The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus - Coptic ...

256
EVAGRIUS
summoned from there, as if, indeed, he was due to bene¢t from what had
been agreed between himself and the emperor Justin. For since both had
established comparable prestige in life’s illusions, and the imperial
power dangled over both, the two agreed after much disputation that
the one who came into the imperial power should give the second place
to the other, so that from his second place in the empire he should win
precedence over others. 6
2 Accordingly Justin, after welcoming Justin with a super¢cial show of
great kindness, gradually invented accusations and removed his shieldbearers
and spear-bearers and bodyguards and debarred him from
access to himself (for, on the orders of Justin, he stayed in his house),
and banished him to the great city of Alexander. [197] He was cruelly
slain there deep in the night, while still lying in bed, collecting this recompense
for his goodwill to the state and for his courageous deeds in wars.
And the emperor himself and his consort Sophia did not remit their
wrath, or have their ¢ll of seething rage, until they had looked at his
severed head and kicked it with their feet. 7
3 Not long after he consigned to trial for treason Aetherius and
Addaeus, who were members of the senatorial council and had held
great and most important positions under Justinian. Of these Aetherius
con¢rmed that he had wished to make away with the emperor by
poison, and said that he had Addaeus as his associate in this undertaking
and as an associate in all things. But the latter swore with dire oaths that
they had arrived in the vicinity of the Sea of Azov, hence the reference to Bosporus, the
settlement at the Straits of Kerch where the Sea of Azov enters the Black Sea. They had
formerly been a major power in central Asia, but had £ed west as the Turkish federation
established itself as the dominant force in this region. For discussion, see Whitby, Maurice
84 ^6.
6 The career of Justin, son of Germanus, had been more prominent than that of his
cousin, since he had held the ordinary consulship in 540, and been magister militum since
557. The son of Vigilantia was de¢nitely inferior in ‘life’s illusions’, being only an honorary
consul and holding the post of curopalatus, but proximity to the palace more than outweighed
this disadvantage.
7 Theophanes (244:4) accords Justin the title of augustalis, which would indicate that
Justin had been given an exalted o⁄cial position, but there is no con¢rmation for this; if
Justin was killed before Aetherius and Addaeus (v.3), the date must be 566. Contrast the
aversion to bloodshed of good emperors such as Maurice (vi.2, p. 223:18^19; cf. iii.34, p.
134:15^18 for Anastasius).