sentences:  When the King of the Ostrogoths Totila overcame the Byzantine defences and entered the city in December 546, Basilius, along with Rufius Petronius Nicomachus Cethegus, the president of the Senate (who had been consul in 504), and Decius (who had been consul in 529) fled Rome with general Bessas.According to the "Liber Pontificalis", Basilius and Cethegus reached Constantinople where the Emperor Justinian consoled them "and enriched them as befitted Roman consuls.