the
priests--Deliverance of Photius, who enters a convent at
Jerusalem--Perjury of Belisarius--His punishment--Failure of the third
expedition against Chosroes--Capture of Callinikus--Roman
prisoners--Belisarius accused of treachery and cowardice.
CHAPTER IV
Illness of Justinian--Resolutions of the army consequent upon his
supposed death--Peter and John the Glutton denounce Belisarius and
Buzes--The latter put away and tortured--Disgrace of Belisarius--He is
superseded by Martin in the command of the army of the East--His
treasures carried away by Theodora--His friendship for Antonina--His
letter to Belisarius--Submission of the latter to his wife--Division
of his fortune--Betrothal of Joannina, his daughter, to Anastasius,
grandson of Theodora--Belisarius appointed Count of the Royal Stable
and again commander of the army in Italy--Comparison of the two
expeditions.
CHAPTER V
Conduct of Belisarius in Italy--His greed--Defection of
Herodianus--Loss of Spoletum--Success of Totila and his Goths--Rupture
with John--Betrothal of the latter to Justina, daughter of
Germanus--Recall of Belisarius--Perusia taken by the Goths--The
marriage between Joannina and Anastasius consummated by a trick on the
part of the dying Empress--Return of Antonina, who separates the young
pair--Belisarius despised for his weakness--Sergius causes the loss of
the Roman army in Africa--Murder of Pegasius by Solomon--The vengeance
of Heaven.
CHAPTER VI
History of Justin and his two brothers, poor Illyrian
husbandmen--Their enrolment in the army--Their admission into the
Palace Guards, in the reign of Leo--Justin condemned to death, during
the reign of Anastasius, by the General John Kyrtus, for some breach
of discipline--His escape by divine intervention--He becomes praefect
of the Praetorian guards--In spite of his ignorance, he is proclaimed
Emperor--The way in which he was assisted to sign imperial
documents--The Empress Lupicina-Euphemia--Justinian, the nephew of
Justin, the real master of the Empire--His cruelty, his avarice, his
inconsistency in regard to the laws--He oppresses Italy, Africa, and
the rest of the Empire--Amantius condemned, to avenge an outrage upon
the bishop John--Perjury towards Vitalianus.
CHAPTER VII
Byzantium divided between two factions: the Blues and the
Greens--Justinian puts himself at the head of the former--The Empire
entirely upset by the quarrels between these factions--The Blues dress
their hair after the manner of the Huns--Their general attire--Their
excesses--Behaviour of the Greens--Corruption of the morals of young
men--Murder committed with impunity--Inaction on the part of the
authorities--Acts of violence committed upon both sexes--A woman
throws herself into the sea to save her virtue--Culpability of
Justinian--His partiality for the oppressors, upon whom he bestows
favours and dignities.
CHAPTER VIII
Calamities in the provinces--Justinian's apathy--Waste of the public
money during his reign--Useless presents of money made to the
Huns--Extravagance in buildings on the sea-shore--Attack upon the
fortunes of private individuals--Description of Justinian's personal
appearance--His resemblance to Domitian--Domitian's wife--Alterations
in established institutions.
CHAPTER IX
The bear-keeper Acacius, Theodora's father--His widow loses her place
in the amphitheatre of the Greens and takes another in that of the
Blues--Her daughters--The beginning of Theodora's career--Her
precocious immorality--Her accomplishments--Her debaucheries--Her
intercourse with Hecebolus, governor of Pentapolis--Her return from
the East--Justinian, enamoured of her, wishes to marry
her--Assassination of Hypatius--The Praefect Theodotus
Colocynthius--Punishment of malefactors--His exile and death.
CHAPTER X
The Empress Euphemia--Her opposition to the marriage of Justinian and
Theodora--Justin repeals the law prohibiting the marriage of a
patrician with a stage-performer--Justinian and Theodora colleagues on
the throne--Death of Justin--Effect of the marriage--Adulation of the
senate, clergy, people, and army--General feeling of
discouragement--Personal advantages of Theodora--Pretended antagonism
between her and Justinian--Theodora deceives the Christians and the
factions--Consolidation of despotism.
