Prince Areobindos, whom may
God enlighten!"

"The Emperor's nephew, is he not?"

"Yes; he married the Emperor's niece, Projecta; his highest and only
merit. He was sent here with the Imperial Guard to vex us, and to take
care that we do not win too easily. He has been made of equal rank with
Belisarius, understands as little of warfare as Belisarius does of
purple-snails, and is to be Governor of Italy."

"Indeed!" said Cethegus.

"When we encamped he insisted upon having his tent placed to the right
of Belisarius. But we would not consent. Fortunately God, in His
wisdom, had created that hill centuries ago for the solving of our
dispute as to rank, and now the Prince is indeed placed to the left,
but higher than Belisarius."

"And whose are the gay tents yonder, behind the quarters of Belisarius?
Who dwells there?"

"There?" answered Procopius, with a sigh. "A very unhappy woman;
Antonina, the wife of Belisarius."

"She unhappy? The celebrated Antonina, the second empress? Why?"

"It is not well to speak of that in the open camp. Come with me to my
tent, the wine will be sufficiently cooled."

CHAPTER X.

In the tent they found the handsome cushions of the camp-bed placed
round a low bronze table of perforated work, which Cethegus admired.

"It is a piece of booty from the wars of the Vandals; I took it with me
from Carthage. And these soft cushions once lay upon the bed of the
Persian King; I gained them in the battle of Dara."

"You are a fine practical scholar!" said Cethegus, smiling. "Are you so
changed since the days of Athens?"

"I should hope so!" said Procopius, and began carving (for he had
dismissed the attendant slaves) the smoking haunch of venison before
him. "You must know that I wished to make philosophy my calling, to
become a sage. For three years I listened to the Platonists, Stoics,
and Academicians at Athens; and studied till I was sick and stupid. And
I did not stop at philosophy; according to the praiseworthy custom of
our pious century, theology must also be grappled with, and for another
year I had to reflect upon the mysteries of the Holy Trinity. Well,
with studying so hard, my reason, which was not at all contemptible by
nature, threatened to fail me. Fortunately, I became seriously ill, and
the physicians forbade me Athens and all books. They sent me to Asia
Minor. I only saved a 'Thucydides' from my books, and took it with me
in my travel