ntent. Adversity
had awakened the Romans from the dreams of grandeur and freedom, and
taught them the humiliating lesson, that it was of small moment to their
real happiness, whether the name of their master was derived from the
Gothic or the Latin language. The lieutenant of Justinian listened to
their just complaints, but he rejected with disdain the idea of flight
or capitulation; repressed their clamorous impatience for battle; amused
them with the prospect of a sure and speedy relief; and secured himself
and the city from the effects of their despair or treachery. Twice in
each month he changed the station of the officers to whom the custody
of the gates was committed: the various precautions of patroles, watch
words, lights, and music, were repeatedly employed to discover whatever
passed on the ramparts; out-guards were posted beyond the ditch, and the
trusty vigilance of dogs supplied the more doubtful fidelity of mankind.
A letter was intercepted, which assured the king of the Goths that the
Asinarian gate, adjoining to the Lateran church, should be secretly
opened to his troops. On the proof or suspicion of treason, several
senators were banished, and the pope Sylverius was summoned to attend
the representative of his sovereign, at his head-quarters in the Pincian
palace. [89] The ecclesiastics, who followed their bishop, were detained
in the first or second apartment, [90] and he alone was admitted to the
presence of Belisarius. The conqueror of Rome and Carthage was modestly
seated at the feet of Antonina, who reclined on a stately couch: the
general was silent, but the voice of reproach and menace issued from
the mouth of his imperious wife. Accused by credible witnesses, and
the evidence of his own subscription, the successor of St. Peter was
despoiled of his pontifical ornaments, clad in the mean habit of a monk,
and embarked, without delay, for a distant exile in the East. [9011] At
the emperor's command, the clergy of Rome proceeded to the choice of a
new bishop; and after a solemn invocation of the Holy Ghost, elected the
deacon Vigilius, who had purchased the papal throne by a bribe of two
hundred pounds of gold. The profit, and consequently the guilt, of this
simony, was imputed to Belisarius: but the hero obeyed the orders of his
wife; Antonina served the passions of the empress; and Theodora lavished
her treasures, in the vain hope of obtaining a pontiff hostile or
indifferent to the council of Chalce