ius was astonished at the change which had taken place in his
admired friend.

The Prefect's cold and severe reserve seemed to have disappeared; he
looked taller, younger; the glory of victory illumined his features. He
wore a richly-gilded helmet, from which the crimson mane flowed down to
his mail-coat. This last was a costly work of art from Athens, and
showed upon every one of its round plates a finely-worked relief in
chased silver, each representing a victory of the Romans. The
victorious expression of his beaming face, his proud carriage, and
scintillating armour, outshone Belisarius, the imperial magister
militum himself, and all his glittering staff, which, led by Johannes
and Procopius, followed close behind.

And this superiority was so striking, that by the time the procession
had passed through several streets, the impression was shared by the
mob, and the cry, "Cethegus!" was soon heard more loudly and frequently
than the name of "Belisarius!"

Antonina's fine ear soon began to remark this circumstance; she
listened uneasily at every pause of the procession to the cries and
remarks of the by-standers.

When they had left the Thermae of Titus behind them, and had reached the
Via Sacra, near the Flavian Amphitheatre, they were obliged to stop on
account of the crowd. A narrow triumphal arch had been erected here,
which could only be passed at a slow pace. "Victory, to the Emperor
Justinian and his general, Belisarius," was inscribed thereon.

As Antonina was reading this inscription, she heard an old man, who
appeared to be but scantily initiated into the course of events,
questioning his son, one of the legionaries of Cethegus.

"Then, my Gazus, the gloomy man with the angry-looking face, on the bay
horse----"

"Yes, that is Belisarius, as I told you."

"Indeed? Well--then the stately hero on his left hand, with the
triumphant look--he on the charger, must be his master, the Emperor
Justinian."

"Not at all, father. _He_ sits quietly in his golden palace at
Byzantium and writes laws. No; that is Cethegus, _our_ Cethegus, _my_
Cethegus, the Prefect, who gave me my sword. Yes, that _is_ a man!
Lucius, my tribune, said lately, 'If he did not allow it, Belisarius
would never see a Roman Gate from the inside.'"

Antonina gave her grey palfrey a smart stroke with her silver rod, and
galloped quickly through the triumphal arch.

Cethegus accompanied the commander-in-chief and his wife to the Pincian