Added to that there was the parlous state of his marriage. He was torn between believing Antonina to be innocent of infidelity and the wild imagining of her in that very act, neither of which gave him any indication of what to do about it. In other dreams they lived in harmonious bliss, but they always morphed into scenes of murderous rage in which she lay hacked to pieces while the cohorts of Satan tore at his flesh in retribution.
If dawn was welcome, after weeks of travel, so was the sight of the spires of Constantinople, never before a vista to provide much pleasure. The main fleet was ordered to proceed to Galatea while the command galley altered course and headed for the private imperial dock.
On his return from the Vandal war the imperial couple had been on the quayside to greet their victorious commander; nothing of that sort was to be afforded to Flavius now, even if he had with him a valuable treasure, one admittedly not of the size he had brought from North Africa, the fruits of two centuries of theft from the old Roman provinces of Gaul and Hispania. The Goths had plundered but none had done so as successfully as the Vandals, whose mere name had become a byword for pointless destruction.
He had transferred Antonina to his vessel in expectation and both had dressed as if to be received by Justinian and Theodora. Long before the galley tied up it was clear from the absence of activity on the quayside that there was no such greeting awaiting them. Instead there was a second messenger of no higher calibre than Cabasilis with instructions that Flavius was to proceed immediately to Justinian’s audience chamber, while his wife was requested to attend on the Empress in her apartments.
Never one for display and neither willing to respond to a clear insult, Flavius felt keenly the need to send to his emperor a message that he, if only on behalf of the men he had led to victory as well as the offer he had refused, was entitled to more. Sending Antonina ahead, then arranging for the Goth treasure to be taken to the imperial treasury, he changed into a simple set of clothing, one more suited to a general on campaign than the courtier Justinian would expect.
Walking the seemingly endless corridors of the palace he was reminded of the sheer number of functionaries necessary to run such a dispersed patrimony. That took no account of the thousands of servants and the guards of the Regiment of the Excubitors, placed at intervals to protect against any possibility of an attempt on the lives of their rulers. Having served in that unit as a young officer, Flavius could not avoid sly inspections to ensure they had maintained the standards he thought necessary to the imperial bodyguard
As usual there were the high officials making their way from one set of chambers to another, attended by fawning inferiors, their arms full of scrolls. Such men, catching sight of him, were quick to arrange their features in a form of greeting but there was no friendliness in the looks Flavius received; this was not a building in which to indulge in such luxuries.
On entering the audience chamber he was further discomfited by the fact that the place was full of those men gathered to advise the Emperor, which sent to him the message that he was to be treated as just one of their number and not, as he had become accustomed to in previous meetings, as a privileged companion allowed private audience.
The crowd parted to allow him to approach the dais on which sat a gorgeously dressed Justinian, a sceptre in his hand and a crown of laurels on his head. In doing so he passed a clutch of officials, such as John the Cappadocian and Narses, who did not favour him with even a hint of welcome. Indeed the eunuch’s failed attempt to hide a glare was almost amusing and would have been fully so if it had not indicated to Flavius that his standing in the imperial firmament must be, regardless of his successes, somewhat open to question. The likes of Narses and John reflected the imperial mood; they never challenged it!
‘You seem a touch tardy in attendance, General Belisarius. Is it that your head has been turned by events?’
Not Flavius, nor magister. It was the lack of those words of respect as much as the tone that killed the half smile, as having bowed low, he raised himself to look steadily into the eyes of the man he had so faithfully served, the thought in his head inadvertent but impossible to ignore that perhaps Procopius had been right.
‘Your Excellency would not have wished me to leave the treasure I brought from Italy unattended to so I could answer your summons.’
The Emperor looked him up and down, taking in the plain smock and unadorned belt, as well as the metal-studded sandals that had made such an echoing noise on the marble flooring. ‘And you are required to dress like some common soldier in order to oversee such a task?’
‘I dress like a soldier, which is what I am and I aspire to be nothing else.’
Which was as good a way as any of telling his emperor that he was not like the other men in the chamber; who amongst them would have turned down what he had? Looking at Justinian, Flavius was struck by the changes in a man he had not seen for over five years. The reddish hair was still as untidy as uncontrollable locks could be, but it was tinged with grey. The face, never handsome, had deep lines that had not before been present and bags under eyes that at least had the same look Flavius knew so well, ones in which there was always the impression of something hidden.
The head canted to one side, again a well-known habit, as Justinian replied, looking his general up and down as he did so. ‘You speak freely and without apology for keeping us waiting, not just from the point of landing but in the time it has taken you to obey my order to depart from Italy.’
‘Speaking freely has always been a privilege I was granted in times past.’
Narses spoke then, having come close to the throne to witness the first exchange, this as Justinian looked peaked at being so challenged. ‘It would do you well to show greater respect now, Belisarius.’
‘Just as it would behove you, Eunuch, to recall that you and I are equals and that affords you no right to make any comment on how I behave or to address me in a disrespectful manner.’
There was a sound behind Flavius then, of a sort of shuffling; in so calling Narses a eunuch he had returned the insult in full measure. The sound had to be ignored, he needed to hold the imperial eye. Justinian lifted his head to cast a look around the assembly before coming back to gaze at Flavius, who did not blink at such an examination.
Many years before, at a time when the man before him had been no more than an aide and relative to his uncle, and on many occasions since, he had sworn to be honest in their dealings, never to flatter where truth was required and never to praise actions that were questionable. They had known each other for a quarter of a century now and it was no time for that to change.
He would serve Justinian, yes, but he would never grovel to him, as would so many of the courtiers present. The other thing such creatures might do was conspire against him for their own ends, some even to the point of potential usurpation. Given he would never stoop to such behaviour, Flavius expected to be treated differently, even if what he had turned down in Ravenna was obviously no mystery.
In the silence that followed, as the pair locked eyes, Flavius was seeking the reason for such a cold greeting. Certainly Narses, on his return, would have done all in his power to diminish him, almost certainly playing down the fighting ability of the Goths, which would simultaneously dent the reputation of the man who had been beating them for years.
Flavius suspected powerful satraps such as John the Cappadocian would be extremely jealous of his success and thus also be a man to traduce him, odd since their opinions on certain matters coincided. Not alclass="underline" John had been employed by Justinian on his ascension to bring more order to both the law courts and the collection of taxes. That he lined his own pockets in the process was tolerated by the Emperor on the grounds of his own increased revenues: besides, to find another who would not be equally corrupted by the opportunities this presented was close to impossible.