CHAPTER XI
Legislative innovations--Avarice and cruelty of Justinian--Barbarian
invasions provoked--Exorbitant subsidies to the chiefs of the Huns and
Chosroes King of Persia, followed by disturbances and violation of
truce--Saracens, Slavs, Antes, and other barbarous peoples--Desolation
of the provinces--Religious persecutions and confiscation of Church
property--Montanists, Sabbatians, Arians, and Samaritans--Pretended
conversions--Manicheans and Polytheists--Caesarea, the author's
birthplace--Revolt of the peasants under Julian--Hellenism--Law
against paederasty--Persecution of astrologers--Continuous emigration.
CHAPTER XII
Downfall and death of Zeno, grandson of Anthemius, Emperor of the
West--Robbery of Tatian, Demosthenes, the wealthy Hilara, Dionysus of
Libanus and John of Edessa--Forged wills--Theodora and Justinian evil
spirits, not simple human beings--Justinian the putative son of
Sabbatius--His mother's intimate relations with a spirit--The
adventure of a monk--Justinian's temperate manner of living--His
fondness for women--Theodora's intercourse with a spirit--Reputation
of Macedonia during Justin's time--Her prediction to Theodora--Dream
of her marriage with the Prince of the Demons.
CHAPTER XIII
Justinian's qualities--His accessibility--His partiality for the
clergy--His gifts to the churches--His passion for blood and money,
shared by him with Theodora--Flattery of Tribonianus--Justinian's
fickleness and ill-faith--Venality of justice--Corruption of
officials--Justinian's fasting and temperate mode of life.
CHAPTER XIV
Abolition of various old customs--The attributes of the quaestor and
imperial secretaries--The senate a mere cipher--Corruption of the
"Referendaries"--Guilty conduct of Zeno, the Cilician.
CHAPTER XV
Cruelty of Theodora--Her voluptuous life--Her ambition--Her character
and Justinian's compared--Her harshness towards persons of rank--Their
servility--Pretended mildness of Justinian--Theodora's eagerness for
vengeance--Her partiality--The insult offered by her to a
patrician--Her stay at Heraeum, on the sea-shore.
CHAPTER XVI
Assassination of Amalasunta, Queen of the Goths, by Peter, Theodora's
agent--The secretary, Priscus, obliged to enter a
cloister--Justinian's hypocrisy--Disgrace of Areobindus, Theodora's
lover--Her way of getting rid of persons of rank--Punishment of
Basianus--False accusation against Diogenes, a member of the municipal
council--Suborning of witnesses--Theodora's courage.
CHAPTER XVII
Murder of Callinicus, governor of Cilicia--His property confiscated by
Justinian--Theodora's severe measures against prostitutes--She compels
two girls of noble birth to marry--Her frequent
abortions--Disappearance of her natural son, John--Corrupt morals of
the ladies of the capital--Theodora disposes of ecclesiastical
dignities--Takes upon herself the general superintendence of
marriages--Adventure of Saturninus--Persecution of John of Cappadocia.
CHAPTER XVIII
Justinian, a devil in the form of a man, causes the destruction of
millions of men--His policy towards the Vandals, Goths, and other
barbarians--Chosroes and the Persians--Invasion of the Huns, Saracens,
and others--Justinian's theological studies--Religious
persecution--Divine anger--Inundations, earthquakes, and the plague.
CHAPTER XIX
A dream relating to Justinian's avarice--The vast treasures of
Anastasius squandered by Justinian--He makes himself master of the
fortunes of private individuals by false accusations, and squanders
them in presents of money to the barbarians, who plunder the
Empire--Fulfilment of the dream.
CHAPTER XX
Justinian impoverishes private individuals by "monopolies"--Two new
magistrates appointed at Constantinople--Praetor of the People to
judge cases of robbery--Legislation in regard to paederasty and female
morality--Establishment of an inquisition against
heretics--Condemnations and confiscations--Degradation of the
quaestorship in the hands of Junilus and Constantine--Their venality.
CHAPTER XXI
The impost called "Aerikon"--Exactions authorised by Justinian--The
property of John the Cappadocian confiscated--The farming of the taxes
entrusted to salaried commissioners--Increased spoliation--Oath taken
against venality--Increasing corruption of officials--The Thracians
and Illyrians at first check the depredations of the Huns, Goths, and
other barbarians, and then, in turn, take to plundering themselves.
CHAPTER XXII
John of Cappadocia replaced by Theodotus, and Theodotus by Peter
Barsyames, the Syrian, an old usurer--His greed--He suppresses the
gratuities to the soldiers--Traffic in every kind of
employment--Speculation in wheat--Scarcity of provisions at
Byzantium--Discontent--Barsyames upheld by Theodora and his own
sorceries--His connection with the Manicheans--Their influence over
Justinian--Barsyames supersedes John of Palestine as treasury
minister--He abolishes the assistance rendered to the unfortunate.
