Count Belisarius

Before the plague reached its full vehemence the dead were buried with the customary rites, each household disposing of its own corpses. But it fast became impossible to display such piety: old tombs were broken into by night for new tenants to be thrust into them. Finally in thousands of houses, even those of very rich citizens, every person was cither dead or fled, and the corpses lay rotting unburied. Justinian ordered his Registrar-General to take the matter in hand. The neglected corpses were buried in trenches; but soon the supply of labourers was insufficient to the task. Then the towers of the fortifications at Sycae on the other side of the Horn were used as charnel-houses, the dead being flung in through holes in the roof until there was room for no more. Though the roofs were sealed again a ghastly stench pervaded the city – especially when the wind blew from the north.

At the height of the pestilence more than 20,000 a day were dying. All trade and industry in the city came to an end, and of course social gatherings were out of the question. But there were services in the churches, which were thronged with terrified believers and became notorious centres of infection. The municipal food-supply failed, because no grain-ship captains dared to anchor in the harbour and the plague had spread to the farming districts too. Thousands who escaped the plague died of starvation. It was a time of signs and visions: ghosts paraded the daylight streets, and, greatest marvel of all, for once there was even peace between the Blue and Green factions. More nobility and virtue and loving-kindness were now shown by penitent evil-doers than ever before or since. Theodosius said to my mistress in this context: 'Our Lady Plague has a more persuasive voice by far, Godmother, than our Saviour, the Lord Jesus.' He always used a contemptuous tone in discussing the horrors around us, and made his own continued health seem to be a matter of good taste rather than good fortune. My mistress and I were also blessed with immunity. Whether or not this was due to frequent fumigation of the house with sulphur I do not know, but very few of my fellow-domestics sickened. Other houses, equally fortunate, ascribed their immunity to some Christian relic or heathen charm, or to some specific in which they had faith, such as curds or lemon-water or plum-pickle.

At about the time that the mortality began to decrease slightly, a whisper went through the Palace: 'His Sacred Majesty, the Emperor himself, is sick. It was thought to be a mere cold, but today a tumour has appeared on the groin. He is in a deep coma, and cannot even be persuaded to cat. It is impossible but he will live, the doctors agree.'

Then came the headless rumour spreading swiftly throughout the Empire: 'He is dead.' Even in that horrible time – for by now every diocese almost was afflicted – the people found heart to thank God that the evil were slain as well as the good. And they prayed that the next Emperor might be kinder to his subjects and more true to his word. When the rumour reached Belisarius he was at Carchemish – it was just before the five days' armistice. His officers came in a body and asked him: 'From whom do you take orders now, Illustrious Belisarius?'

He answered at once, not wishing to seem evasive or equivocal: 'The choice remains with the Senate. But my vote will go to Justin, the late Emperor's nephew and nearest of kin, who is highest in rank of all the Imperial Family.' (This was not Justin, the son of Germanus, but another, the son of Justinian's sister Vigilantia.)

They said: 'But, my lord, the oath of allegiance which all officers have been required to swear is jointly to Justinian as Emperor and Theodora as his wife.'

He replied: 'That may be. It happens that I swore my oath, under the old form, to Justinian alone. It is unconstitutional for a woman to be Empress in her own right. Though I regard Her Resplendency as a most capable and energetic administrator, I do not approve that a thousand-year-old rule should be broken in her favour. For this reason alone: the Goths and Armenians and Moors and many another race in the Empire would never consent to be ruled by a woman, and would remain in a constant state of rebellion so long as she lived.'

Boutzes agreed, adding: 'For my part, even if this were not the case, I should refuse to obey Theodora, who (I may now speak without disloyalty, the Emperor being dead) is no less of a monster than he was, but fiercer and more cunning even.'

The others all thought the same thing, but did not express themselves with such freedom.