E07159: Procopius of Caesarea, in his Secret History, written in 550/562, recounts how Photius, foster son of Belisarius, when trying to escape house arrest imposed on him by the empress Theodora, sought asylum in the churches of *Mary (Mother of Christ; S00033) and *Sophia (Holy Wisdom, S00705). Photius had also a vision of *Zechariah (Old Testament Prophet, S00283) who bade him escape to Jerusalem. Written in Greek in Constantinople.

Procopius of Caesarea, Secret History, 3.21-29

ἦν δὲ οἰκίδια τῇ Θεοδώρᾳ ἀπόκρυφα μὲν καὶ ὅλως λεληθότα ζοφώδη τε καὶ ἀγείτονα, ἔνθα δὴ οὔτε νυκτὸς οὔτε ἡμέρας δήλωσις γίνεται. ἐνταῦθα τὸν Φώτιον ἐπὶ χρόνου μῆκος καθείρξασα ἐτήρει. ὅθεν δὴ αὐτῷ ξυνέβη τις τύχη οὐχ ἅπαξ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ δὶς διαφυγόντι ἀπαλλαγῆναι. καὶ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα καταφυγὼν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τῆς θεοτόκου, ὅσπερ ἐν Βυζαντίοις ἁγιώτατός ἐστί τε καὶ ὠνομάσθη, παρὰ τὴν ἱερὰν τράπεζαν ἱκέτης καθῆστο. ἐντεῦθέν τε αὐτὸν ἀναστήσασα βίᾳ τῇ άσῃ καθεῖρξεν αὖθις. τὸ δὲ δὴ δεύτερον ἐς τῆς Σοφίας τὸ ἱερὸν ἥκων, ἐς αὐτήν που τὴν θείαν δεξαμενὴν ἐξαπιναίως ἐκάθισεν, ἥνπερ μάλιστα πάντων νενομίκασι Χριστιανοὶ σέβειν. ἀλλὰ κἀνθένδε ἀφέλκειν αὐτὸν ἡ γυνὴ ἴσχυσε. χωρίον γὰρ ἀβέβηλον πώποτε ἀνέφαπτον αὐτῇ οὐδὲν γέγονεν, ἀλλ’ αὐτῇ βιάζεσθαι τὰ ἱερὰ ξύμπαντα οὐδὲν πρᾶγμα ἐδόκει εἶναι. καὶ ξὺν τῷ δήμῳ οἱ τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἱερεῖς καταπεπληγμένοι τῷ δέει ἐξίσταντο καὶ ἐνεχώρουν αὐτῇ ἅπαντα. τριῶν μὲν οὖν αὐτῷ ἐνιαυτῶν χρόνος ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ διαίτῃ ἐτρίβη, ὕστερον δὲ ὁ προφήτης αὐτῷ Ζαχαρίας ἐπιστὰς ὄναρ ὅρκοις, φασὶν, ἐκέλευσε φεύγειν, συλλήψεσθαί οἱ ἐν τῷ ἔργῳ τῷδε ὁμολογήσας. ταύτῃ τε τῇ ὄψει ἀναπεισθεὶς ἀνέστη τε ἐνθένδε καὶ διαλαθὼν εἰς τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα ἦλθε, μυρίων μὲν αὐτὸν διερευνωμένων ἀνθρώπων, οὐδενὸς δὲ τὸν νεανίαν, καίπερ ἐντυχόντα, ὁρῶντος. οὗ δὴ ἀποθριξάμενός τε καὶ τῶν μοναχῶν καλουμένων τὸ σχῆμα περιβαλλόμενος τὴν ἐκ Θεοδώρας κόλασιν διαφυγεῖν ἔσχε.

'Now Theodora had concealed rooms which were completely hidden, being dark and isolated, where no indication of night or day could be observed. There she confined Photius and kept him under guard for a long time. From this place he had the fortune, not once but even twice, to escape and get away. The first time he fled to the Church of the Mother of God, which among the Byzantines is considered most holy, as it indeed was designated in its name, and he sat as a suppliant beside the holy table. Thence she forced him with great violence to rise and once more put him into confinement. And the second time he reached the sanctuary of Sophia, and he suddenly seated himself close to the divine receptacle itself, which the Christians have been wont to reverence above all things. But the woman succeeded in dragging him away even from there. For no inviolable spot ever remained inaccessible to her, but it seemed nothing to her to do violence to any and all sacred things. And not only the populace but also the priests of the Christians, smitten with terror, stood aside and conceded everything to her. So a period of three years was passed by him in this manner of life, but afterwards the prophet Zechariah stood over him in a dream and with oaths, they say, commanded him to flee, promising that he would lend him a hand in this undertaking. Persuaded by this vision he got away from there and escaping detection came to Jerusalem, and though countless persons were searching for him, no man saw the youth, even when he stood before him. There he shaved his head, and by clothing himself in the garb of the monks, as they are called, he succeeded in escaping the punishment of Theodora.'

Text: Wirth 1963. Translation: Dewing 1935.