ABSTRACT
Scarcely had Belisarius arrived in Rome when, by command of the Emperor and of Theodora, Silverius was deposed and exiled. Vigilius was removed to Constantinople, where he remained for several years, submitting at first to the theo logical decrees of Justinian and condemning (548) the three Chapters (1, Theodore of Mopsuestia ; 2, Theodoret; 3, Letter from Ibas to Maris) on the ground that they were tainted with Nestorianism. In spite of his docility and his concessions, Vigilius was considered contumacious, and was exiled, his name being struck off the diptychs by Justinian. The Emperor of Constantinople, following the example of his predecessors, takes upon himself to decide questions of faith, and this system of Csesaro-Papism is to be imitated later by his successors. In 653, Martin I is sent by order of Constans II to the Tauric peninsula and dies there. In 692, Sergius I, threatened with a similar fate by Justinian II, owes his escape to a rising of the populations of Italy. During the Pontificate of John VII (705-707) and of Constantine (708-715) imperial commissioners come to Rome with the object of taking away the Pope’s councillors and of endeavour ing to work on him by means of threats, flattery and bribes.
