[578] De Bel. Pers., 22 et seq. The great plague at Athens (430 B.C.) was probably the same, but the historian (Thucydides, ii, 47, et seq.) does not give the pathognomonic symptoms with exactitude.

[579] Evagrius, iv, 29. A long and lugubrious account of the plague is given by John Ephes. (Hist. ad calc. Com., p. 227, et seq.), not only at CP., but in Asia and Egypt. It lacks, however, the precision of that of Procopius.

CHAPTER XII
PRIVATE LIFE IN THE IMPERIAL CIRCLE AND ITS DEPENDENCIES

WHILE the diplomacy of Justinian and the strategy of Belisarius were apparently dictated only by motives of state policy and military expediency, there were private influences at work, which modified considerably the execution of their projects. The feminine proclivities and prejudices of Theodora and Antonina on more than one occasion diverted both men from the course which their better judgment inclined them to follow. Distinctive as were the characters of the Emperor and his most renowned general, in the quality of uxoriousness their similarity was complete. In order that the power exercised by the women in question over the destinies of the Empire at critical periods may be realized, it is necessary to refer to some domestic incidents which exemplify the extent of their conjugal gynarchy.

When Belisarius and his wife set out for Africa they were accompanied by a young Christian proselyte named Theodosius, whom they had affiliated as their adopted son. Of this youth Antonina became intensely enamoured, and succeeded in establishing an illicit intercourse with him, which was obvious to every member of the household except her too trusting husband. During their stay at Carthage Belisarius entered fortuitously a remote chamber of the palace, where he surprised his wife in company with Theodosius, whose dress was disordered in a manner which indicated unmistakably the nature of their commerce. The general was about to express himself indignantly, when Antonina, with perfect assurance, explained: "I have just come here with this young man in order to hide the most precious objects in our share of the booty from the cupidity of the Emperor." Her husband stifled his suspicions and, blind to the evidence of his senses, retired submissively, leaving the youth in the act of adjusting his clothing so as to accord with the requirements of decency.[580]

This intrigue went on, therefore, indefinitely, but at Syracuse a slave-girl, named Macedonia, vengeful or indignant, revealed it in precise terms to Belisarius, and produced two of her fellow-slaves to corroborate her evidence. The general was convinced, and swore not to betray his informants; and thereupon charged some of his military intimates to make away with Theodosius. They, however, more solicitous as to the favour of his wife, gave the paramour a warning in consequence of which he fled to Ephesus.[581] At the same time Antonina managed to persuade her husband that she had been calumniated, with the result that he surrendered the three witnesses to her discretion. They perished by a cruel death at the hands of their mistress, who killed them by torture, and had their bodies thrown into the sea. In the next phase of the intrigue we see Antonina in conflict with her son Photius, whose animosity against Theodosius was such that the latter refused to return to the embraces of his mistress unless he were expelled from the household. This end was achieved by domestic persecution, and the paramour was shortly afterwards reinstated with the connivance of Belisarius himself. When the Master of Soldiers was sent into Mesopotamia against Chosroes, Antonina, contrary to precedent, remained at Constantinople to enjoy the society of her lover. Dreading, however, the interference of her son, she plotted to encompass his death. In self-defence he brought forward irrefragable evidence of the adulterous life that his mother was leading, whereupon Belisarius engaged him by a solemn compact to punish the enemy of his conjugal peace.[582] With this design Antonina was summoned to join her husband, and consequently, as had been foreseen, Theodosius betook himself to his retreat at Ephesus, where he had attached himself to a religious fraternity. Photius followed on and, having made himself master of his person, caused him to be detained under strict surveillance.

It was in this year (541) that Chosroes undertook his expedition into Lazica, thereby denuding Persia of his most effective troops. For an enterprising Roman general the way lay open through the richest part of Assyria to Ctesiphon, where were congregated the captives and spoils of Antioch, within reach of a strategical march. But Belisarius could not persuade himself to quit the vicinity of the frontier, intent as he was on settling his relations with his wife; and on hearing of her approach he retreated with his forces to a position which enabled her to join him. Subsequent events in this connection now become merged in occurrences which I have yet to relate.

