he had reached the Blue Colonnade which is on the
right of the emperor’s throne, he purposed to
go against Hypatius himself first; but since there
was a small door there which had been closed and was
guarded by the soldiers of Hypatius who were inside,
he feared lest while he was struggling in the narrow
space the populace should fall upon him, and after
destroying both himself and all his followers, should
proceed with less trouble and difficulty against the
emperor. Concluding, therefore, that he must go
against the populace who had taken their stand in the
hippodrome—a vast multitude crowding each
other in great disorder—he drew his sword
from its sheath and, commanding the others to do likewise,
with a shout he advanced upon them at a run.
But the populace, who were standing in a mass and
not in order, at the sight of armoured soldiers who
had a great reputation for bravery and experience
in war, and seeing that they struck out with their
swords unsparingly, beat a hasty retreat. Then
a great outcry arose, as was natural, and Mundus,
who was standing not far away, was eager to join in
the fight,—for he was a daring and energetic
fellow—but he was at a loss as to what he
should do under the circumstances; when, however,
he observed that Belisarius was in the struggle, he
straightway made a sally into the hippodrome through
the entrance which they call the Gate of Death.
Then indeed from both sides the partisans of Hypatius
were assailed with might and main and destroyed.
When the rout had become complete and there had already
been great slaughter of the populace, Boraedes and
Justus, nephews of the Emperor Justinian, without
anyone daring to lift a hand against them, dragged
Hypatius down from the throne, and, leading him in,
handed him over together with Pompeius to the emperor.
And there perished among the populace on that day
more than thirty thousand. But the emperor commanded
the two prisoners to be kept in severe confinement.
Then, while Pompeius was weeping and uttering pitiable
words (for the man was wholly inexperienced in such
misfortunes), Hypatius reproached him at length and
said that those who were about to die unjustly should
not lament. For in the beginning they had been
forced by the people against their will, and afterwards
they had come to the hippodrome with no thought of
harming the emperor. And the soldiers killed both
of them on the following day and threw their bodies
into the sea. The emperor confiscated all their
property for the public treasury, and also that of
all the other members of the senate who had sided with
them. Later, however, he restored to the children
of Hypatius and Pompeius and to all others the titles
which they had formerly held, and as much of their
property as he had not happened to bestow upon his
friends. This was the end of the insurrection
in Byzantium.