Vigilius to Constantinople
in the hope of winning him over by the blandishments or the terrors of
the court of New Rome. Vigilius reached the city on the 25th of January
547, and was detained in the East for seven years in connection with the
settlement of the dispute. He found to his cost that to decide an
intricate theological question, and above all to assert 'the authority
of S. Peter vested in him' against an imperious sovereign and the
jealousy of Eastern Christendom, was no slight undertaking. Pope and
Emperor soon came into violent collision, and fearing the consequences
Vigilius sought sanctuary in the church of S. Peter[100] as he styles
it, but which Byzantine writers[101] who record the scene name S.
Sergius.

[Illustration: PLATE XII.
(1) SS. SERGIUS AND BACCHUS. CAPITAL.
(2) S. JOHN OF THE STUDION. CAPITAL IN THE NARTHEX.
_To face page 66._]

Justinian was not the man to stand the affront. He ordered the praetor
of the city to arrest the Pope and conduct him to prison. But when that
officer appeared, Vigilius grasped the pillars of the altar and refused
to surrender. Thereupon the praetor ordered his men to drag the Pope out
by main force. Seizing Vigilius by his feet, holding him by his beard
and the hair of his head, the men pulled with all their might, but they
had to deal with a powerful man, and he clung fast to the altar with an
iron grip. In this tug-of-war the altar at length came crashing to the
ground, the Pope's strong hands still holding it tight. At this point,
however, the indignation and sympathy of the spectators could not be
restrained; the assailants of the prostrate prelate were put to flight,
and he was left master of the situation. Next day a deputation,
including Belisarius and Justin, the heir-apparent, waited upon
Vigilius, and in the emperor's name assured him that resistance to the
imperial will was useless, while compliance with it would save him from
further ill-treatment. Yielding to the counsels of prudence, the Pope
returned to the palace of Placidia,[102] the residence assigned to him
during his stay in the capital.

Probably at this time arose the custom of placing the churches of SS.
Peter and Paul, and SS. Sergius and Bacchus at the service of the Latin
clergy in Constantinople, especially when a representative of the Pope,
or the Pope himself, visited the city. The fact that the church was
dedicated to apostles closely associated with Rome and held in highest