CHAP. forty-fifth year of his age, for the lawful sovereign of the XL. The reign of Justi nian, A. D. 527. Character and his copius. East." From his elevation to his death, Justinian governed the Roman empire thirty-eight years, seven months, and thirteen days. The events of his reign, which excite our curious attention by their number, variety, and importance, are diligently related by the secretary of Belisarius, a rhetorician whom cloquence had promoted to the rank of senator and præfect of Constantinople. According to the vicissitudes of courage or servitude, of favour or disgrace, Procopius' successively composed the history, the ries of Pro- panegyric, and the satire, of his own times. The eight books of the Persian, Vandalic, and Gothic wars,13 which are continued in the five books of Agathius, 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 conversation 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 14 were read and applauded by his contempo 11 The reign of the elder Justin may be found in the three Chronicles of Marcellinus, Victor, and John Malala (rom. ii. p. 130....150), the last of whom (in spite of Hody, Prolegom, No. 14. 39. edit. Oxon.) lived soon after Justinian (Jo.tin's Kemarks, &c. vol. iv. p. 383): in the Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius (1. iv. c. 1,2,3. 9), and the Excerpta of Theodorus (Lector, No. 37), and in Cedrenus (p. 362...366), and Zonaras (1. xiv. p. 58...61), who may pass for an original. 12 See the characters of Procopius and Agathius in La Mothe le Vayer (tom. viii. p. 144 ..174), Vossius (de Historicis Græcis. 1. ii. c. 22), and Fabricius (Bibliot. Græc. 1. v. c. 5 tom vi. p. 248...278). Their religion, an honourabie problem, betrays occasional conformity, with a secret attachment to Paganism and Philosophy. 13 In the seven first books, two Persic, two Vandalic, and three Gothic, Procopius has borrowed from Appian the division of provinces and wars: the eighth book, though it bears the name of Gothic, is a miscellaneous and general supplement down to the spring of the year 553, from whence it is continued by Aga hius till 559 (Pagi, Critica, A. D. 579, No. 5). 14 The literary fate of Procopius has been somewhat unlucky. 1. His books de Bello Gothico were stolen by Leonard Aretin, and published (Ful raries; 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 the Imperial edifices. 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 Themistocles and Cyrus.16 Disappointment might urge the flatterer to secret revenge; and the first glance of favour might again tempt him to suspend and suppress a libel,17 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 dæmons, who had assumed an human form for the de struction of mankind.18 Such base inconsistency must ginii, 1470. Venet. 1471. apud Janson. Mattaire, Annal. Typograph. tom. i. edit. posterior, p. 290. 304. 279: 299.) in his own name (See Vossius de Hist. Lat. 1. iii. c. 5. and the feeble defence of the Venice Giornale de Letterati, tom. xix. p. 207). 2. His works were mutilated by the first Latin translators, Christopher Persona (Giornale, tom. xix. p. 340...348), and Raphael de Volaterra (Huet de Claris. Interpretibus, p. 166), who did not even consult the MS. of the Vatican library, of which they were præfects (Aleman. in Præfat. Anecdot). 3. The Greek text was not printed till 1607, by Hoeschelius of Augsburgh (Dictionaire de Bayle, tom ii. p.782). 4. The Paris edition was imperfecily executed by Claude Maltret, a Jesuit of Thoulouse (in 1663, far distant from the Louvre press and the Vatican MS. from which, however, he obtained some supplements. His promised commentaries, &c. have never appeared. The Agathjus of Leyden (1594) has been wisely reprinted by the Paris editor, with the Latin version of Bonaventura Vulcanius, a tearned interpreter (Huet, p. 176). 15 Agathius in Præfat. p. 7, 8. 1. iv. p. 137. Evagrius, 1. iv. c. 12. See likewise Phorius, cod. lxiii. p. 65. 16 Κυρο παιδεια (says he, Prafat. ad l. de Edificiis περι κτισμάτων) is no more than Kups. Taidia....a pun! In these five books, Procopius affects a Christian, as well as a courtly style. 17 Procopius discloses himself (Præfat. ad Anecdot. c. 1, 2. 5), and the anecdotes are reckoned as the ninth book by Su das (tom iii. p. 185. edit. Kuster). The silence of Evagrius is a pour objection. Baronius (A. D. 548, No. 24.) regre's the loss of this secret history: it was then in the Vatican liorary, in his own custody, and was first published sixteen years after his death, with the learned, but partial, notes of Nicholas Alemannus (Lugd. 1623). 18 Justinian an ass...the perfect likeness of Domitian (Anecdot. c. 8). ...Theodora's lovers driven from her bed by rival demons...her marriage CHAP. CHAP. XL. 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." From these various materials, I shall now proceed to describe the reign of Justinian, which will deserve Division of and occupy an ample space. The present chapter will exthe reign of Justinian. plain the elevation and character of Theodora, the factions of the circus, and the peaceful administration of the sovereign of the East. In the three succeeding chapters, I shall relate the wars of Justinian which atchieved the conquest of Africa and Italy; and I shall follow the victories of Belisarius and Narses, without disguising the vanity of their triumphs, or the hostile virtue of the Persian and Gothic heroes. The series of this and the following volume will embrace the jurisprudence and theology of the emperor; the controversies and sects which still divide the Oriental church; the reformation of the Roman law, which is obeyed or respected by the nations of modern Europe. Birth and vices of the empress I. In the exercise of supreme power, the first act of Justinian was to divide it with the woman whom he loved, Theodora. the famous Theodora,20 whose strange elevation cannot be applauded as the triumph of female virtue. Under the reign of Anastasius, the care of the wild beasts maintained by the green faction of Constantinople, was entrusted to Acacius, a native of the isle of Cyprus, who, from his employment, was surnamed the master of the bears...... This honourable office was given after his death to another candidate, notwithstanding the diligence of his foretold with a great dæmon...a monk saw the prince of the dæmons, instead of Justinian, on the throne...the servants who watched, beheld a face without features, a body walking without an head, &c. &c. Procopius dec ares his own and his friend's belief in these diabolical stories (c. 12). 