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A. D. 527.

565. Nov. 14.

copius.

clergy and the monks were gained by his liberality, | of the people. The life of Justin was prolonged and the people were taught to pray for their future about four months, but from the instant of this sovereign, the hope and pillar of the true religion. ceremony, he was considered as dead to the empire, The magnificence of Justinian was displayed in the which acknowledged Justinian, in the forty-fifth superior pomp of his public spectacles, an object year of his age, for the lawful sovereign of the east.' not less sacred and important in the eyes of the From his elevation to his death, The reign of Jusmultitude than the creed of Nice or Chalcedon: the Justinian governed the Roman em- tinian, expense of his consulship was esteemed at two pire thirty-eight years, seven months, April 1—A. D. hundred and eighty-eight thousand pieces of gold; and thirteen days. The events of his twenty lions, and thirty leopards, were produced at reign, which excite our curious attention by their the same time in the amphitheatre, and a numerous number, variety, and importance, are diligently retrain of horses, with their rich trappings, was be- lated by the secretary of Belisarius, a rhetorician, stowed as an extraordinary gift on the victorious whom eloquence had promoted to the rank of senacharioteers of the circus. While he indulged the tor and præfect of Constantinople. According to people of Constantinople, and received the addresses the vicissitudes of courage or servitude, of favour of foreign kings, the nephew of Justin assiduously or disgrace, Procopius successively Character and cultivated the friendship of the senate. That vener- composed the history, the panegyric, histories of Proable name seemed to qualify its members to declare and the satire of his own times. The the sense of the nation, and to regulate the suc- eight books of the Persian, Vandalic, and Gothic cession of the imperial throne: the feeble Anasta- wars, which are continued in the five books of sius had permitted the vigour of government to Agathias, deserve our esteem as a laborious and degenerate into the form or substance of an aristo- successful imitation of the Attic, or at least of the cracy; and the military officers who had obtained Asiatic, writers of ancient Greece. His facts are the senatorial rank, were followed by their domestic collected from the personal experience and free guards, a band of veterans, whose arms or acclama- conversation of a soldier, a statesman, and a traveltions might fix in a tumultuous moment the diadem ler; his style continually aspires, and often attains, of the east. The treasures of the state were lavished to the merit of strength and elegance; his reflecto procure the voices of the senators, and their tions, more especially in the speeches, which he too unanimous wish, that he would be pleased to adopt frequently inserts, contain a rich fund of political Justinian for his colleague, was communicated to knowledge; and the historian, excited by the genethe emperor. But this request, which too clearly rous ambition of pleasing and instructing posterity, admonished him of his approaching end, was un- appears to disdain the prejudices of the people, and welcome to the jealous temper of an aged monarch, the flattery of courts. The writings of Procopius desirous to retain the power which he was incapable were read and applauded by his contemporaries ; of exercising; and Justin, holding his purple with but, although he respectfully laid them at the foot both his hands, advised them to prefer, since an of the throne, the pride of Justinian must have election was so profitable, some older candidate. been wounded by the praise of a hero, who perNotwithstanding this reproach, the senate proceeded petually eclipses the glory of his inactive sovereign. to decorate Justinian with the royal epithet of nobi- The conscious dignity of independence was sublissimus; and their decree was ratified by the affec- dued by the hopes and fears of a slave; and the tion or the fears of his uncle. After some time the secretary of Belisarius laboured for pardon and relanguor of mind and body, to which he was reduced ward in the six books of the imperial edifices. He by an incurable wound in his thigh, indispensably had dexterously chosen a subject of apparent splenrequired the aid of a guardian. He summoned the dour, in which he could loudly celebrate the genius, patriarch and senators; and in their presence the magnificence, and the piety of a prince, who, solemnly placed the diadem on the head of his both as a conqueror and a legislator, had surpassed nephew, who was conducted from the palace to the the puerile virtues of Themistocles and Cyrus. circus, and saluted by the loud and joyful applause Disappointment might urge the flatterer to secret

