"
"Good Anthemius," said the clear, calm voice of the unterrified
girl, "were it not wise to tell this wild young prince from the
northern forest that the great emperor hath gold for his friends,
but only iron for his foes? 'T is ever better to be friend than
foe. Bid, I pray, that the arras of the Hippodrome be parted, and
let our guests see the might and power of our arms."
With a look of pleased surprise at this bold stroke of the
Princess, the prefect clapped his hands in command, and the
heavily brocaded curtain that screened the gilded columns parted
as if by unseen hands, and the Hunnish envoys, with a gaze of
stolid wonder, looked down upon the great Hippodrome of
Constantinople.
It was a vast enclosure, spacious enough for the marshalling of
an army. Around its sides ran tiers of marble seats, and all
about it rose gleaming statues of marble, of bronze, of silver,
and of gold--Augustus and the emperors, gods and goddesses of the
old pagan days, heroes of the eastern and western empires. The
bright oriental sun streamed down upon it, and as the trumpets
sounded from beneath the imperial balcony, there filed into the
arena the glittering troops of the empire, gorgeous in color and
appointments, with lofty crests and gleaming armor, with
shimmering spear-tips, prancing horses, towering elephants, and
mighty engines of war and siege, with archers and spearmen, with
sounding trumpets and swaying standards and, high over all, the
purple labarum, woven in gold and jewels,--the sacred banner of
Constantine.
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