CHAPTER XXIII
Ruin of private properties--Abolition of the remission of arrears of
taxes, even in the case of cities taken by the barbarians--The imposts
called Syn[=o]n[=e], Epibol[=e], and Diagraph[=e]--Soldiers billeted
in private houses.
CHAPTER XXIV
Oppression of the soldiers by the Logothetes--Division of the soldiers
into three classes--Their promotion suspended--Their pay diverted to
other purposes--The diminishing army--Praetorian soldiers
disbanded--Alexander the Logothete in Italy--The general's
aides-de-camp--The frontier garrisons abandoned--Palace guards,
Scholares, and supernumeraries--Armenians--Peter, the Master of
Offices, the murderer of Amalasunta--Palace officials, Domestics, and
Protectors--Suppression of the quinquennial gratuity--The imperial
officers and dignitaries.
CHAPTER XXV
Unjust treatment of merchants, mariners, and artisans--The straits of
the Bosphorus and the Hellespont burdened with custom-house
dues--Enormous dues levied by Addeus in the port of Byzantium--Change
in the silver coinage: its depreciation--Monopoly of the silk
trade--Ruin of Berytus and Tyre--Malversations of Peter Barsyames and
his successors--Tyranny of Theodora and avarice of Justinian.
CHAPTER XXVI
Destruction of city decorations and ornaments--Advocates deprived of
their fees by the institution of arbitrators--Physicians and
professors deprived of their pensions--Public spectacles
discontinued--The consulship suppressed--Scarcity of corn and water at
Byzantium, Rome, and Alexandria--Generosity of Theodoric, the
conqueror of Italy--Greed of Alexander Forficula--Disbanding of the
garrison of Thermopylae--Spoliation of Athens and other Greek
cities--Hephaestus and Diocletian.
CHAPTER XXVII
Conduct of Justinian and Theodora in regard to the clergy and council
of Chalcedon--Arsenius the Samaritan persecutes the Christians of
Scythopolis with impunity--Paul, archbishop of Alexandria, has the
deacon Psoes put to death--Rhodon, the governor, by his orders,
tortures him: but he is dismissed, and then put to death, together
with Arsenius, through the influence of Theodora--Liberius, the new
governor, and Pelagius, legate of Pope Vigilius at Alexandria, depose
Paul, who buys back the favour of Justinian--Resistance of
Vigilius--Faustinus, governor of Palestine, denounced by the
Christians as a Samaritan--His condemnation by the Senate--The
sentence annulled by Justinian--Outrages upon the Christians.
CHAPTER XXVIII
Laws changed for money considerations--Affair of the church of
Emesa--Priscus the forger--A hundred years' prescription granted to
the churches--Mission of Longinus--Persecution of the Jews at the
Passover--Justinian's intolerance.
CHAPTER XXIX
Justinian's hypocrisy--Letters sent to both Liberius and John
Laxarion, confirming them as governors of Egypt--Intervention of
Pelagius and Eudaemon--Murder of John--Liberius acquitted by the
Senate--Fine inflicted by Justinian--Confiscation of the inheritances
of Eudaemon, Euphratas, and Irenaeus--New law as to the inheritances
of municipal councillors--Spoliation of the daughter of Anatolia and
Ascalon, the widow of Mamilianus--Affair of Tarsus--Malthanes and the
Blues of Cilicia--Unpunished assassinations--Justinian's
corruptness--Leo the Referendary.
CHAPTER XXX
The "posts" and "spies"--Rapidity of the imperial couriers--Their
chief routes--Superiority of the Persians--Reverses of the Romans in
Lazica at the hands of Chosroes--The army commissariat--Spoliation of
the lawyer Evangelius--Justinian's sarcasm--He and Theodora required
their feet to be kissed by those who had audience of them--Their
titles of "master" and "mistress"--The palace crowded by applicants
for audiences--The death of Justinian alone will show how the vast
wealth of the Empire has been spent.