1 The reign of the elder Justin may be found in the three Chronicles of Marcellinus, Victor, and John Malala, (tom. ii. p. 130-150.) the last of whom (in spite of Hody, Prolegom. No. 14. 39. edit. Oxon.) lived soon after Justiniau: (Jortin's Remarks, &c. vol. iv. p. 383.) in the Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius, (l. iv. c. 1, 2, 3. 9.) and the Excerpta of Theodorus Lector, (No. 37.) and in Cedrenus (p. 362366.) and Zonaras, (1. xiv. p. 58-61.) who may pass for an original.

m See the characters of Procopius and Agathias in La Mothe le Vayer, (tom. viii. p. 144-174.) Vossius, (de Historicis Græcis, 1. ii. c. 22.) and Fabricius. (Bibliot. Græc. I. v. c. 5. tom. vi. p. 248-278. Their religion, an honourable problem, betrays occasional conformity, with a secret attachment to paganism and philosophy.

n In the seven first books, two Persic, two Vandalic, and three Gothic, Procopius has borrowed from Appian the division of provinces and wars: the eighth book, though it bears the name of Gothic, is a mis. cellaneous and general supplement down to the spring of the year 553, from whence it is continued by Agathias till 559. (Pagi, Critica, A. D. 579. No. 5)

The literary fate of Procopius has been somewhat unlucky. 1. His books de Bello Gothico were stolen by Leonard Aretin, and published (Fulginii, 1470. Venet. 1471. apud Janson; Mattaire, Annal. Typograph.

tom. i. edit. posterior, p. 290. 304. 279. 299.) in his own name. (See Vossius de Hist. Lat. 1. iii. c. 5. and the feeble defence of the Venice Giornale de Letterati, tom. xix. p. 207.) 2. His works were mutilated by the first Latin translators, Christopher Persona (Giornale, tom. xix. p. 340-348.) and Raphael de Volaterra, (Huet. de Claris Interpretibus, p. 166.) who did not even consult the MS. of the Vatican library, of which they were præfects. (Aleman. in Præfat. Anecdot.) 3. The Greek text was not printed till 1607, by Hoeschelius of Augsburg. (Dictionnaire de Bayle, tom. ii. p. 782.) 4. The Paris edition was imperfectly executed by Claude Maltret, a Jesuit of Thoulouse, (in 1663,) far distant from the Louvre press and the Vatican MS. from which, however, he obtained some supplements. His promised com. mentaries, &c. have never appeared. The Agathias of Leyden (1594) has been wisely reprinted by the Paris editor, with the Latin version of Bonaventura Vulcanius, a learned interpreter. (Huet, p. 176.)

P Agathias in Præfat. p. 7, 8. l. iv. p. 137. Evagrius, 1. iv. c. 12. See likewise Photius, cod. lxiii. p. 65.

q Kup Taideia (says he, Præfat. ad 1. de Edificiis, #ept KTIONATE) is no more than Kups raidia-a pun! In these five books, Procopius affects a christian as well as a courtly style.