Chosroes, on his side simultaneously, was beset with untoward circumstances. Owing to the barren nature of Lazica his army was ill provided with necessaries, and many of his soldiers had perished through disease and want. A mutinous spirit became rife, and during their retreat, hearing of the successes of Belisarius and Valerian, they feared to be cut off in the rocky passes commanded by heights accessible to a hostile force. The Shah was assailed with reproaches for having entered unadvisedly on a war with a nation of so much political competency, and he began to be alarmed for the security of his throne. In this strait his good fortune had provided him with a remedy of a peculiar kind, which emanated from the assumption and indiscretion of the Byzantine Empress herself. Zaberganes, his most influential adviser, had received a letter from Theodora, to whom he was personally known, imploring him to incline his master to grant considerate terms of peace. "Should you achieve this object," she added, "I can promise you a splendid recompense on the part of my husband, who is absolutely dependent on my advice." Having read this epistle Chosroes inquired of his staff whether a state could be efficiently governed in which a woman exercised such a preposterous ascendancy. They agreed unanimously that such an adversary did not deserve to be considered seriously, and acquitted the Shah of having acted rashly in embarking on a war with them. Confident, therefore, in the imbecility of the Byzantines, they resumed their march and soon arrived safely within the borders of their own country.

So far in the course of my narrative we have often seen the names of Theodora and Antonina coupled together, but merely in juxtaposition. As I proceed in my attempt to elucidate the sequence of events we shall arrive at a point of time when their lives actually become mingled. Some retrogression, however, is necessary in order to enter on the political track of Theodora nearer its beginning before we can reach those entanglements in her secret machinations where concerted action between the two women becomes apparent. I have already alluded cursorily to the circumstances under which Queen Amalasuntha met her death,[583] but the most effective cause of that crime was one which remained hidden from the public. In addition to her royal descent, which was derived from a long line of kingly ancestors, the Gothic queen was a woman of great personal charm, of cultivated mind, and of an age scarcely exceeding that of the Eastern Empress. Justinian was much impressed at the prospect of a princess of her rank placing herself under his protection, and he prepared a temporary establishment at Epidamnus, in a style suitable to her dignity, in anticipation of her being obliged to fly from the soil of Italy. Later on he expected to receive her at Constantinople, where he doubtless intended that she should be housed permanently in one of the palaces adjacent to the Court. This project, so grateful to the Emperor, was viewed with more than equal abhorrence by his consort. That Amalasuntha, pre-eminent by her birth, her talents, and her beauty, would receive unremitting homage and admiration from Justinian and his nobles, and eclipse the Empress in her own halls, might be foreseen as an inevitable result of such an arrangement. While this affair was under consideration, and might at any moment be realized, another woman appeared on the scene, to whom the rivalry of the Gothic queen was at once as odious as it threatened to become to Theodora herself. Gudelina, the wife of Theodahad, participating in her husband's elevation, assumed the attributes of royalty at the Court of Ravenna, where she immediately found herself outshone by her brilliant cousin, whose prerogatives and merits were so much superior to her own. An instinctive alliance between the two women, the sting to whose vanities was projected from the same source, was quickly formed. Letters passed between them, cautiously expressed, but clear to the mind of each; and Theodora infused some of her own determination into the mind of the nominal queen in the West.[584] The details of the plot which ensued are lost to us, and we can only see that the daughter of Theodoric, probably without apprehensions as regards those for whom she had been the author of fortune, was ensnared by a coalition of her foes, and under some specious pretence deported from her own court. By this consummation the Gothic clique might, perhaps, have been appeased; but the Empress was no advocate of half measures, and when Peter departed on his embassy to Ravenna he was intrusted by her with a secret mandate to encompass the death of Amalasuntha. Instead, therefore, of acting on behalf of Justinian, he obeyed Theodora, and through his insidious counsels the unfortunate princess perished forthwith in her obscure prison.[585]