king; and that as often as the statue of Theodatus
was erected in brass on marble, the divine image of Justinian should be
placed on its right hand. Instead of conferring, the king of Italy was
reduced to solicit, the honors of the senate; and the consent of the
emperor was made indispensable before he could execute, against a priest
or senator, the sentence either of death or confiscation. The feeble
monarch resigned the possession of Sicily; offered, as the annual
mark of his dependence, a crown of gold of the weight of three hundred
pounds; and promised to supply, at the requisition of his sovereign,
three thousand Gothic auxiliaries, for the service of the empire.
Satisfied with these extraordinary concessions, the successful agent of
Justinian hastened his journey to Constantinople; but no sooner had he
reached the Alban villa, [60] than he was recalled by the anxiety
of Theodatus; and the dialogue which passed between the king and the
ambassador deserves to be represented in its original simplicity. "Are
you of opinion that the emperor will ratify this treaty? Perhaps. If he
refuses, what consequence will ensue? War. Will such a war, be just
or reasonable? Most assuredly: every to his character. What is your
meaning? You are a philosopher--Justinian is emperor of the Romans: it
would all become the disciple of Plato to shed the blood of thousands
in his private quarrel: the successor of Augustus should vindicate his
rights, and recover by arms the ancient provinces of his empire." This
reasoning might not convince, but it was sufficient to alarm and subdue
the weakness of Theodatus; and he soon descended to his last offer,
that for the poor equivalent of a pension of forty-eight thousand pounds
sterling, he would resign the kingdom of the Goths and Italians, and
spend the remainder of his days in the innocent pleasures of philosophy
and agriculture.

Both treaties were intrusted to the hands of the ambassador, on the
frail security of an oath not to produce the second till the first had
been positively rejected. The event may be easily foreseen: Justinian
required and accepted the abdication of the Gothic king. His
indefatigable agent returned from Constantinople to Ravenna, with
ample instructions; and a fair epistle, which praised the wisdom and
generosity of the royal philosopher, granted his pension, with the
assurance of such honors as a subject and a Catholic might enjoy; and
wisely referred the final execut