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revenge; and the first glance of favour might again | DORA, and Anastasia, the eldest of whom did not tempt him to suspend and suppress a libel, in then exceed the age of seven years. On a solemn which the Roman Cyrus is degraded into an odious festival, these helpless orphans were sent by their and contemptible tyrant, in which both the emperor distressed and indignant mother, in the garb of and his consort Theodora are seriously represented suppliants, into the midst of the theatre: the green as two dæmons, who had assumed a human form faction received them with contempt, the blues with for the destruction of mankind. Such base incon- compassion; and this difference, which sunk deep sistency must doubtless sully the reputation, and into the mind of Theodora, was felt long afterwards detract from the credit, of Procopius: yet, after in the administration of the empire. As they imthe venom of his malignity has been suffered to proved in age and beauty, the three sisters were exhale, the residue of the anecdotes, even the most successively devoted to the public and private disgraceful facts, some of which had been tenderly pleasures of the Byzantine people; and Theodora, hinted in his public history, are established by after following Comito on the stage, in the dress their internal evidence, or the authentic monuments of a slave, with a stool on her head, was at length of the times. From these various materials, I permitted to exercise her independent talents. shall now proceed to describe the reign of Justinian, She neither danced, nor sung, nor played on the which will deserve and occupy an ample space. flute; her skill was confined to the pantomime arts; The present chapter will explain the she excelled in buffoon characters, and as often as reign of Justi- elevation and character of Theodora, the comedian swelled her cheeks, and complained the factions of the circus, and the with a ridiculous tone and gesture of the blows peaceful administration of the sovereign of the that were inflicted, the whole theatre of Constantieast. In the three succeeding chapters, I shall re- nople resounded with laughter and applause. The late the wars of Justinian which achieved the con- beauty of Theodora was the subject of more flatquest of Africa and Italy; and I shall follow the vic- tering praise, and the source of more exquisite tories of Belisarius and Narses, without disguising delight. Her features were delicate and regular; the vanity of their triumphs, or the hostile virtue of her complexion, though somewhat pale, was tinged the Persian and Gothic heroes. The series of this with a natural colour; every sensation was instantand the following volume will embrace the juris-ly expressed by the vivacity of her eyes; her easy prudence and theology of the emperor; the controversies and sects which still divide the oriental church; the reformation of the Roman law, which is obeyed or respected by the nations of modern Europe.

Division of, the

nian.

I. In the exercise of supreme power, Birth and vices of the empress the first act of Justinian was to divide Theodora. it with the woman whom he loved, the famous Theodora," whose strange elevation cannot be applauded as the triumph of female virtue. Under the reign of Anastasius, the care of the wild beasts maintained by the green faction of Constantinople, was intrusted to Acacius, a native of the isle of Cyprus, who, from his employment, was surnamed the master of the bears. This honourable office was given after his death to another candidate, notwithstanding the diligence of his widow, who had already provided a husband and a successor. Acacius had left three daughters, Comito, THEO

r Procopius discloses himself, (Præfat. ad Anecdot. c. 1, 2. 5.) and the anecdotes are reckoned as the ninth book by Suidas. (tom. iii. p. 186. edit. Kuster.) The silence of Evagrius is a poor objection. Baro. nius (A. D. 548, No. 24.) regrets the loss of this secret history: it was then in the Vatican library, in his own custody, and was first published sixteen years after his death, with the learned, but partial, notes of Nicholas Alemannus. (Lugd. 1623.)

s Justiniau an ass- the perfect likeness of Domitian-Anecdot. c. 8. -Theodora's lovers driven from her bed by rival dæmous-her marriage foretold with a great dæmon-a monk saw the prince of the dæmons, instead of Justinian, on the throne-the servants who watched beheld a face without features, a body walking without a head, &c. &c. Procopius declares his own and his friends' belief in these diabolical stories, (c. 12.)

t Montesquieu (Considerations sur la Grandeur et la Decadence des Romains, c. xx.) gives credit to these anecdotes, as connected, 1. with the weakness of the empire, and, 2. with the instability of Justinian's laws.

u For the life and manners of the empress Theodora, see the Auec. dotes; more especially c. 1-5. 9, 10–15. 16, 17. with the learned notes of Alemannus a reference to which is always implied.

x Comito was afterwards married to Sittas duke of Armenia, the father, perhaps, at least she might be the mother, of the empress So

motions displayed the graces of a small but elegant figure; and either love or adulation might proclaim, that painting and poetry were incapable of delineating the matchless excellence of her form. But this form was degraded by the facility with which it was exposed to the public eye, and pros→ tituted to licentious desire. Her venal charms were abandoned to a promiscuous crowd of citizens and strangers, of every rank, and of every profession the fortunate lover who had been promised a night of enjoyment, was often driven from her bed by a stronger or more wealthy favourite; and when she passed through the streets, her presence was avoided by all who wished to escape either the scandal or the temptation. The satirical historian has not blushed to describe the naked scenes which Theodora was not ashamed to exhibit in the theatre. After exhausting the arts of sensual pleasure, she most ungratefully murmured

