Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/39

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 17 of the church ; Tiberius received the diadem on his knees, and Justin, who in his abdication appeared most worthy to reign, addressed the new monarch in the following words : " If you consent, I live ; if you comiTiand, I die ; may the God of heaven and earth infuse into your heart whatever I have neglected or forgotten". The four last years of the emperor Justin were Death of passed m tranquil obscurity; his conscience was no longer a.d. 578, octo- tormented by the remembrance of those duties which he was incapable of discharging ; and his choice was justified by the filial reverence and gratitude of Tiberius. Among the virtues of Tiberius,"''^ his beauty (he was one of the Reign of tallest and most comely of the Romans) might introduce him to ad. 573, the favour of Sophia ; and the widow of Justin was persuaded ssz, Aug. 1 that she should preserve her station and influence under the reign of a second and more youthful husband. But, if the ambitious candidate had been tempted to flatter and dissemble, it was no longer in his power to fulfil her expectations or his own promise. The factions of the hippodrome demanded, with some impatience, the name of their new empress ; both the people and Sophia were astonished by the proclamation of Anastasia, the secret though lawful wife of the emperor Tibe- rius. ^^ Whatever could alleviate the disappointment of Sophia, Imperial honours, a stately palace, a numerous household, was liberally bestowed by the piety of her adopted son ; on solemn occasions he attended and consulted the widow of his benefac- tor ; but her ambition disdained the vain semblance of royalty, and the respectful appellation of mother served to exasperate, rather than appease, the rage of an injured woman. While she accepted, and repaid with a courtly smile, the fair expressions of regard and confidence, a secret alliance was concluded between the dowager empress and her ancient enemies ; and Justinian, the son of Germanus, was employed as the instrument of her revenge. The pride of the reigning house supported, with re- luctance, the dominion of a stranger ; the youth was deservedly ^•' For the character and reign of Tiberius, see Evagrius, 1. v. c. 13 ; Theophy- lact, 1. iii. c. 12, &c. ; Theophanes, in Chron. p. 210-213 '< Zonaras, torn. ii. 1. xiv. p. 72 [c. 11]; Cedrenus, p. 392 [i. 688, ed. Bonn]; Paul Warnefrid, de Gestis Langobard. 1. iii. c. 11, 12. The deacon of Forum Julii appears to have possessed some curious and authentic facts. ■^ [The original name of Anastasia was Ino. (According to Michael the Syrian, the name of Helena was given to her by Sophia ; /oc: cit., p. 297. ) The statement in the te.xt which rests on the authority of Theophanes, implying that Sophia did not know of Ino's existence till after Justin's death, is inconsistent with statements of the contemporary, John of Ephesus, iii. 7.] VOL. V. 2