Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 2).djvu/113

 with its infirm inmates, the House of Lamps with its rich wares, the Palace of Lausus with its irreplaceable art treasures, and the porticos ranging between the Augusteum and the Pavement.

In the meantime Justinian and the Imperial party within the Palace began to despair of their fortunes. The Excubitors and the other corps of domestics did not break into open mutiny, but their faces appeared lowering and indifferent, and it was evident that their sympathies were veering steadily in the direction of the rebels. That the insurgents were intent on replacing him with Hypatius was well known to the Emperor, and he became apprehensive lest at any moment his own guards might consummate their wishes by the seizure of his person and the proclamation of his rival. He summoned the nephews of Anastasius to his presence, and urged them to leave the palace in order to safeguard their own households. They protested that it was their duty to stand by their sovereign in such a crisis, but he suspected their loyalty and insisted peremptorily on their departure. They obeyed with reluctance, and quitted the