Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 1).djvu/324

 *tasius, one of the few capable and moderate Emperors whom the Byzantines produced. Although imbued with a heresy by his mother, and zealous for its acceptance, he refrained from persecution, and declared that he would not shed a drop of blood to effect the removal of his ecclesiastical opponents. All his efforts were conciliatory, and he would have obliterated disunion in the Church if his influence could have induced fanaticism to accord in the Henoticon of Zeno. He dealt impartially with the Demes, but inclined slightly to one faction, the Green, in formal compliance with traditional usage in the Circus. He relieved oppressive; see p. 104.]