Shortly afterwards Belisarius was sent by the Emperor to conduct the
war against Chosroes, and Photius accompanied him. Antonina remained
behind, contrary to her usual custom; for, before this, she had always
desired to accompany her husband on all his travels wherever he went,
for fear that, when he was by himself, he might return to his senses,
and, despising her enchantments, form a true estimate of her character.
But now, in order that Theodosius might have free access to her,
Antonina began to intrigue in order to get Photius out of her way. She
induced some of Belisarius's suite to lose no opportunity of provoking
and insulting him, while she herself wrote letters almost every day, in
which she continually slandered her son and set every one against him.
Driven to bay, the young man was forced to accuse his mother, and, when
a witness arrived from Byzantium who told him of Theodosius's secret
commerce with Antonina, Photius led him straightway into the presence
of Belisarius and ordered him to reveal the whole story. When
Belisarius learned this, he flew into a furious rage, fell at Photius's
feet, and besought him to avenge him for the cruel wrongs which he had
received at the hands of those who should have been the last to treat
him in such a manner. “My dearest boy,” he exclaimed, “you have never
known your father, whoever he may have been, for he ended his life
while you were still in your nurse's arms; his property has been of
little or no assistance to you, for he was by no means wealthy. Bred
under my care, though I was but your stepfather, you have now reached
an age when you are capable of assisting me to avenge the wrongs from
which I suffer. I have raised you to the consulship, and have heaped
riches upon you, so that I may justly be regarded by you as your
father, your mother, and your whole family; for it is not by the ties
of blood but by deeds that men are accustomed to measure their
attachment to each other. The hour has now come when you must not
remain an indifferent spectator of the ruin of my house and of the loss
with which I am threatened, of so large a sum of money, nor of the
immeasurable shame which your mother has incurred in the sight of all
men. Remember that the sins of women reflect disgrace not only on their
husbands, but also upon their children, whose honour suffers all the
more because of their natural likeness to their mothers.
“Be well assured that, for my own part, I love my wife with all my
heart; and should it be granted to me to punish the dishonourer of my
house, I will do her no hurt; but, as long as Theodosius remains alive,
I cannot condone her misconduct.”
On hearing these words Photius replied that he would do all that he
could to aid his stepfather, but, at the same time, he feared that he
himself might come to some harm by so doing; for he was unable to feel
any confidence in Belisarius, because of his weakness of character,
especially where his wife was concerned. He dreaded the fate of
Macedonia, and of many other victims. For this reason he insisted that
Belisarius should swear fidelity to him by the most sacred oaths known
to Christians, and they bound themselves never to abandon each other,
even at the cost of their lives.
For the present, they both agreed that it would be unwise to make
any attempt; and they resolved to wait until Antonina had left
Byzantium to join them, and Theodosius had returned to Ephesus, which
would give Photius the opportunity of going thither and easily
disposing of both Theodosius and his fortune. They had just invaded the
Persian territory with all their forces, and during this time the ruin
of John of Cappadocia was accomplished at Byzantium, as I have told in
the former books of my history. I have there only been silent, through
fear, on one point, that it was not by mere hazard that Antonina
succeeded in deceiving John and his daughter, but by numerous oaths,
sworn on all that Christians deem most holy, she made them believe that
she intended to do them no harm.
After this, having risen greatly in favour with the Empress, she
sent Theodosius to Ephesus, and herself, foreseeing no trouble, set out
for the East.
Belisarius had just captured the fortress of Sisauranum, when he was
told of his wife's arrival; whereupon he immediately ordered his army
to turn back, disregarding the interests of the Empire for the sake of
his private feelings. Certain matters had indeed happened, as I have
already set forth, which made a retreat advisable, but his wife's
presence hastened it considerably. But, as I said at the beginning, I
did not then think it safe to describe the real motives of men's
actions.
Belisarius was reproached by all the Romans for having sacrificed
the interests of his country to his domestic affairs. The reason was
that, in his first transport of passion against his wife, he could not
bring himself to go far away from Roman territory; for he felt that the
nearer he was, the easier it would be for him to take vengeance upon
Theodosius, as soon as he heard of the arrival of Antonina.
He therefore ordered Arethas and his people to cross the river
Tigris, and they returned home, without having performed anything
worthy of record, while he himself took care not to retire more than an
hour's journey from the Roman frontier. The fortress of Sisauranum,
indeed, for an active man, is not more than a day's journey from the
frontier by way of Nisibis, and only half that distance if one goes by
another route. But had he chosen to cross the river Tigris at first
with all his host, I have no doubt that he would have been able to
carry off all the riches of Assyria, and extend his conquests as far as
the city of Ctesiphon, without meeting with any opposition. He might
even have secured the release of the Antiochians, and all the other
Romans who were there in captivity, before returning home.
Furthermore, he was chiefly to blame for the extreme ease with which
Chosroes led his army home from Colchis. I will now relate how this
came to pass. When Chosroes, the son of Cabades, invaded Colchis, with
the result which I have recounted elsewhere, and took Petra, the Medes
nevertheless sustained severe losses, both in battle and owing to the
difficulties of the country; for, as I have said already, Lazica is a
country almost inaccessible, owing to its rocks and precipices. They
had at the same time been attacked by pestilence, which carried off the
greater part of the troops, and many died from want of food and
necessaries. It was at this crisis of affairs that certain men from
Persia came into that country, bringing the news that Belisarius had
beaten Nabedes in a battle near the city of Nisibis, and was pressing
forward; that he had taken the fortress of Sisauranum, and had made
prisoners of Bleschames and eight hundred Persian lancers; that another
corps of Romans under Arethas, the chief of the Saracens, had been
detached to cross the Tigris, and ravage the land to the east of that
river, which up to that time had remained free from invasion.
It happened also that the army of Huns, whom Chosroes had sent into
Roman Armenia, in order, by this diversion, to prevent the Romans from
hindering his expedition against the Lazi, had fallen in with and been
defeated by Valerian, at the head of a Roman army, and almost
annihilated. When this news was brought to the Persians, having been
reduced to desperate straits by their ill success at Lazica, they
feared that, if an army should cut them off in their critical position,
they might all die of hunger amidst the crags and precipices of that
inaccessible country. They feared, too, for their children, their wives
and their country; and all the flower of Chosroes' army railed bitterly
at him for having broken his plighted word and violated the common law
of nations, by invading a Roman State in a most unwarrantable manner,
in time of peace, and for having insulted an ancient and most powerful
State which he would not be able to conquer in war. The soldiers were
on the point of breaking out into revolt, had not Chosroes, alarmed at
the state of affairs, discovered a remedy for it. He read to them a
letter which the Empress had just written to Zaberganes, in the
following terms:
“You must know, O Zaberganes, since you were ambassador at
our Court not long ago, that we are well disposed towards
you, and that we do not doubt that you have our interests at
heart. You will easily realise the good opinion which I have
formed of you, if you will persuade King Chosroes to
maintain peaceful relations with our empire. I promise you,
in that case, the fullest recompense on the part of my
husband, who never does anything without my advice.”
When Chosroes had read this, he reproachfully asked the spokesmen of
the Persians whether they thought that that was an Empire which was
managed by a woman, and thus managed to quell their impetuosity; but,
nevertheless, he retired from his position in alarm, expecting that his
retreat would be cut off by Belisarius and his forces; but, as he found
himself unopposed on his march, he gladly made his way home.