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and Orthodox alike, and an ex cathedra pronouncement of the kind the emperor had in mind would, he hoped, do something to defuse the increasing hostility between the two. Early in 544 he published an edict condemning not the heresy itself but three particular manifestations of it, soon to become notorious as the Three Chapters: the person and writings of Nestorius’s teacher, Bishop Theodore of Mopsuestia, and certain specific works of two other, still more obscure, theologians, Bishop Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Bishop Ibas of Edessa.
    It was an idiotic idea, which fully deserved the response it received. Only the Orthodox clergy in the East agreed—in some cases a trifle unwillingly—to toe the imperial line. The monophysites, who had hoped for genuine concessions, were unappeased; in the West, the Roman bishops made no attempt to conceal their fury. Any attack on the Nestorians, they thundered, could only be a blow in favor of the monophysites. They refused absolutely to condemn the Three Chapters, and Stephen, the papal legate in Constantinople, made known his master’s displeasure by pronouncing the ban of the Church on the patriarch himself.
    Justinian was at first surprised by these reactions and then seriously alarmed. In Italy, during the four years that had passed since the first campaign of Belisarius, the Byzantine position had grown steadily worse; now, at a moment when he needed Italian support more than ever before, he had managed to antagonize Pope Vigilius and the entire Church of Rome. The sooner the whole thing was forgotten, the better. He made no protest when the pope refused to condemn the Three Chapters but settled down quietly to mend relations.
    For a year and a half he pursued this policy, and would presumably have continued to do so had circumstances allowed; but when Belisarius reported that Rome was threatened by siege, a new and alarming thought struck him: were Totila to capture the city, there was nothing to prevent his holding the pope hostage, with consequences that could only add further fuel to the flames. Justinian acted quickly. On November 22, 545, an officer of the Imperial Guard with a company of soldiers arrived in Rome, seized Vigilius just as he was leaving the Church of St. Cecilia after Mass, loaded him onto a boat waiting in the Tiber, and carried him off down the river.
    The pope, who had no particular wish to remain in Rome during what threatened to be an uncomfortable and protracted siege, made no complaint when told that he was being taken to Constantinople—though he may not altogether have relished the prospect of renewing his acquaintance with Theodora; his promise to declare in favor of monophysitism remained unfulfilled, and he would obviously have a certain amount of explaining to do. As things turned out, however, his meeting with the imperial couple did not occur as soon as he had expected; he remained for a whole year as their guest at Catania in Sicily, during which time he was able to dispatch several ships, laden with grain, for the relief of Rome. Not until January 547 did he reach the Bosphorus.
    AT THIS STAGE Vigilius was still firm in his refusal to condemn the Three Chapters. Though Justinian greeted him warmly on his arrival, the pope lost no time in making his authority felt, immediately placing the patriarch and all the bishops who had subscribed to the imperial edict under four months’ further sentence of excommunication. Before long, however, the constant pressure exerted by the emperor and empress—who seemed to have forgotten her previous grievances but who on this issue was every bit as zealous and determined as her husband—began to wear him down. On June 29, 547, he was formally reconciled with the patriarch, and on the same day he handed Justinian his signed condemnation of the Three Chapters, stipulating only that it be kept secret until the end of an official inquiry by a committee of Western bishops—whose findings, he hinted, were a