Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: disease was ascribed to the miraculous succour of the holy martyrs Cosmas and Damian. The capital and the provinces of the east were decorated with the monuments of his religion;m and, though the far greater part of these'costly structures maybe attributed to his taste or ostentation, the zeal of the royal architect was probably quickened by a genuine sense of love and gratitude towards his invisible benefactors. Among the titles of imperial greatness, the name of Pious was most pleasing to his ear; to promote the temporal and spiritual interests of the church, was the serious business of his life; and the duty of father of his country was often sacrificed to that of defender of the faith. The controversies of the times were congenial to his temper and understanding; and the theological professors must inwardly deride the diligence of a stranger, who cultivated their art and neglected his own. What can ye fear (said a bold conspirator to his associates) from your bigoted tyrant; Sleepless and unarmed he sits whole nights in his closet, debating with reverend gray-beards, and turning over the pages of ecclesiastical volumes. The fruits of these lucubrations were displayed in many a conference, where Justinian might shine as the loudest and most subtle of the disputants; in many a sermon, which, under the name of edicts and epistles, proclaimed to the empire the theology of their master. While the barbarians invaded the provinces, while the victorius legions marched under the banners of Belisarius and Narses, the successor of Trajan, unknown to the camp, was content to vanquish at the head of a synod. Had he invited to these synods a disinterested and rational spectator, Justinian might have learned that religious controversy is the offspring of arrogance and folly; that tr...