Illness of Justinian--Resolutions of the army consequent upon his supposed death--Peter and John the Glutton denounce Belisarius and Buzes--The latter put away and tortured--Disgrace of Belisarius--He is superseded by Martin in the command of the army of the East--His treasures carried away by Theodora--His friendship for Antonina--His letter to Belisarius--Submission of the latter to his wife--Division of his fortune--Betrothal of Joannina, his daughter, to Anastasius, grandson of Theodora--Belisarius appointed Count of the Royal Stable and again commander of the army in Italy--Comparison of the two expeditions.
Conduct of Belisarius in Italy--His greed--Defection of Herodianus--Loss of Spoletum--Success of Totila and his Goths--Rupture with John--Betrothal of the latter to Justina, daughter of Germanus--Recall of Belisarius--Perusia taken by the Goths--The marriage between Joannina and Anastasius consummated by a trick on the part of the dying Empress--Return of Antonina, who separates the young pair--Belisarius despised for his weakness--Sergius causes the loss of the Roman army in Africa--Murder of Pegasius by Solomon--The vengeance of Heaven.
History of Justin and his two brothers, poor Illyrian husbandmen--Their enrolment in the army--Their admission into the Palace Guards, in the reign of Leo--Justin condemned to death, during the reign of Anastasius, by the General John Kyrtus, for some breach of discipline--His escape by divine intervention--He becomes praefect of the Praetorian guards--In spite of his ignorance, he is proclaimed Emperor--The way in which he was assisted to sign imperial documents--The Empress Lupicina-Euphemia--Justinian, the nephew of Justin, the real master of the Empire--His cruelty, his avarice, his inconsistency in regard to the laws--He oppresses Italy, Africa, and the rest of the Empire--Amantius condemned, to avenge an outrage upon the bishop John--Perjury towards Vitalianus.
Byzantium divided between two factions: the Blues and the Greens--Justinian puts himself at the head of the former--The Empire entirely upset by the quarrels between these factions--The Blues dress their hair after the manner of the Huns--Their general attire--Their excesses--Behaviour of the Greens--Corruption of the morals of young men--Murder committed with impunity--Inaction on the part of the authorities--Acts of violence committed upon both sexes--A woman throws herself into the sea to save her virtue--Culpability of Justinian--His partiality for the oppressors, upon whom he bestows favours and dignities.