l the
Eastern emperor, Anastasius, to accept the degradation of Acacius and
his party, and to enforce the assent of all his clergy thereto, but in
vain. On the accession of Justin to the imperial throne, Rome at last
carried her point; all her conditions were admitted; the schism was
ended in the humiliation of the Bishop of Constantinople, it was said,
through the orthodoxy of the emperor. But very soon began to appear
unmistakable indications that for this religious victory a temporal
equivalent had been given. Conspiracies were detected in Rome against
Theodoric, the Gothic king; and rumours were whispered about that the
arms of Constantinople would before long release Italy from the
heretical yoke of the Arian. There can be no doubt that Theodoric
detected the treason. It was an evil reward for his impartial equity. At
once he disarmed the population of Rome. From being a merciful
sovereign, he exhibited an awful vengeance. It was in these transactions
that Boethius, the philosopher, and Symmachus, the senator, fell victims
to his wrath. The pope John himself was thrown into prison, and there
miserably died. In his remonstrances with Justin, the great barbarian
monarch displays sentiments far above his times, yet they were the
sentiments that had hitherto regulated his actions. "To pretend to a
dominion over the conscience is to usurp the prerogative of God. By the
nature of things, the power of sovereigns is confined to political
government. They have no right of punishment but over those who disturb
the public peace. The most dangerous heresy is that of a sovereign who
separates himself from part of his subjects because they believe not
according to his belief."

[Sidenote: The conspiracy matures.]

[Sidenote: Subjugation of the pope by the emperor.]

Theodoric had been but a few years dead--his soul was seen by an
orthodox hermit carried by devils into the crater of the volcano of
Lipari, which was considered to be the opening into hell--when the
invasion of Italy by Justinian showed how well-founded his suspicions
had been. Rome was, however, very far from receiving the advantages she
had expected; the inconceivable wickedness of Constantinople was brought
into Italy. Pope Sylverius, who was the son of Pope Hormisdas, was
deposed by Theodora, the emperor's wife. This woman, once a common
prostitute, sold the papacy to Vigilius for two hundred pounds of gold.
Her accomplice, Antonina, the unprincipled wife of