:

b

phia. Two nephews of Theodora may be the sons of Anastasia. (Aleman. p. 30, 31.)

y Her statue was raised at Constantinople, on a porphyry column. See Procopius, (de Edif. I. i. c. 11.) who gives her portrait in the Anecdotes. (c. 10.) Aleman. (p. 47.) produces one from a Mosaic at Ravenna, loaded with pearls and jewels, and yet handsome,

z A fragment of the Anecdotes, (c. 9.) somewhat too naked, was suppressed by Alemannus, though extant in the Vatican MS. nor has the defect been supplied in the Paris or Venice editions. La Mothe le Vayer (tom. viii. p. 155.) gave the first hint of this curious and genuine passage, (Jortin's Remarks, vol. iv. p. 366.) which he had received from Rome, and it has been since published in the Menagiana, (tom. iii. p. 254-259.) with a Latin version.

a After the mention of a narrow girdle, (as none could appear stark naked in the theatre,) Procopius thus proceeds: avаяеятOKULA TE EV τῳ εδάφει υπτία εκείτο. Θητες δε τινες . . . . κριθας αυτη ύπερθεν των αιδοίων ερριπτον, ὡς δὲ ὁι χηνες, δι ες τότο παρεσχευασμένοι, εντυγ χάνον τοις ςομασιν ενθενός κατα μιαν ανελυμένοι εισθιον. I have heard that a learned prelate, now deceased, was fond of quoting this passage in conversation.

b Theodora surpassed the Crispa of Ausonius, (Epigram lxxi.) who imitated the capitalis luxus of the females of Nola. See Quintilian Institut. viii. 6. and Torentius ad Horat. Sermon. 1. i. sat. 2. v. 101.

against the parsimony of nature: but her murmurs, | ject of his affection; the treasures of the east were her pleasures, and her arts, must be veiled in the poured at her feet, and the nephew of Justin was obscurity of a learned language. After reigning for determined, perhaps by religious scruples, to besome time the delight and contempt of the capital, stow on his concubine the sacred and legal chashe condescended to accompany Ecebolus, a native racter of a wife. But the laws of Rome expressly of Tyre, who had obtained the government of the prohibited the marriage of a senator with any female African Pentapolis. But this union was frail and who had been dishonoured by a servile origin or transient Ecebolus soon rejected an expensive theatrical profession: the empress Lupicina, or or faithless concubine; she was reduced at Alex- Euphemia, a barbarian of rustic manners, but of andria to extreme distress; and in her laborious irreproachable virtue, refused to accept a prostitute return to Constantinople, every city of the east ad- for her niece; and even Vigilantia, the superstimired and enjoyed the fair Cyprian, whose merit tious mother of Justinian, though she acknowledged appeared to justify her descent from the peculiar the wit and beauty of Theodora, was seriously apisland of Venus. The vague commerce of Theo-prehensive, lest the levity and arrogance of that artdora, and the most detestable precautions, pre-ful paramour might corrupt the piety and happiness served her from the danger which she feared; yet once, and once only, she became a mother. The infant was saved and educated in Arabia, by his father, who imparted to him on his death-bed, that he was the son of an empress. Filled with ambitious hopes, the unsuspecting youth immediately hastened to the palace of Constantinople, and was admitted to the presence of his mother. As he was never more seen, even after the decease of Theodora, she deserves the foul imputation of extinguishing with his life a secret so offensive to her imperial virtue.

