314 THE DECLINE AND FALL [Chap, xli chariots of state which had been used by the Vandal queen ; the massy furniture of the royal banquet, the splendour of precious stones, the elegant forms of statues and vases, the more substan- tial treasure of gold, and the holy vessels of the Jewish temple, which, after their long peregrination, were respectfully deposited in the Christian church of Jerusalem. A long train of the noblest Vandals reluctantly exposed their lofty stature and manly countenance. Gelimer slowly advanced : he was clad in a purple robe, and still maintained the majesty of a king. Not a tear escaped from his eyes, not a sigh was heard ; but his pride or piety derived some secret consolation from the words of Solomon, 41 which he repeatedly pronounced, vanity ! vanity ! all is vanity! Instead of ascending a triumphal car drawn by four horses or elephants, the modest conqueror marched on foot at the head of his brave companions : his prudence might decline an honour too conspicuous for a subject ; and his magna- nimity might justly disdain what had been so often sullied by the vilest of tyrants. The glorious procession entered the gate of the hippodrome ; was saluted by the acclamations of the senate and people ; and halted before the throne where Jus- tinian and Theodora were seated to receive the homage of the captive monarch and the victorious hero. They both performed the customary adoration, and, falling prostrate on the ground, respectfully touched the footstool of a prince who had not un- sheathed his sword, and of a prostitute who had danced on the theatre ; some gentle violence was used to bend the stubborn spirit of the grandson of Genseric ; and, however trained to servitude, the genius of Belisarius must have secretly rebelled. His sole He was immediately declared consul for the ensuing year, and a.d. 535, 'the day of his inauguration resembled the pomp of a second triumph : his curule chair was borne aloft on the shoulders of captive Vandals; and the spoils of war, gold cups, and rich girdles, were profusely scattered among the populace. EndofGe- But the purest reward of Belisarius was in the faithful exe- tho van 1 - cution of a treaty for which his honour had been pledged to dais 41 If the Ecclesiastes be truly a work of Solomon, and not, like Prior's poem, a pious and moral composition of more recent times, in his name, and on the subject of his repentance. The latter is the opinion of the learned and free-spirited Grotius (Opp. Theolog. torn. i. p. 258) ; and indeed the Ecclesiastes and Proverbs display a larger compass of thought and experience than seem to belong either to a Jew or a king.
