Page:1909historyofdec04gibbuoft.djvu/268

230 THE DECLINE AND FALL [Chap. XL 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. 29 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 Constanti- nople, was adored as a queen in the same city, by grave magis- trates, orthodox bishops, victorious generals, and captive monarchs. 30 Her 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 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 p. 41). [Note (1) that the only authority for the objections of Justinian's mother to his marriage is the Life of Theophilus ; and (2) that the law of c. 522 a.d. (Cod. Just. v. 4, 23) had no connexion with Theodora, notwithstanding the statement of Procopius, Anecd. c. 9.] 29 1 swear by the Father, &c, by the Virgin Mary, by the Four Gospels, quae in manibus teneo, and by the holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, puram con- scientiam germanumque servitium me servaturum, sacratissimis DDNN. Justiniano et Theodora conjugi ejus (Novell, viii. tit. 3 [xvi. p. 123, ed. Zach.]). Would the oath have been binding in favour of the widow ? Communes tituli et triumphi, &c. (Aleman. p. 47, 48). 30 " Let greatness own her, and she's mean no more," &c. Without War- burton's critical telescope, I should never have seen, in the general picture of triumphant vice, any personal allusion to Theodora. tyranny