The wife of Belisarius, whom I have spoken of in my previous
writings, was the daughter and grand-daughter of chariot-drivers, men
who had practised their art in the circus at Byzantium and at
Thessalonica. Her mother was one of the prostitutes of the theatre. She
herself at first lived a lewd life, giving herself up to unbridled
debauchery; besides this, she devoted herself to the study of the drugs
which had long been used in her family, and learned the properties of
those which were essential for carrying out her plans. At last she was
betrothed and married to Belisarius, although she had already borne
many children.
She formed adulterous connections as soon as she was married, but
took pains to conceal the fact, by making use of familiar artifices,
not out of any respect for her husband (for she never felt any shame at
any crime whatever, and hoodwinked him by enchantments), but because
she dreaded the vengeance of the Empress; for Theodora was very bitter
against her, and had already shown her teeth. But, after she had made
Theodora her humble friend by helping her when in the greatest
difficulties, first of all by making away with Silverius, as shall be
told hereafter, and afterwards by ruining John of Cappadocia, as I have
already described, she became less timid, and, scorning all
concealment, shrank from no kind of wickedness.
There was a Thracian youth, named Theodosius, in the household of
Belisarius, who by descent was of the Eunomian faith. On the eve of his
departure for Libya, Belisarius held the youth over the font, received
him into his arms after baptism, and thenceforth made him a member of
his household, with the consent of his wife, according to the Christian
rite of adoption. Antonina therefore received Theodosius as a son
consecrated by religion, and in consequence loved him, paid him
especial attention, and obtained complete dominion over him.
Afterwards, during this voyage, she became madly enamoured of him, and,
being beside herself with passion, cast away all fear of everything
human or divine, together with all traces of modesty, and enjoyed him
at first in secret, afterwards even in the presence of her servants and
handmaidens; for she was by this time so mad with lust, that she
disregarded everything that stood in the way of her passion.
Once, when they were at Carthage, Belisarius caught her in the act,
but permitted himself to be deceived by his wife. He found them both
together in an underground chamber, and was furiously enraged at the
sight; but she showed no sign of fear or a desire to avoid him, and
said, “I came to this place with this youth, to hide the most precious
part of our plunder, that the Emperor might not come to know of it.”
This she said by way of an excuse, and he, pretending to be convinced,
let it pass, although he saw that the belt which held Theodosius's
drawers over his private parts was undone; for he was so overpowered by
his love for the creature that he preferred not to believe his own
eyes. However, Antonina's debauchery went on from bad to worse, till it
reached a shameful pitch. All who beheld it were silent, except one
slave woman, named Macedonia, who, when Belisarius was at Syracuse
after the conquest of Sicily, first made her master swear the most
solemn oaths that he never would betray her to her mistress, and then
told him the whole story, bringing as her witnesses two boys who
attended on Antonina's bed-chamber.
When Belisarius heard this, he told some of his guards to make away
with Theodosius, but the latter, being warned in time, fled to Ephesus:
for the greater part of Belisarius's followers, influenced by the
natural weakness of his character, were at more pains to please his
wife than to show their devotion to him; and this was why they
disclosed to her the orders they had received concerning Theodosius.
When Constantine saw Belisarius's sorrow at what had befallen him, he
sympathized with him, but was so imprudent as to add: “For my own part,
I would have killed the woman rather than the youth.”
This having been reported to Antonina, she conceived a secret hatred
for him, until she could make him feel the weight of her resentment;
for she was like a scorpion, and knew how to hide her venom.
Not long afterwards, either by enchantments or by caresses, she
persuaded her husband that the accusation brought against her was
false; whereupon, without any hesitation, he sent for Theodosius, and
promised to deliver up to his wife Macedonia and the boys, which he
afterwards did. It is said that she first cut out their tongues, and
then ordered them to be hewn in pieces, put into sacks and thrown into
the sea. In this bloody deed she was assisted by one of her slaves
named Eugenius, who had also been one of those who perpetrated the
outrage on Silverius.
Shortly afterwards, Belisarius was persuaded by his wife to kill
Constantine. What I have already recounted about Praesidius and his
daggers belongs to this period. Belisarius would have let him go, but
Antonina would not rest until she had exacted vengeance for the words
which I have just repeated. This murder stirred up a great hatred
against Belisarius on the part of the Emperor and of the chief nobles
of the Empire.
Such was the course of events. Meanwhile, Theodosius refused to
return to Italy, where Belisarius and Antonina were then staying,
unless Photius were sent out of the way; for Photius was naturally
disposed to show his spite against anyone who supplanted him in
another's good graces; but he was quite right in feeling jealous of
Theodosius, because he himself, although Antonina's son, was quite
neglected, whereas the other was exceedingly powerful and had amassed
great riches. They say that he had taken treasure amounting to a
hundred centenars of gold [about L400,000] from the treasure-houses of
the two cities of Carthage and Ravenna, since he had obtained sole and
absolute control of the management of them.
When Antonina heard this determination of Theodosius, she never
ceased to lay traps for her son and to concoct unnatural plots against
him, until she made him see that he must leave her and retire to
Byzantium; for he could no longer endure the designs against his life.
At the same time she made Theodosius return to Italy, where she enjoyed
to the full the society of her lover, thanks to the easy good-nature of
her husband. Later on, she returned to Byzantium in company with both
of them. It was there that Theodosius became alarmed lest their
intimacy should become known, and was greatly embarrassed, not knowing
what to do. That it could remain undetected to the end he felt was
impossible, for he saw that the woman was no longer able to conceal her
passion, and indulge it in secret, but was an open and avowed
adulteress, and did not blush to be called so.
For this reason he returned to Ephesus, and after having submitted
to the tonsure, joined the monastic order. At this Antonina entirely
lost her reason, showed her distress by putting on mourning and by her
general behaviour, and roamed about the house, wailing and lamenting
(even in the presence of her husband) the good friend she had lost—so
faithful, so pleasant, so tender a companion, so prompt in action. At
last she even won over her husband, who began to utter the same
lamentations. The poor fool kept calling for the return of his
well-beloved Theodosius, and afterwards went to the Emperor and
besought him and the Empress, till he prevailed upon them to send for
Theodosius, as a man whose services always had been and always would be
indispensable in the household. Theodosius, however, refused to obey,
declaring that it was his fixed determination to remain in the cloister
and embrace the monastic life. But this language was by no means
sincere, for it was his intention, as soon as Belisarius left the
country, to rejoin Antonina by stealth at Byzantium, as, in fact, he
did.