Her marriage

In the most abject state of her forwith Justinian. tune and reputation, some vision, either of sleep or of fancy, had whispered to Theodora the pleasing assurance that she was destined to become the spouse of a potent monarch. Conscious of her approaching greatness, she returned from Paphlagonia to Constantinople; assumed, like a skilful actress, a more decent character; relieved her poverty by the laudable industry of spinning wool; and affected a life of chastity and solitude in a small house, which she afterwards changed into a magnificent temple. Her beauty, assisted by art or accident, soon attracted, captivated, and fixed the patrician Justinian, who already reigned with absolute sway under the name of his uncle. Perhaps she contrived to enhance the value of a gift which she had so often lavished on the meanest of mankind: perhaps she inflamed, at first by modest delays, and at last by sensual allurements, the desires of a lover, who from nature or devotion was addicted to long vigils and abstemious diet. When his first transports had subsided, she still maintained the same ascendant over his mind, by the more solid merit of temper and understanding. Justinian delighted to ennoble and enrich the ob

At a memorable supper, thirty slaves waited round the table; ten young men feasted with Theodora. Her charity was universal.

Et lassata viris, necdum satiata, recessit.

• Ηδε κακ' τριων τρυπημάτων εργαζομένη ενεκάλει τη φύσει δυσφο ρεμενη ότι δε μη και τίττες αυτή ευρύτερον η νυν εισι τρυπων, όπως δυνατη είη και εκείνη εργάζεσθαι. She wished for a fourth altar, on which she might pour libations to the god of love.

d Anonym. de Antiquitat. C. P. L. iii. 132. in Banduri Imperium Orient. tom. i. p. 48. Ludewig (p. 154.) argues sensibly that Theodora would not have immortalized a brothel but I apply this fact to her second and chaster residence at Constantinople.

e See the old law in Justinian's Code, (1. v. tit. v. leg. 7. tit. xxvii. leg. 1.) under the years 336 and 454. The new edict (about the year 521 or 522, Aleman. p. 38. 96.) very awkwardly repeals no more than

of her son. These obstacles were removed by the inflexible constancy of Justinian. He patiently expected the death of the empress; he despised the tears of his mother, who soon sunk under the weight of her affliction; and a law was promulgated in the name of the emperor Justin, which abolished the rigid jurisprudence of antiquity. A glorious repentance (the words of the edict) was left open for the unhappy females who had prostituted their persons on the theatre, and they were permitted to contract a legal union with the most illustrious of the Romans.e This indulgence was speedily followed by the solemn nuptials of Justinian and Theodora; her dignity was gradually exalted with that of her lover; and, as soon as Justin had invested his nephew with the purple, the patriarch of Constantinople placed the diadem on the heads of the emperor and empress of the east. But the usual honours which the severity of Roman manners had allowed to the wives of princes, could not satisfy either the ambition of Theodora or the fondness of Justinian. He seated her on the throne as an equal and independent colleague in the sovereignty of the empire, and an oath of allegiance was imposed on the governors of the provinces in the joint names of Justinian and Theodora. The eastern world fell prostrate before the genius and fortune of the daughter of Acacius. The prostitute who, in the presence of innumerable spectators, had polluted the theatre of Constantinople, was adored as a queen in the same city, by grave magistrates, orthodox bishops, victorious generals, and captive monarchs.

Those who believe that the female mind is totally depraved by the loss of chastity, will eagerly listen to all the invectives of private envy or popular resentment, which have dissembled the virtues of

the clause of mulieres scenica, libertina, tabernariæ. See the novels 89 and 117. and a Greek rescript from Justinian to the bishops. (Aleman. p. 41.)

f I swear by the Father, &c. by the Virgin Mary, by the four Gos pels, quæ in manibus teneo, and by the holy archangels, Michael and Gabriel, puram conscientiam germanumque servitium me servaturum, sacratissimis DDNN. Justiniano et Theodoræ conjugi ejus. (Novell. viii. tit. 3.) Would the oath have been binding in favour of the widow? Communes tituli et triumphi, &c. (Aleman. p. 47, 48.)

"Let greatness own her, and she's mean no more," &c. Without Warburton's critical telescope, I should never have seen, in the general picture of triumphant vice, any personal allusion to Theodora.

