God rest their tortured souls, for they were more sinned against than sinning.

CHAPTER III

MOTHER AND SON

The next vision of this Byzantine life of mine that rises before me is that of a great round building crowned with men clad in bishops’ robes.  At least they wore mitres, and each of them had a crooked pastoral staff which in most cases was carried by an attendant monk.

Some debate was in progress, or rather raging.  Its subject seemed to be as to whether images should or should not be worshipped in churches.  It was a furious thing, that debate.  One party to it were called Iconoclasts, that was the party which did not like images, and I think the other party were called Orthodox, but of this I am not sure.  So furious was it that I, the general and governor of the prison, had been commanded by those in authority to attend in order to prevent violence.  The beginnings of what happened I do not remember.  What I do remember is that the anti-Iconoclasts, the party to which the Empress Irene belonged, that was therefore the fashionable sect, being, as it seemed to me, worsted in argument, fell back on violence.

There followed a great tumult, in which the spectators took part, and the strange sight was seen of priests and their partisans, and even of bishops themselves, falling upon their adversaries and beating them with whatever weapon was to hand; yes, even with their pastoral staves.  It was a wonderful thing to behold, these ministers of the Christ of peace belabouring each other with pastoral staves!

The party that advocated the worship of images was the more numerous and had the greater number of adherents, and therefore those who thought otherwise were defeated.  A few of them were dragged out into the street and killed by the mob which waited there, and more were wounded, notwithstanding all that I and the guards could do to protect them.  Among the Iconoclasts was a gentle-faced old man with a long beard, one of the bishops from Egypt, who was named Barnabas.  He had said little in the debate, which lasted for several days, and when he spoke his words were full of charity and kindness.  Still, the image faction hated him, and when the final tumult began some of them set upon him.  Indeed, one brawny, dark-faced bishop—­I think it was he of Antioch—­rushed at Barnabas, and before I could thrust him back, broke a jewelled staff upon his head, while other priests tore his robe from neck to shoulder and spat in his face.

At last the riot was quelled; the dead were borne away, and orders came to me that I was to convey Barnabas to the State prison if he still lived, together with some others, of whom I remember nothing.  So thither I took Barnabas, and there, with the help of the prison physician—­he to whom I had given the poisoned figs and the dead monkey to be examined—­I nursed him back to life and health.