CHA P. ror's niece, who wished to reward her deliverer ; xLin, but the impediment of his previous marriage was

asserted by the piety of 1 heodora. The pride of royal descent was irritated by flattery; and the service in which he gioried, had proved him capable o: bold and sanguinary deeds. The death of Justinian was resolved, but the conspirators delayed the execution till they could surprise Belisarius disa med, and naked, in the palace of Constantinople Not a hope could be entertained of shak.. ing his long tried fidelity ; and they justly dreaded

; revenge, or rather justice, of the veteran ge. neral, who might speedily assemble an army in Thrace to punish the assassins, and perhaps to en. joy the fruits of their crime. Delay afforded time for iasb communications and honest confessions Artaban and his accomplices were condemned by the senate, but the extreme clemency of Justinian detained them in the gentle confinement of the palace, till he pardoned their flagitious attempt against his throne and life. If the emperor forgave his enemies, he must cordially embrace a friend whose victories were alone remembered, and who was endeared to his prince by the recent circumstance of their common danger. Belisarius reposed from his toiis, in the high station of general of the East and count of the domestics ; and the older corsuls and patricians respectfully yielded the preCtuency of rank to the peerless merit of the first of the Romans *. The first of the Romans still

sub

submitted to be the slave of his wife; but the CHA P. servitude of habit and affection became less dis- XLIII. graceful when the death of Theodora had removed the baser influence of fear. Joannina their daughter, and the sole heiress of their fortunes, was betrothed to Anastasius the grandson, or rather the nephew, of the empress *, whose kind interposition forwarded the consummation of their youthful loves. But the power of Theodora expired, the parents of Joannina returned, and her honour, perhaps her happiness, were sacrificed to the revenge of an unfeeling mother, who dissolved the imperfect nuptials before they had been ratified by the ceremonies of the church .

by the

Before the departure of Belisarius, Perusia was Rome besieged, and few cities were impregnable to the again taken Gothic arms. Ravenna, Ancona, and Crotona, Goth, still resisted the Barbarians; and when Totila asked

præfectus prætorio; and to a military character, magister militum is more proper and applicable (Ducange, Gless. Græc. p. 1458, 1459.)

* Alemannus (ad Hist. Arcanum, p. 68.), Ducange (Famil Byzant. p. 98.), and Hieneccius (Hist. Juris Civilis, p. 434.), all three represent Anastasius as the son of the daughter of Theodora; and their opinion firmly reposes on the unambiguous testimony of Procopius (Anecdot. c. 4, 5.—Ovyargıdy twice repeated). And yet I will remark, 1. That, in the year 547, Theodora could scarcely have a grandson of the age of puberty; 2. That we are totally ignorant of this daughter and her husband; and, 3. That Theodora concealed her bastards, and that her grandson by Justinian would have been heir apparent of the empire.

+ The aμagτpara, or sins, of the hero in Italy and after his return, are manifested agaxeλvxrws, and most probably swelled, by the author of the Anecdotes (c. 4, 5.). The designs of Antonina were favoured by the fluctuating jurisprudence of Justinian. On the law of marriage and divorce, the emperor was trocho versatilior (Heineccius, Element. Juris Civil. ad Ordinem Pandect. P. iv. No. 233.).

XLIII.

Ç HA P. in marriage one of the daughters of France, he

was stung by the just reproach that the king of Italy was unworthy of his title till it was acknowledged by the Roman people. Three thousand of the bravest soldiers had been left to defend the capital. On the suspicion of a monopoly, they massacred the governor, and announced to Justinian, by a deputation of the clergy, that unless their offence was pardoned, and their arrears were satisfied, they should instantly accept the tempting oilers of Totila. But the officer who succeeded to the command (his name was Diogenes) deserved their esteem and confidence; and the Goths, instead of finding an easy conquest, encountered a vigorous resistance from the soldiers and people, who patiently endured the loss of the port, and of all the maritime supplies. The siege of Rome would perhaps have been raised, if the liberality of Totila to the Isaurians had not encouraged some of their venal countrymen to copy the example of treason In a dark night, while the Gothic trumpets sounded on another side, they silently opened the gate of St. Paul: the Barbarians rushed into the city ; and the flying gårrison was intercepted before they could reach the harbour of Centumcellæ. A soldier trained in the school of Belisarius, Paul of Cilicia, retired with four hundred men to the mole of Hadrian. They repelled the Goths; but they felt the ap

; proach of famine; and their aversion to the taste of horse flesh confirmed their resolution to risk the event of a desperate and decisive sally. But their spirit insensibly stooped to the offers of capitulation : they retrieved their arrears of pay, and pre

,

served their arms and horses, by enlisting in the c H A P. service of Totila ; their chiefs, who pleaded a XLIII. laudable attachment to their wives and children in the East, were dismissed with honour; and above four hundred enemies, who had taken refuge in the sanctuaries, were saved by the clemency of the victor. He no longer entertained a wish of destroying the edifices of Rome *, which he now respected as the seat of the Gothic kingdom: the senate and people were restored to their country; the means of subsistence were liberally provided ; and Totila, in the robe of peace, exhibited the equestrian games of the circus. 'Whilst he amused the eyes of the multitude, four hundred vessels were prepared for the embarkation of his troops. The cities of Rhegium and Tarentum were reduced : he passed into Sicily, the object of his implacable resentment; and the island was stripped of its gold and silver, of the fruits of the earth, and of an infinite number of horses, sheep, and

Sardinia and Corsica obeyed the fortune of Italy; and the sea coast of Greece was visited by a fleet of three hundred gallies t. The Goths

for the Gothic

war,

A. D.

CHA P. were landed in Corcyra and the ancient continent Xlll. of Epirus ; they advanced as far as Nicopolis, the

trophy of Augustus, and Dodona *, once famous by the oracle of Jove. In every step of his vic. tories, the wise Barbarian repeated to Justinian his desire of peace, applauded the concord of their predecessors, and offered to employ the Gothic

arms in the service of the empire. Prepara. Justinian was deaf to the voice of peace ; but tions of Justisian

he neglected the prosecution of war; and the indolence of his temper disappointed, in some de

gree, the obstinacy of his passions. From this salu549–351. tary slumber the emperor was awakened by the

pope Vigilius and the patrician Cethegus, who appeared before his throne, and adjured him in the name of God and the people, to resume the conquest and deliverance of Italy. In the choice of the generals, caprice, as well as judgment, was shewn. A fleet and army sailed for the relief of Sicily, under the conduct of Liberius; but his want of youth and experience were afterwards discovered, and before he touched the shores of the island he was overtaken by his successor. In the place of Liberius the conspirator Artaban was raised from a prison to military honours ; in the pious presumption, that gratitude would animate his valour and fortify his allegiance. Belisarius reposed in the shade of his laurels, but the command of the

principals

• M. d'Anville (Memoires de l'Acad. tom. xxxii. p. 513518.) illustrates the gulph of Ambracia ; but he cannot ascertain the situation of Dodona. A country in sight of Italy is less known than the wilds of America.