INTRODUCTION
I have thus described the fortunes of the Romans in their wars up to
the present day, as far as possible assigning the description of
events to their proper times and places. What follows will not be
arranged with the same exactness, but everything shall be written down
as it took place throughout the whole extent of the Roman empire. My
reason for this is, that it would not have been expedient for me to
describe these events fully while those who were their authors were
still alive; for, had I done so, I could neither have escaped the
notice of the multitude of spies, nor, had I been detected, could I
have avoided a most horrible death; for I could not even have relied
upon my nearest relatives with confidence. Indeed, I have been forced
to conceal the real causes of many of the events recounted in my
former books. It will now be my duty, in this part of my history, to
tell what has hitherto remained untold, and to state the real motives
and origin of the actions which I have already recounted. But, when
undertaking this new task, how painful and hard will it be, to be
obliged to falter and contradict myself as to what I have said about
the lives of Justinian and Theodora: and particularly so, when I
reflect that what I am about to write will not appear to future
generations either credible or probable, especially when a long lapse
of years shall have made them old stories; for which reason I fear
that I may be looked upon as a romancer, and reckoned among
playwrights. However, I shall have the courage not to shrink from this
important work, because my story will not lack witnesses; for the men
of to-day, who are the best informed witnesses of these facts, will
hand on trustworthy testimony of their truth to posterity. Yet, when I
was about to undertake this work, another objection often presented
itself to my mind, and for a long time held me in suspense.
I doubted whether it would be right to hand down these events to
posterity; for the wickedest actions had better remain unknown to
future times than come to the ears of tyrants, and be imitated by
them. For most rulers are easily led by lack of knowledge into
imitating the evil deeds of their predecessors, and find it their
easiest plan to walk in the evil ways of their forefathers.
Later, however, I was urged to record these matters, by the reflection
that those who hereafter may wish to play the tyrant will clearly see,
in the first place, that it is probable that retribution will fall
upon them for the evil that they may do, seeing that this was what
befell these people; and, secondly, that their actions and habits of
life will be published abroad for all time, and therefore they will
perhaps be less ready to transgress. Who, among posterity, would have
known of the licentious life of Semiramis, or of the madness of
Sardanapalus or Nero, if no memorials of them had been left to us by
contemporary writers? The description of such things, too, will not be
entirely without value to such as hereafter may be so treated by
tyrants; for unhappy people are wont to console themselves by the
thought that they are not the only persons who have so suffered. For
these reasons, I shall first give a description of the evil wrought by
Belisarius, and afterwards I shall describe the misdeeds of Justinian
and Theodora.
CHAPTER I
The wife of Belisarius, whom I have spoken of in my previous writings,
was the daughter and grand-daughter of chariot-drivers, men who had
practised their art in the circus at Byzantium and at Thessalonica.
Her mother was one of the prostitutes of the theatre. She herself at
first lived a lewd life, giving herself up to unbridled debauchery;
besides this, she devoted herself to the study of the drugs which had
long been used in her family, and learned the properties of those
which were essential for carrying out her plans. At last she was
betrothed and married to Belisarius, although she had already borne
many children.
She formed adulterous connections as soon as she was married, but took
pains to conceal the fact, by making use of familiar artifices, not
out of any respect for her husband (for she never felt any shame at
any crime whatever, and hoodwinked him by enchantments), but because
she dreaded the vengeance of the Empress; for Theodora was very bitter
against her, and had already shown her teeth. But, after she had made
Theodora her humble friend by helping her when in the greatest
difficulties, first of all by making away with Silverius, as shall be
told hereafter, and afterwards by ruining John of Cappadocia, as I
have already described, she became less timid, and, scorning all
concealment, shrank from no kind of wickedness.
There was a Thracian youth, named Theodosius, in the household of
Belisarius, who by descent was of the Eunomian faith. On the eve of
his departure for Libya, Belisarius held the youth over the font,
received him into his arms after baptism, and thenceforth made him a
member of his household, with the consent of his wife, according to
the Christian rite of adoption. Antonina therefore received Theodosius
as a son consecrated by religion, and in consequence loved him, paid
him especial attention, and obtained complete dominion over him.
Afterwards, during this voyage, she became madly enamoured of him,
and, being beside herself with passion, cast away all fear of
everything human or divine, together with all traces of modesty, and
enjoyed him at first in secret, afterwards even in the presence of her
servants and handmaidens; for she was by this time so mad with lust,
that she disregarded everything that stood in the way of her passion.
Once, when they were at Carthage, Belisarius caught her in the act,
but permitted himself to be deceived by his wife. He found them both
together in an underground chamber, and was furiously enraged at the
sight; but she showed no sign of fear or a desire to avoid him, and
said, "I came to this place with this youth, to hide the most precious
part of our plunder, that the Emperor might not come to know of it."
