Shortly afterwards Belisarius was sent by the Emperor to conduct the
war against Chosroes, and Photius accompanied him. Antonina remained
behind, contrary to her usual custom; for, before this, she had always
desired to accompany her husband on all his travels wherever he went,
for fear that, when he was by himself, he might return to his senses,
and, despising her enchantments, form a true estimate of her
character. But now, in order that Theodosius might have free access to
her, Antonina began to intrigue in order to get Photius out of her
way. She induced some of Belisarius's suite to lose no opportunity of
provoking and insulting him, while she herself wrote letters almost
every day, in which she continually slandered her son and set every
one against him. Driven to bay, the young man was forced to accuse his
mother, and, when a witness arrived from Byzantium who told him of
Theodosius's secret commerce with Antonina, Photius led him
straightway into the presence of Belisarius and ordered him to reveal
the whole story. When Belisarius learned this, he flew into a furious
rage, fell at Photius's feet, and besought him to avenge him for the
cruel wrongs which he had received at the hands of those who should
have been the last to treat him in such a manner. "My dearest boy," he
exclaimed, "you have never known your father, whoever he may have
been, for he ended his life while you were still in your nurse's arms;
his property has been of little or no assistance to you, for he was by
no means wealthy. Bred under my care, though I was but your
stepfather, you have now reached an age when you are capable of
assisting me to avenge the wrongs from which I suffer. I have raised
you to the consulship, and have heaped riches upon you, so that I may
justly be regarded by you as your father, your mother, and your whole
family; for it is not by the ties of blood but by deeds that men are
accustomed to measure their attachment to each other. The hour has now
come when you must not remain an indifferent spectator of the ruin of
my house and of the loss with which I am threatened, of so large a sum
of money, nor of the immeasurable shame which your mother has incurred
in the sight of all men. Remember that the sins of women reflect
disgrace not only on their husbands, but also upon their children,
whose honour suffers all the more because of their natural likeness to
their mothers.
"Be well assured that, for my own part, I love my wife with all my
heart; and should it be granted to me to punish the dishonourer of my
house, I will do her no hurt; but, as long as Theodosius remains
alive, I cannot condone her misconduct."
On hearing these words Photius replied that he would do all that he
could to aid his stepfather, but, at the same time, he feared that he
himself might come to some harm by so doing; for he was unable to feel
any confidence in Belisarius, because of his weakness of character,
especially where his wife was concerned. He dreaded the fate of
Macedonia, and of many other victims. For this reason he insisted that
Belisarius should swear fidelity to him by the most sacred oaths known
to Christians, and they bound themselves never to abandon each other,
even at the cost of their lives.
For the present, they both agreed that it would be unwise to make any
attempt; and they resolved to wait until Antonina had left Byzantium
to join them, and Theodosius had returned to Ephesus, which would give
Photius the opportunity of going thither and easily disposing of both
Theodosius and his fortune. They had just invaded the Persian
territory with all their forces, and during this time the ruin of John
of Cappadocia was accomplished at Byzantium, as I have told in the
former books of my history. I have there only been silent, through
fear, on one point, that it was not by mere hazard that Antonina
succeeded in deceiving John and his daughter, but by numerous oaths,
sworn on all that Christians deem most holy, she made them believe
that she intended to do them no harm.
After this, having risen greatly in favour with the Empress, she sent
Theodosius to Ephesus, and herself, foreseeing no trouble, set out for
the East.
Belisarius had just captured the fortress of Sisauranum, when he was
told of his wife's arrival; whereupon he immediately ordered his army
to turn back, disregarding the interests of the Empire for the sake of
his private feelings. Certain matters had indeed happened, as I have
already set forth, which made a retreat advisable, but his wife's
presence hastened it considerably. But, as I said at the beginning, I
did not then think it safe to describe the real motives of men's
actions.
Belisarius was reproached by all the Romans for having sacrificed the
interests of his country to his domestic affairs. The reason was that,
in his first transport of passion against his wife, he could not bring
himself to go far away from Roman territory; for he felt that the
nearer he was, the easier it would be for him to take vengeance upon
Theodosius, as soon as he heard of the arrival of Antonina.
He therefore ordered Arethas and his people to cross the river Tigris,
and they returned home, without having performed anything worthy of
record, while he himself took care not to retire more than an hour's
journey from the Roman frontier. The fortress of Sisauranum, indeed,
for an active man, is not more than a day's journey from the frontier
by way of Nisibis, and only half that distance if one goes by another
route. But had he chosen to cross the river Tigris at first with all
his host, I have no doubt that he would have been able to carry off
all the riches of Assyria, and extend his conquests as far as the city
of Ctesiphon, without meeting with any opposition. He might even have
secured the release of the Antiochians, and all the other Romans who
were there in captivity, before returning home.
Furthermore, he was chiefly to blame for the extreme ease with which
Chosroes led his army home from Colchis. I will now relate how this
came to pass. When Chosroes, the son of Cabades, invaded Colchis, with
the result which I have recounted elsewhere, and took Petra, the Medes
nevertheless sustained severe losses, both in battle and owing to the
difficulties of the country; for, as I have said already, Lazica is a
country almost inaccessible, owing to its rocks and precipices. They
had at the same time been attacked by pestilence, which carried off
the greater part of the troops, and many died from want of food and
necessaries. It was at this crisis of affairs that certain men from
Persia came into that country, bringing the news that Belisarius had
beaten Nabedes in a battle near the city of Nisibis, and was pressing
forward; that he had taken the fortress of Sisauranum, and had made
prisoners of Bleschames and eight hundred Persian lancers; that
another corps of Romans under Arethas, the chief of the Saracens, had
been detached to cross the Tigris, and ravage the land to the east of
that river, which up to that time had remained free from invasion.
It happened also that the army of Huns, whom Chosroes had sent into
Roman Armenia, in order, by this diversion, to prevent the Romans from
hindering his expedition against the Lazi, had fallen in with and been
defeated by Valerian, at the head of a Roman army, and almost
annihilated. When this news was brought to the Persians, having been
reduced to desperate straits by their ill success at Lazica, they
feared that, if an army should cut them off in their critical
position, they might all die of hunger amidst the crags and precipices
of that inaccessible country. They feared, too, for their children,
their wives and their country; and all the flower of Chosroes' army
railed bitterly at him for having broken his plighted word and
violated the common law of nations, by invading a Roman State in a
most unwarrantable manner, in time of peace, and for having insulted
an ancient and most powerful State which he would not be able to
conquer in war. The soldiers were on the point of breaking out into
revolt, had not Chosroes, alarmed at the state of affairs, discovered
a remedy for it. He read to them a letter which the Empress had just
written to Zaberganes, in the following terms:
"You must know, O Zaberganes, since you were ambassador at
our Court not long ago, that we are well disposed towards
you, and that we do not doubt that you have our interests at
heart. You will easily realise the good opinion which I have
formed of you, if you will persuade King Chosroes to
maintain peaceful relations with our empire. I promise you,
in that case, the fullest recompense on the part of my
husband, who never does anything without my advice."
When Chosroes had read this, he reproachfully asked the spokesmen of
the Persians whether they thought that that was an Empire which was
managed by a woman, and thus managed to quell their impetuosity; but,
nevertheless, he retired from his position in alarm, expecting that
his retreat would be cut off by Belisarius and his forces; but, as he
found himself unopposed on his march, he gladly made his way home.