each other because
of their similar traits. Both were ambitious, both fond of intrigue, and
both ready to commit any crime when it answered their purpose. Verina,
pleased at the accession of her grandson Leo, whom she could control,
was chagrined and disappointed when upon the lad's death his masterful
father was elevated to the throne; and, continuing her intrigues, she
lost first her royal station and then her freedom and her life in her
endeavor to do an injury to her son-in-law. Ariadne quickly grasped the
power which her mother had lost, and has the unusual record of choosing
her husband's successor on the throne and of being the imperial consort
of two rulers in succession.

We pass now to the dynasty of Justin and to a consideration of the niece
of the great Theodora, Sophia, empress of Justin the Younger, nephew and
successor of Justinian.

The poet Corippus gives a dramatic account of the elevation of Justin
and Sophia. During Justinian's long illness the two were faithful
attendants at his bedside and ministered to his every want. Finally, one
morning, before the break of day, Justin was awakened by a patrician and
informed that the emperor was dead. Soon after, the members of the
Senate entered the palace and assembled in a beautiful room overlooking
the sea, where they found Justin conversing with his wife Sophia. They
greeted the royal pair as Augustus and Augusta; and the twain, with
apparent reluctance, submitted to the will of the Senate. They then
repaired to the imperial chamber, and gazed, with tearful eyes, upon the
corpse of their beloved uncle. Sophia at once ordered to be brought an
embroidered cloth, on which was wrought in gold and brilliant colors the
whole series of Justinian's labors, the emperor himself being
represented in the midst with his foot resting upon the neck of the
Vandal giant. The next morning, Justin and his imperial consort
proceeded to the church of Saint Sophia, where they made a public
declaration of the orthodox faith.

In taking this step, Sophia showed that she had the ambition but not the
political acumen of her aunt Theodora. Like the latter, she had been
originally a Monophysite; but a wily bishop had suggested that her
heretical opinions stood in the way of her husband's promotion to the
rank of Caesar, and in consequence she found it advisable to join the
ranks of the orthodox. Unfortunately, by this step the balance of the
religious parties, which Theodora had s