of the history and the
libels of Procopius, being a Roman general, owes his universal
reputation to the creation of an imaginary Belisarius by some unknown
Greek romance-writer or ballad-singer. The interest of mankind in the
conquests and records of Byzantine Rome has become torpid; but the
feelings of humanity, in favour of the victims of courtly ingratitude,
are immortal. The unextinguishable aversion of the Hellenic race to
tyranny and oppression, has given a degree of fame to the name of
Belisarius which his own deeds, great as they were, would never have
conferred. This is but one proof of the singular influence exercised by
the Hellenic mind over the rest of the world during the middle ages. It
may be continually traced in the literature both of the east and the
west. Whenever the sympathies are awakened by general sentiments of
philanthropy among the emirs of the east, or the barons of the west,
there is reason to suspect that the origin of the tale must be sought in
Greece. Europe has been guided by the mind of Hellas in every age, from
the days of Homer to those of Tzetzes; and its power has been maintained
by addressing the feelings common to the whole human race--feelings long
cherished in Greece after they had been banished from western society by
Goths, Franks, and Normans.[52]

There is yet one important reflection which, if the study of the age of
Belisarius and Justinian does not suggest, we have failed to comprehend
its true spirit. In spite of its glory--of its legislative, its legal,
its military, its administrative, its architectural, and its
ecclesiastical greatness, it was destitute of that spiritual power which
rules and guides the souls of men. It was an age entirely material and
selfish. Religion was a mere formula: Christianity slept victorious
amidst the ruins of extinguished paganism. Belisarius could depose one
Pope, and sell the chair and the keys of St Peter to another, without
rousing the indignation of the Christian world. Liberty was an
incomprehensible term. That energy of individual independence and
physical force which excited the barbarians of the north to conquer the
western empire, and enabled the Romans of Byzantium to save the eastern,
was sinking into lethargy. Patriotism was an unknown feeling. Indeed,
what idea of nationality or love of country could be formed by the
privileged classes of Constantinople? Their successors the Turks may be
taken as interpreters of the sentimen