sleep, and do all his other needs; there was no difference
between him and an ass, save that he did not bray. No less than four
months were passed by him in this condition, until he was seized with
melancholy and became violently mad, upon which he was released from
his prison and soon afterwards died.

As for Belisarius, she forced him against his will to become
reconciled to his wife Antonina. Photius, by her orders, was tortured
like a slave, and was beaten with rods upon the back and shoulders,
and ordered to disclose where Theodosius and the pander eunuch were.
But he, although cruelly tortured, kept the oath which he had sworn
inviolate; and although he was naturally weak and delicate, and had
always been forced to take care of his health, and had never had any
experience of ill-treatment or discomfort of any kind, yet he never
revealed any of Belisarius's secrets.

But afterwards all that had hitherto been kept secret came to light.
Theodora discovered the whereabouts of Calligonus, and restored him to
Antonina. She also found where Theodosius was, and had him conveyed to
Byzantium, and, on his arrival, concealed him straightway in the
palace. On the morrow she sent for Antonina, and said to her, "Dearest
lady, a pearl fell into my hands yesterday, so beautiful that I think
no one has ever seen its like. If you would like to see it, I will not
grudge you the sight of it, but will gladly show it to you."

Antonina, who did not understand what was going on, begged eagerly to
be shown the pearl, whereupon Theodora led Theodosius by the hand out
of the chamber of one of her eunuchs and displayed him to her.
Antonina was at first speechless through excess of joy, and when she
had recovered herself, warmly protested her gratitude to Theodora,
whom she called her saviour, her benefactress, and truly her mistress.
Theodora kept Theodosius in her palace, treated him with every luxury,
and even boasted that, before long, she would appoint him
generalissimo of the Roman armies. But divine justice, which carried
him off through dysentery, prevented this.

Theodora had at her disposal secret and absolutely secluded dungeons,
so solitary and so dark that it was impossible to distinguish between
night and day. In one of these she kept Photius imprisoned for a long
time. He managed, however, to escape, not only once, but twice. The
first time he took sanctuary in the Church of the Mother of God, which
is one of the most sac