19 Montesquieu (Considerations sur la Grandeur et la Decadence, des Romains, c. xx.) gives credit to these anecdotes, as connected, 1. with the weakness of the empire; aud, 2. with the instability of Justinian's laws. 20 For the life and manners of the empress Theodora, see the Anecdotes; more especially c. 1...5. 9, 10...15, 16, 17. with the learned notes of Alemannus...a reference which is always implied. widow, who had already provided a husband and a successor. Acacius had left three daughters, Comito,21 THEODORA, and Anastasia, the eldest of whom did not then exceed the age of seven years. On a solemn festival, these helpless orphans were sent by their distressed and indignant mother, in the garb of suppliants, into the midst of the theatre: the green faction received them with contempt, the blues with compassion; and this difference, which sunk deep into the mind of Theodora, was felt long afterwards in the administration of the empire. As they improved in age and beauty, the three sisters were successively devoted to the public and private pleasures of the Byzantine people; and Theodora, after following Comito on the stage, in the dress of a slave, with a stool on her head, was at length permitted to exercise her independent talents. She neither danced, nor sung, nor played on the flute; her skill was confined to the pantomime arts; she excelled in buffoon characters, and as often as the comedian swelled her cheeks, and complained with a ridiculous tone and gesture of the blows that were inflicted, the whole theatre of Constantinople resounded with laughter and applause. The beauty of Theodora 22 was the subject of more flattering praise, and the source of more exquisite delight. Her features were delicate and regular; her complexion, though somewhat pale, was tinged with a natural colour; every sensation was instantly expressed by the vivacity of her eyes; her easy motions displayed the graces of a small but elegant figure; and either love or adulation might proclaim, that painting and poetry were incapable of delineating the matchless excellence of her form. But this form was degraded by the facility with which it was exposed to the public eye, and prostituted to licentious desire. Her venal charms were 21 Comito was afterwards married to Sittas duke of Armenia, the father perhaps, at least she might be the mother, of the empress Sophia. Two nephews of Theodora may be the sons of Anastasia (Aleman. p. 30, 31). 22 Her statue was raised at Constantinople, on a porphyry column. See Procopius (de Edif. 1. i. c. 11), who gives her portrait in the Anecdotes (c. 10). Aleman. (p. 47).) produces one from a Mosaic at Ravenna, loaded with pearls and jewels, and yet handsome. CHAP. XL. XL. 26 CHAP. abandoned to a promiscuous crowd of citizens and stran gers, of every rank, and of every profession: the fortunate lover who had been promised a night of enjoyment, was often driven from her bed by a stronger or more wealthy favourite; and when she passed through the streets, her presence was avoided by all who wished to escape either the scandal or the temptation. The satirical historian has not blushed 23 to describe the naked scenes which Theodora was not ashamed to exhibit in the theatre.24 After exhausting the arts of sensual pleasure,25 she most ungratefully murmured against the parsimony of Nature: 20 but her murmurs, her pleasures, and her arts, must be veiled in the obscurity of a learned language. After reigning for some time, the delight and contempt of the capital, she condescended to accompany Ecebolus, a native of Tyre, who had obtained the government of the African Pentapolis. But this union was frail and transient; Ecebolus soon rejected an expensive or faithless concubine; she was reduced at Alexandria to extreme distress; and in her laborious return to Constantinople, every city of the East admired and enjoyed the fair Cyprian, whose merit appeared to justify her descent from the peculiar 23 A fragment of the Anecdotes (c. 9.) somewhat too naked, was suppressed by Alemannus, though extant in the Vatican MS.; nor has the defect been supplied in the Paris or Venice editions. La Mothe le Vayer (tom. viii. p. 155), gave the first hint of this curious and genuine passage (Jortin's Remarks, vol. iv. p. 366), which he had received from Roine, and it has been since published in the Menagiana (tom. iii. p. 254...259), with a Latin version. 24 After the mention of a narrow girdle (as none could appear starknaked in the theatre), Procopius thus proceeds: AvaTeTToxula TE EV TW εδάφει ύπτια εκειτο. Θητες δε τινες . · κριθας αυτή ύπερθεν των αιδοίων ερριπτον ὡς δε οι χήνες, δι ες τ8το παρεσκευασμενοι εντυγε χανον τοῖς σομασιν είθενδε κατα μιαν ανελόμενοι είσθιον. I have heard that a learned prelate, now deceased, was fond of quoting this passage in conversation. 25 Theodora surpassed the Crispa of Ausonius (Epigram lxxi), who imitated the capitalis luxus of the females of Nola. See Quintilian Institut. viii. 6. and Torrentius ad Horat. Sermon. I. i. sat 2. v. 101. At a memorable supper, thirty slaves waited round the table; ten young men feasted with Theodora. Her charity was universal. Et lassata viris, necdum satiata, recessit. 26 Ηδε κακ' τριων τρυπημάτων εργαζομενη ενεκαλει τη φύσει δυσφορεμένη ότι δε μη και τίτες αυτη εύρυτερον η νυν εισι τρυπώη, όπως δυνατη είη και εκείνη εργάζεσθαι. She wished for a fourth altare on which she might pour libations to the god of love. |