More came than were expressly
invited; for, beyond the legitimate interest of the occasion,
curiosity had been aroused by the gossip of Petronilla, and some
whose connection with the Anician house was of the very slightest,
hastened to present themselves at Basil's door. Hither came men
whose names recalled the glories of the Republic; others who were
addressed by appellations which told of Greek dominion; alike they
claimed the dignity of Roman optimates, and deemed themselves
ornaments of an empire which would endure as long as the world.
Several ranked as senators; two or three were ex-consuls; ten years
ago the last consul of Rome had laid down his shadowy honours; one
had held the office of Praetorian Prefect when Theodoric was king;
yet, from the political point of view, all were now as powerless as
their own slaves. Wealth a few of them still possessed, but with no
security; a rapacious Byzantine official, the accident of war, might
at any moment strip them of all they had. For the most part they had
already sunk to poverty, if not to indigence; among these
aristocratic faces were more than one which bore the mark of
privation.
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