Theodora, exaggerated her vices, and condemned with rigour the venal or voluntary sins of the youthful harlot. From a motive of shame, or contempt, she often declined the servile homage of the multitude, escaped from the odious light of the capital, and passed the greatest part of the year in the palaces and gardens which were pleasantly seated on the sea-coast of the Propontis and the Bosphorus. Her private hours were devoted to the prudent as well as grateful care of her beauty, the luxury of the bath and table, and the long slumber of the evening and the morning. Her secret apartments were occupied by the favourite women and eunuchs, whose interests and passions she indulged at the expense of justice; the most illustrious personages of the state were crowded into a dark and sultry antichamber, and when at last, after a tedious attendance, they were admitted to kiss the feet of Theodora, they experienced, as her humour might suggest, the silent arrogance of an empress, or the capricious levity of a comedian. Her rapacious avarice to accumulate an immense treasury, may be excused by the apprehension of her husband's death, which could leave no alternative between ruin and the throne; and fear as well as ambition might exasperate Theodora against two generals, who, during a malady of the emperor, had rashly declared that they were not disposed to acquiesce in the choice of the capital. But the reproach of cruelty, so repugnant even to her softest vices, has left an indelible stain on the memory of Theodora. Her numerous spies observed, and zealously reported, every action, or word, or look, injurious to their royal mistress. Whomsoever they accused were cast into her peculiar prisons, inaccessible to the inquiries of justice; and it was rumoured, that the torture of the rack, or scourge, had been inflicted in the presence of a female tyrant, insensible to the voice of prayer or of pity. Some of these unhappy victims perished in deep unwholesome dungeons, while others were permitted, after the loss of their limbs, their reason, or their fortune, to appear in the world the living monuments of her vengeance, which was commonly extended to the children of those whom she had suspected or injured. The senator or bishop, whose death or exile Theodora had pronounced, was delivered to a trusty messenger, and his diligence was quickened by a menace from her own mouth. "If you fail in the execution of my commands, I swear by him who liveth for ever, that your skin shall be flayed from your body.”

If the creed of Theodora had not Her virtues, been tainted with heresy, her exemplary devotion might have atoned, in the opinion of

h Her prisons, a labyrinth, a Tartarus, (Anecdot. c. 4.) were under the palace. Darkness is propitious to cruelty, but it is likewise favourable to calumny and fiction.

i A more jocular whipping was inflicted on Saturninus, for presuming to say that his wife, a favourite of the empress, had not been found атpηTOS. (Anecdot. c. 17.)

k Per viventem in sæcula excoriari te faciam. Anastasius de Vitis Pont. Roman. in Vigilio, p. 40.

1 Ludewig, p. 161-166. I give him credit for the charitable attempt, although he hath not much charity in his temper.

m Compare the Anecdotes (c. 17.) with the Edifices. (1. i. c. 9.) How

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her contemporaries, for pride, avarice, and cruelty. But, if she employed her influence to assuage the intolerant fury of the emperor, the present age will allow some merit to her religion, and much indulgence to her speculative errors.' The name of Theodora was introduced, with equal honour, in all the pious and charitable foundations of Justinian ; and the most benevolent institution of his reign may be ascribed to the sympathy of the empress for her less fortunate sisters, who had been seduced or compelled to embrace the trade of prostitution. A palace, on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, was converted into a stately and spacious monastery, and a liberal maintenance was assigned to five hundred women, who had been collected from the streets and brothels of Constantinople. In this safe and holy retreat, they were devoted to perpetual confinement; and the despair of some, who threw themselves headlong into the sea, was lost in the gratitude of the penitents, who had been delivered from sin and misery by their generous benefactress. The prudence of Theodora is celebrated by Justinian himself; and his laws are attributed to the sage counsels of his most revered wife, whom he had received as the gift of the Deity." Her courage was displayed amidst the tumult of the people and the terrors of the court. Her chastity, from the moment of her union with Justinian, is founded on the silence of her implacable enemies; and, although the daughter of Acacius might be satiated with love, yet some applause is due to the firmness of a mind which could sacrifice pleasure and habit to the stronger sense either of duty or interest. The wishes and prayers of Theodora could never obtain the blessing of a lawful son, and she buried an infant daughter, the sole offspring of her marriage. Notwithstanding this disappointment, her dominion was permanent and absolute; she preserved, by art or merit, the affections of Justinian; and their seeming dissensions were always fatal to the courtiers who believed them to be sincere. Perhaps her health had been impaired by the licentiousness of her youth; but it was always delicate, and she was directed by her physicians to use the Pythian warm baths. In this journey, the empress was followed by the prætorian præfect, the great treasurer, several counts and patricians, and a splendid train of four thousand attendants; the highways were repaired at her approach; a palace was erected for her reception; and as she passed through Bithynia, she distributed liberal alms to the churches, the monasteries, and the hospitals, that they might implore Heaven for the restoration of her health. At length, in the

