CHAPTER XII.
In one of the small rooms of the Emperor's palace in Byzantium, a shorttime after the Feast of the Floralia, a little man of insignificantappearance was pacing to and fro, lost in anxious thought.
The room was quiet and lonely. Although outside it was broad daylight,the bay-window, which looked into the court of the extensive edifice,was thickly hung with heavy curtains of gold-brocade. Equally costlystuffs covered the mosaic floor, so that no noise accompanied thefootsteps of the solitary inmate.
A softened light filled the room. Relieved against the goldenbackground of the walls, stood a row of small white busts of theChristian Emperors since Constantine. Exactly over a writing divan,hung a large cross of massive gold. Whenever the little man passedthis, he bent before it; for in the middle of the gold, and coveredwith glass, a splinter of wood was enclosed, said to be a piece of thetrue Cross. At last he stopped before a map, which, representing the_orbis Romanus_, and traced upon a parchment with a purple border,covered one of the walls.
After a long and searching look, he sighed and covered his eyes withhis hands. They were not beautiful, nor was his face noble; but hisfeatures were exceedingly suggestive both of good and evil. Mistrust,cunning and vigilance lay in the restless glance of his deep-set eyes;deep wrinkles, more the result of care than of age, furrowed hisprojecting forehead and hollow cheeks.
"Who can foresee the result?" he exclaimed, sighing again, and rubbinghis long and bony hands. "I am unceasingly impelled to do it. A spirithas entered my bosom, and it warns me repeatedly. But is it an angel ofthe Lord or a demon? Who can interpret my dream? Forgive, Thou TriuneGod, forgive Thy most zealous servant! Thou hast cursed him whointerprets dreams. And yet Joseph interpreted the dreams of KingPharaoh, and Jacob saw the heavens open; and their dreams were fromThee. Shall I, dare I venture?"
Again he walked to and fro; and who knows how long he would havecontinued to do so, had not the purple curtains of the doorway beengently drawn aside. A slave, glittering with gold, threw himself on theground before the little man, with his arms crossed on his breast.
"Emperor, the patricians whom you summoned have arrived.
"Patience!" said the Emperor to himself, and seated himself upon acouch, of which the supports were made of gold and ivory. "Quick withthe shoes and the chlamys!"
The slave drew a pair of sandals with thick soles and high heels uponthe Emperor's feet, which added some inches to his height, and threwover his shoulders a rich mantle worked all over with stars of gold,kissing each article as he touched it. After a repetition of the humbleprostration, which had lately been introduced at Byzantium in thisaggravated form of Oriental submission, the slave withdrew.
Emperor Justinian placed himself opposite the entrance in the attitudein which he was accustomed to give audience, resting his left arm upona broken porphyry column from the Temple of Jerusalem.
The curtain at the entrance was again parted, and three men entered,with the same salutation as the slave; and yet they were the first menof the empire, as was shown by their characteristic heads andintellectual features, still more than by their richly-decoratedgarments.
"We have summoned you," began the Emperor, without noticing theirhumble greeting, "to hear your advice concerning Italy. You have hadall necessary information--the letters of the Queen-regent, and thedocuments of the patriotic party. You have also had three days toreflect. Speak first, Magister Militum."
And he turned to the tallest of the three, a man of stately and heroicfigure, clad in a full suit of richly-gilded armour. His well-opened,light-brown eyes were frank and confident; his large, straight nose andfull cheeks gave his face an expression of health and strength. Therewas something Herculean about his broad chest and powerful thighsand arms; but his mouth, in spite of the fierce beard, was mild andgood-humoured.
"Sire," he said, in a full, deep-chested voice, "the advice ofBelisarius is always, 'Attack the enemy!' At your command, I latelydestroyed the Kingdom of the Vandals, in Africa, with fifteen thousandmen. Give me thirty thousand, and I will lay the Gothic crown at yourfeet."
"'Tis well," said the Emperor approvingly. "Your words have done megood. What say you, Tribonianus, pearl of jurists?"
The jurist was little shorter than Belisarius, but not sobroad-shouldered and stout-limbed. His high, grave forehead, quieteyes, and expressive mouth, bore witness to a powerful mind.
"Emperor," said he firmly, "I warn you against this war. It is unjust."
Justinian started up indignantly.
"Unjust!--to recover that which belongs to the Roman Empire!"
"Which _did_ belong. Your predecessor, Zeno, ceded the West toTheodoric and his Goths when they had overthrown the usurper Odoacer."
"Theodoric was to be the Viceregent of the Emperor, not the King ofItaly."
"Admitted. But after he had become King--as he could not fail to do,for a Theodoric could never be the servant of another--the EmperorAnastasius, your uncle Justinus, and, later, you yourself, acknowledgedhim and his kingdom."
"That was under the pressure of necessity. Now that they are in need,and I the stronger, I revoke that acknowledgment."
"That is exactly what I call unjust."
"You are blunt and disagreeable, Tribonianus, and a tough disputant.You are excellently fitted to compile my pandects. I will never againask your advice in politics. What has justice to do with politics?"
"Justice, Justinianus, is the best policy."
"Bah! Alexander and Caesar thought differently."
"But, first, they never completed their work; and, secondly----"
He stopped.
"Well, secondly?"
"Secondly, you are not Caesar, nor are you Alexander."
All were silent. After a pause, the Emperor said quietly:
"You are very frank, Tribonianus."
"Always, Justinianus."
The Emperor quickly turned to the third of his advisers:
"Well, what is your opinion, Narses?"