supplied by shamelessness; and nowhere
was laughter so hearty, or the crowd so dense, as in that part of the
circus where comic singers and dancers vied with the grossest
traditions of the pagan theatre.

Heliodora could not miss such an opportunity of enjoyment and of
display. She sat amid her like, the feline ladies and the young nobles,
half brute, half fop, who though already most of them fasted without
the merit of piety, still prided themselves on being the flower of
Roman fashion. During one of the pauses of the festival, when places
were changed, and limbs stretched, some one whispered to her that she
was invited to step towards that place of honour where sat the
Emperor's representative. An invitation of Bessas could not lightly be
declined, nor had Heliodora any reluctance to obey such a summons. More
than a year had gone by since her vain attempt, on Marcian's
suggestion, to enslave the avaricious Thracian, and, since then, the
hapless Muscula had had more than one successor. Roman gossip, always
busy with the fair Greek, told many a strange story to account for her
rigour towards the master of Rome, who was well known to have made
advances to her. So when to-day they were seen sitting side by side,
conversing vivaciously, curiosity went on tiptoe. The entertainment
over, Heliodora was carried home in her litter, no friend accompanying
her. Few nowadays were the persons in Rome who bade guests to their
table; even the richest had no great superfluity of viands. After
sunset, the city became a dark and silent desert, save when watch-fires
glared and soldiers guarded the walls.

As was the case with all Romans who not long ago had commanded a
multitude of slaves and freedmen, Heliodora's household was much
reduced. Even before the siege began, many of the serving class stole
away to the Goths, who always received them with a welcome; and since
the closing of the gates this desertion had been of daily occurrence,
the fugitives having little difficulty in making their escape from so
vast a city so sparsely populated. No longer did the child from far-off
Anglia ride about on his mistress's errands; a female slave, punished
for boxing his ears, had stifled him as he slept, and fled that night
with five or six others who were tired of the lady's caprices and
feared her cruelty. Her aviary was empty. Having wearied of that whim,
she had let the birds loose; a generosity she regretted now that
toothsome morsels were