differently may the same fact be stated! John Malala (tom. ii. p. 174, 175.) observes, that on this or a similar occasion, she released and clothed the girls whom she had purchased from the stews at five aurei a-piece.

n Novel. viii. 1. An allusion to Theodora. Her enemies read the name Dæmonodora. (Aleman, p. 66.)

o St. Sabas refused to pray for a son of Theodora, lest he should prove an heretic worse than Anastasius himself. (Cyril in Vit. St. Sabæ, apud Aleman. p. 70. 109.)

P_See John Malala, tom. ii. p. 174. Theophanes, p. 158. Procopius de Edific. I. v. c. 3.

and death, A. D. 548. June 11.

and the twenty-second of her reign, she was consumed by a cancer; and the irreparable loss was deplored by her husband, who, in the room of a theatrical prostitute, might have selected the purest and most noble virgin of the east.

the circus,

at Rome.

twenty-fourth year of her marriage, | absurd than the blind ardour of the Roman people,
who devoted their lives and fortunes to the colour
which they had espoused. Such folly was disdained
and indulged by the wisest princes; but the names
of Caligula, Nero, Vitellius, Verus, Commodus,
Caracalla, and Elagabalus, were enrolled in the
blue or green factions of the circus:
they frequented their stables, ap-
plauded their favourites, chastised their antagonists,
and deserved the esteem of the populace, by the
natural or affected imitation of their manners. The
bloody and tumultuous contest continued to disturb
the public festivity, till the last age of the spectacles
of Rome; and Theodoric, from a motive of justice
or affection, interposed his authority to protect the
greens against the violence of a consul and a
patrician, who were passionately addicted to the
blue faction of the circus."

The factions of II. A material difference may be
observed in the games of antiquity:
the most eminent of the Greeks were actors, the
Romans were merely spectators. The Olympic
stadium was open to wealth, merit, and ambition;
and if the candidates could depend on their per-
sonal skill and activity, they might pursue the
footsteps of Diomede and Menelaus, and conduct
their own horses in the rapid career. Ten, twenty,
forty chariots, were allowed to start at the same
instant; a crown of leaves was the reward of the
victor; and his fame, with that of his family and
country, was chanted in lyric strains more durable
than monuments of brass and marble. But a sena-
tor, or even a citizen, conscious of his dignity,
would have blushed to expose his person or his
horses in the circus of Rome. The games were
exhibited at the expense of the republic, the magis-
trates, or the emperors: but the reins were aban-
doned to servile hands; and if the profits of a
favourite charioteer sometimes exceeded those of
an advocate, they must be considered as the effects
of popular extravagance, and the high wages of a
disgraceful profession. The race, in its first insti-
tution, was a simple contest of two chariots, whose
drivers were distinguished by white and red liveries;
two additional colours, a light green, and a cærulean
blue, were afterwards introduced; and, as the races
were repeated twenty-five times, one hundred cha-
riots contributed in the same day to the pomp of the
circus. The four factions soon acquired a legal
establishment, and a mysterious origin, and their
fanciful colours were derived from the various ap-
pearances of nature in the four seasons of the year;
the red dog-star of summer, the snows of winter,
the deep shades of autumn, and the cheerful ver-
dure of the spring. Another interpretation pre-
ferred the elements to the seasons, and the struggle
of the green and blue was supposed to represent the
conflict of the earth and sea. Their respective vic-
tories announced either a plentiful harvest or a
prosperous navigation, and the hostility of the
husbandmen and mariners was somewhat less

