whom he impressed unfavourably were fond of pointing out that he bore a striking resemblance to Domitian.[1] He affected a pleasant demeanour, appeared always with a set smile,[2] and was so studious of personal popularity that even the meanest of his subjects might hope for an audience of his sovereign. With an unbounded belief in his own capacity for discrimination, he was always ready to listen, but never to be convinced. His assurance communicated itself to those with whom he came in contact, and his associates rarely ventured to dispute his opinions.[3] His mode of life
- [Footnote: were probably the best (reproduced by Isambert, op. cit.; Diehl, op. cit.,
p. 23). He appears in the great mosaics at Ravenna (see p. 91), and also in a half-length figure in St. Apollinare of the same town. Further there is a MS. sketch at CP. (Mordtmann, op. cit., p. 65). In addition there is the current coinage, especially the copper, on which his image is impressed. Generally the face is pronouncedly round, but, one and all, these likenesses are too crude to convey any physiognomical information. See also p. 308.]
- ↑ Procopius, Anecd., 8. He relates that after the butchery of Domitian all his statues were broken to pieces, but his wife afterwards fitted the fragments of his body together and caused a new figure to be sculptured from them. There is an almost perfect statue of Domitian in the Vatican, which may be the one he alludes to, if there is any truth in his story.
- ↑ Jn. Malala, xviii, p. 425; Chron. Paschal, an. 566. "You would have taken him for a man with the mind of a sheep," says Procopius, Anecd., 13.
- ↑ His character and manners can be collected from Procopius (Anecd., 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 22, etc.) and Zonaras, xiv, 8. His personal influence is well illustrated by the incident already related (p. 303) of his rescuing a patrician from the mob although at the time he was only a Candidate; and by his deliberate mésalliance with Theodora being permitted without a murmur from Church or State. His stolid conviction may be compared to that of Robespierre, of whom, when he first began to speak on public affairs, Mirabeau remarked, "That young man will go far; he believes every word he says."
