360 THE DECLINE AND FALL [Chap, xli favourite youth most rapidly acquired a fortune of four hundred thousand pounds sterling; and, after their return to Constanti- nople, the passion of Antonina, at least, continued ardent and unabated. But fear, devotion, and lassitude perhaps, inspired Theodosius with more serious thoughts. He dreaded the busy scandal of the capital and the indiscreet fondness of the wife of Belisarius; escaped from her embraces, and, retiring to Ephesus, shaved his head and took refuge in the sanctuary of a monastic life. The despair of the new Ariadne could scarcely have been excused by the death of her husband. She wept, she tore her hair, she filled the palace with her cries; " she had lost the dearest of friends, a tender, a faithful, a laborious friend ! " But her warm entreaties, fortified by the prayers of Belisarius, were insufficient to draw the holy monk from the solitude of Ephesus. It was not till the general moved forward for the Persian war, that Theodosius could be tempted to return to Con- stantinople ; and the short interval before the departure of Antonina herself was boldly devoted to love and pleasure. Kesent- A philosopher may pity and forgive the infirmities of female Belisarius nature, from which he receives no real injury ; but contemptible Photius is the husband who feels, and yet endures, his own infamy in that of his wife. Antonina pursued her son with implacable hatred ; and the gallant Photius 132 was exposed to her secret persecutions in the camp beyond the Tigris. Enraged by his own wrongs and by the dishonour of his blood, he cast away in his turn the sentiments of nature, and revealed to Belisarius the turpitude of a woman who had violated all the duties of a mother and a wife. From the surprise and indigna- tion of the Koman general, his former credulity appears to have been sincere : he embraced the knees of the son of Antonina, adjured him to remember his obligations rather than his birth, and confirmed at the altar their holy vows of revenge and mutual defence. The dominion of Antonina was impaired by absence ; and, when she met her husband, on his return from the Persian confines, Belisarius, in his first and transient emotions, confined her person and threatened her life. Photius was more resolved to punish, and less prompt to pardon : he flew to 132 Theophanes (Chronograph, p. 204) styles hirn Photinus, the son-in-law [son, i.e., stepson, rhv irpoyov6v] of Belisarius ; and he is copied by the Historia Mis- cella and Anastasius [cp. Cramer, Aneed. Par. 2, 111].