This she said by way of an excuse, and he, pretending to be convinced,
let it pass, although he saw that the belt which held Theodosius's
drawers over his private parts was undone; for he was so overpowered
by his love for the creature that he preferred not to believe his own
eyes. However, Antonina's debauchery went on from bad to worse, till
it reached a shameful pitch. All who beheld it were silent, except one
slave woman, named Macedonia, who, when Belisarius was at Syracuse
after the conquest of Sicily, first made her master swear the most
solemn oaths that he never would betray her to her mistress, and then
told him the whole story, bringing as her witnesses two boys who
attended on Antonina's bed-chamber.
When Belisarius heard this, he told some of his guards to make away
with Theodosius, but the latter, being warned in time, fled to
Ephesus: for the greater part of Belisarius's followers, influenced by
the natural weakness of his character, were at more pains to please
his wife than to show their devotion to him; and this was why they
disclosed to her the orders they had received concerning Theodosius.
When Constantine saw Belisarius's sorrow at what had befallen him, he
sympathized with him, but was so imprudent as to add: "For my own
part, I would have killed the woman rather than the youth."
This having been reported to Antonina, she conceived a secret hatred
for him, until she could make him feel the weight of her resentment;
for she was like a scorpion, and knew how to hide her venom.
Not long afterwards, either by enchantments or by caresses, she
persuaded her husband that the accusation brought against her was
false; whereupon, without any hesitation, he sent for Theodosius, and
promised to deliver up to his wife Macedonia and the boys, which he
afterwards did. It is said that she first cut out their tongues, and
then ordered them to be hewn in pieces, put into sacks and thrown into
the sea. In this bloody deed she was assisted by one of her slaves
named Eugenius, who had also been one of those who perpetrated the
outrage on Silverius.
Shortly afterwards, Belisarius was persuaded by his wife to kill
Constantine. What I have already recounted about Praesidius and his
daggers belongs to this period. Belisarius would have let him go, but
Antonina would not rest until she had exacted vengeance for the words
which I have just repeated. This murder stirred up a great hatred
against Belisarius on the part of the Emperor and of the chief nobles
of the Empire.
Such was the course of events. Meanwhile, Theodosius refused to return
to Italy, where Belisarius and Antonina were then staying, unless
Photius were sent out of the way; for Photius was naturally disposed
to show his spite against anyone who supplanted him in another's good
graces; but he was quite right in feeling jealous of Theodosius,
because he himself, although Antonina's son, was quite neglected,
whereas the other was exceedingly powerful and had amassed great
riches. They say that he had taken treasure amounting to a hundred
centenars of gold [about £400,000] from the treasure-houses of the two
cities of Carthage and Ravenna, since he had obtained sole and
absolute control of the management of them.
When Antonina heard this determination of Theodosius, she never ceased
to lay traps for her son and to concoct unnatural plots against him,
until she made him see that he must leave her and retire to Byzantium;
for he could no longer endure the designs against his life. At the
same time she made Theodosius return to Italy, where she enjoyed to
the full the society of her lover, thanks to the easy good-nature of
her husband. Later on, she returned to Byzantium in company with both
of them. It was there that Theodosius became alarmed lest their
intimacy should become known, and was greatly embarrassed, not knowing
what to do. That it could remain undetected to the end he felt was
impossible, for he saw that the woman was no longer able to conceal
her passion, and indulge it in secret, but was an open and avowed
adulteress, and did not blush to be called so.
For this reason he returned to Ephesus, and after having submitted
to the tonsure, joined the monastic order. At this Antonina entirely
lost her reason, showed her distress by putting on mourning and by her
general behaviour, and roamed about the house, wailing and lamenting
(even in the presence of her husband) the good friend she had lost--so
faithful, so pleasant, so tender a companion, so prompt in action. At
last she even won over her husband, who began to utter the same
lamentations. The poor fool kept calling for the return of his
well-beloved Theodosius, and afterwards went to the Emperor and
besought him and the Empress, till he prevailed upon them to send for
Theodosius, as a man whose services always had been and always would
be indispensable in the household. Theodosius, however, refused to
obey, declaring that it was his fixed determination to remain in the
cloister and embrace the monastic life. But this language was by no
means sincere, for it was his intention, as soon as Belisarius left
the country, to rejoin Antonina by stealth at Byzantium, as, in fact,
he did.