him off. So Belisarius returned to the emperor
and declared that the day was lost for them, for the soldiers who
guarded the palace were rebelling against him. The emperor therefore
commanded him to go to the so-called Bronze Gate and the propylaea
there. So Belisarius, with difficulty and not without danger and great
exertion, made his way over ground covered by ruins and half-burned
buildings, and ascended to the stadium. And when he had reached the Blue
Colonnade which is on the right of the emperor's throne, he purposed to
go against Hypatius himself first; but since there was a small door
there which had been closed and was guarded by the soldiers of Hypatius
who were inside, he feared lest while he was struggling in the narrow
space the populace should fall upon him, and after destroying both
himself and all his followers, should proceed with less trouble and
difficulty against the emperor. Concluding, therefore, that he must go
against the populace who had taken their stand in the hippodrome--a vast
multitude crowding each other in great disorder--he drew his sword from
its sheath and, commanding the others to do likewise, with a shout he
advanced upon them at a run. But the populace, who were standing in a
mass and not in order, at the sight of armoured soldiers who had a great
reputation for bravery and experience in war, and seeing that they
struck out with their swords unsparingly, beat a hasty retreat. Then a
great outcry arose, as was natural, and Mundus, who was standing not far
away, was eager to join in the fight,--for he was a daring and energetic
fellow--but he was at a loss as to what he should do under the
circumstances; when, however, he observed that Belisarius was in the
struggle, he straightway made a sally into the hippodrome through the
entrance which they call the Gate of Death. Then indeed from both sides
the partisans of Hypatius were assailed with might and main and
destroyed. When the rout had become complete and there had already been
great slaughter of the populace, Boraedes and Justus, nephews of the
Emperor Justinian, without anyone daring to lift a hand against them,
dragged Hypatius down from the throne, and, leading him in, handed him
over together with Pompeius to the emperor. And there perished among the
populace on that day more than thirty thousand. But the emperor
commanded the two prisoners to be kept in severe confinement. Then,
while Pompeius was weeping and uttering pitiable