q Theodora Chalcedonensis synodi inimica canceris plagâ toto corpore perfusa vitam prodigiose finivit. (Victor Tunnunensis in Chron.) On such occasions, au orthodox mind is steeled against pity. Alemannus (p. 12, 13.) understands the evσeßws ekonon of Theophanes as civil language, which does not imply either piety or repentance'; yet two years after her death, St. Theodora is celebrated by Paul Silentiarius, (in Proem. v. 58-62.)

As she persecuted the popes, and rejected a council, Baronius exhausts the names of Eve, Dalila, Herodias, &c.: after which he has recourse to his infernal dictionary: civis inferni-alumna dæmonum — satanico agitata spiritû-astro percita diabolico, &c. &c. (A. D. 548, No. 24.)

Read and feel the 23rd book of the Iliad, a living picture of manners, passions, and the whole form and spirit of the chariot-race. West's Dissertation on the Olympic games, (sect. xii-xvii.) affords much curious and authentic information.

The four colours, albati, russati, prasini, veneti, represent the four seasons, according to Cassiodorius, (Var. iii. 51.) who lavishes

and the east.

Constantinople adopted the follies, They distract though not the virtues, of ancient Constantinople Rome; and the same factions which had agitated the circus, raged with redoubled fury in the hippodrome. Under the reign of Anastasius, this popular frenzy was inflamed by religious zeal; and the greens, who had treacherously concealed stones and daggers under baskets of fruit, massacred, at a solemn festival, three thousand of their blue adversaries. From the capital, this pestilence was diffused into the provinces and cities of the east, and the sportive distinction of two colours produced two strong and irreconcilable factions, which shook the foundations of a feeble government. The popular dissensions, founded on the most serious interest, or holy pretence, have scarcely equalled the obstinacy of this wanton discord, which invaded the peace of families, divided friends and brothers, and tempted the female sex, though seldom seen in the circus, to espouse the inclinations of their lovers, or to contradict the wishes of their husbands. Every law, either human or divine, was trampled under foot, and as long as the party was successful, its deluded followers appeared careless of private distress or public calamity. The licence, without the freedom, of democracy, was revived at Antioch and Constantinople, and the support of a faction became necessary to every candidate for civil or ecclesiastical honours. A secret attachment to the family or sect of Anastasius was imputed to the greens; the blues were zealously devoted to the cause of orthodoxy and

much wit and eloquence on this theatrical mystery. Of these colours, the three first may be fairly translated white, red, and green.

Venetus

is explained by cæruleus, a word various and vague: it is properly the sky reflected in the sea; but custom and convenience may allow blue as an equivalent. (Robert. Stephan. sub. voce. Spence's Polymetis, p. 228.)

u See Onuphrius Panvinius de Ludis Circensibus, 1. i. c. 10, 11; the seventeenth Annotation on Mascou's History of the Germans; and Aleman, ad c. vii.

x Marcellin. in Chron. p. 47. Instead of the vulgar word veneta, he uses the more exquisite terms of cærulea and cærealis. Baronius (A. D. 501, No. 4, 5, 6.) is satisfied that the blues were orthodox; but Tillemont is angry at the supposition, and will not allow any martyrs in a play-house. (Hist. des Emp. tom. vi. 554.)

y See Procopius, Persic. 1. i. c. 24. In describing the vices of the factions and of the government, the public is not more favourable than the secret historian. Aleman. (p. 26.) has quoted a fine passage from Gregory Nazianzen, which proves the inveteracy of the evil..

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