ded on the
silence of her implacable enemies; and although the daughter of Acacius
might be satiated with love, yet some applause is due to the firmness
of a mind which could sacrifice pleasure and habit to the stronger sense
either of duty or interest. The wishes and prayers of Theodora could
never obtain the blessing of a lawful son, and she buried an infant
daughter, the sole offspring of her marriage. [37] Notwithstanding this
disappointment, her dominion was permanent and absolute; she preserved,
by art or merit, the affections of Justinian; and their seeming
dissensions were always fatal to the courtiers who believed them to be
sincere. Perhaps her health had been impaired by the licentiousness
of her youth; but it was always delicate, and she was directed by her
physicians to use the Pythian warm baths. In this journey, the empress
was followed by the Praetorian praefect, the great treasurer, several
counts and patricians, and a splendid train of four thousand attendants:
the highways were repaired at her approach; a palace was erected for her
reception; and as she passed through Bithynia, she distributed liberal
alms to the churches, the monasteries, and the hospitals, that they
might implore Heaven for the restoration of her health. [38] At length,
in the twenty-fourth year of her marriage, and the twenty-second of her
reign, she was consumed by a cancer; [39] and the irreparable loss was
deplored by her husband, who, in the room of a theatrical prostitute,
might have selected the purest and most noble virgin of the East. [40]

[Footnote 34: Ludewig, p. 161--166. I give him credit for the charitable
attempt, although he hath not much charity in his temper.]

[Footnote 35: Compare the anecdotes (c. 17) with the Edifices (l. i. c.
9)--how differently may the same fact be stated! John Malala (tom. ii.
p. 174, 175) observes, that on this, or a similar occasion, she released
and clothed the girls whom she had purchased from the stews at five
aurei apiece.]

[Footnote 36: Novel. viii. 1. An allusion to Theodora. Her enemies read
the name Daemonodora, (Aleman. p. 66.)]

[Footnote 37: St. Sabas refused to pray for a son of Theodora, lest he
should prove a heretic worse than Anastasius himself, (Cyril in Vit. St.
Sabae, apud Aleman. p. 70, 109.)]

[Footnote 38: See John Malala, tom. ii. p. 174. Theophanes, p. 158.
Procopius de Edific. l. v. c. 3.]

[Footnote 39: Theodora Chalcedonensis synodi inimica canceris plag