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Title: The Secret History of the Court of Justinian

Author: Procopius

Release date: July 16, 2004 [eBook #12916]
Most recently updated: October 28, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECRET
HISTORY OF THE COURT OF JUSTINIAN ***

[Transcriber's Note: Macrons (straight line above a vowel) are

indicated in this text by surrounding square brackets and an = sign. For
example, [=e] indicates an e-macron]

THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE
COURT OF JUSTINIAN
PROCOPIUS

_LITERALLY AND COMPLETELY TRANSLATED FROM THE
GREEK FOR THE FIRST TIME

ATHENS: PRIVATELY PRINTED FOR THE ATHENIAN SOCIETY: MDCCCXCVI_

PREFACE

Procopius, the most important of the Byzantine historians, was born at
Caesarea in Palestine towards the beginning of the sixth century of the
Christian era. After having for some time practised as a "Rhetorician," that
is, advocate or jurist, in his native land, he seems to have migrated early to
Byzantium or Constantinople. There he gave lessons in elocution, and acted
as counsel in several law-cases. His talents soon attracted attention, and he
was promoted to official duties in the service of the State. He was
commissioned to accompany the famous Belisarius during his command of
the army in the East, in the capacity of Counsellor or Assessor: it is not easy
to define exactly the meaning of the Greek term, and the functions it
embraced. The term "Judge-Advocate" has been suggested[1], a legal
adviser who had a measure of judicial as well as administrative power.
From his vivid description of the early years of Justinian's reign, we may
conclude that he spent some considerable time at the Byzantine court before
setting out for the East, at any rate, until the year 532, when Belisarius
returned to the capital: he would thus have been an eye-witness of the
"Nika" sedition, which, had it not been for the courage and firmness
displayed by Theodora, would probably have resulted in the flight of
Justinian, and a change of dynasty.

In 533 he accompanied Belisarius on his expedition to Africa. On the
way, he was intrusted with an important mission to Sicily. He appears to

have returned to Byzantium with Belisarius in 535. He is heard of again, in
536, as charged with another mission in the neighbourhood of Rome, which
shows that, at the end of 535, he had accompanied Belisarius, who had been
despatched to Italy and Sicily to conquer the territory in the occupation of
the Goths. This expedition terminated successfully by the surrender of
Vitiges and his captivity at Byzantium in 540.

As the reward of his services, Justinian bestowed upon him the title of
"Illustrious" (Illustris), given to the highest class of public officials, raised
him to the rank of a Senator, and, finally, appointed him Praefect of
Byzantium in 562. He does not, however, seem to have been altogether
satisfied: he complains of having been ill-paid for his labours; for several
years he was even without employment. This is all that is known of his life.
He died shortly before or after the end of the reign of Justinian (565), when
he would have been over sixty years of age.

His career seems to have been as satisfactory as could be reasonably
expected, all things being taken into consideration; but the violent hatred
displayed by him against Justinian in the "Anecdota" or "Secret History"—
if the work be really his[2]—appears to show that he must have had some
real or imaginary grounds of complaint; but history throws no light upon
these incidents of his political career.

Another question which has been much discussed by the commentators
is:
"What were the religious opinions of Procopius?"

His own writings do not decide the question; he seems to shew a leaning
towards heathenism and Christianity alternately. The truth seems to be that,
being of a sceptical turn of mind, he was indifferent; but that, living under
an orthodox Emperor, he affected the forms and language of Christianity.
Had he been an open and avowed adherent of Paganism, he would scarcely

have been admitted to the Senate or appointed to the important official
position of Praefect of Byzantium. His description of the plague of 543,
which is exceedingly minute in its details, has given rise to the idea that he
was a physician, but there is no proof of this. The same thing might have
been with equal justice said of Thucydides; or we might assert that
Procopius was an architect, on the strength of his having written the
"Buildings."

Procopius, holding a position in a period of transition between classical
Greek and Byzantine literature, is the first and most talented of Byzantine
historians. His writings are characterized by an energetic combination of the
Attic models of the affected, but often picturesque style employed by the
Byzantine writers. Although he is not free from errors of taste, he expresses
his ideas with great vigour, and his thoughts are often worthy of a better
age. The information which he has given us is exceedingly valuable. He had
ample opportunities of observation, and his works present us with the best
picture of the reign of Justinian, so important in Greco-Roman annals.

His chief work is the "Histories," in eight books: two on the Persian wars
(408-553), two on the Vandal wars (395-545), and four[3] on the Gothic
wars, bringing down the narrative to the beginning of 559. The whole work
is very interesting; the descriptions are excellent: in the matter of
ethnographical details, Procopius may be said to be without a rival among
ancient historians.

He shews equal descriptive talent in his work on the "Buildings" of
Justinian, a curious and useful work, but spoiled by excessive adulation of
the Emperor. Gibbon is of opinion that it was written with the object of
conciliating Justinian, who had been dissatisfied with the too independent
judgment of the "Histories." If this be the case, we can understand why the
historian avenged himself in the "Secret History," which is a veritable

chronique scandaleuse of the Byzantine Court from 549-562. Justinian and
Theodora, Belisarius and his wife Antonina, are painted in the blackest
colours. Belisarius, who is treated with the least severity, is nevertheless
represented as weak and avaricious, capable of any meanness in order to
retain the favour of the Court and his military commands, which afforded
him the opportunity of amassing enormous wealth. As for Antonina and
Theodora, the revelations of the "Secret History" exhibit a mixture of crime
and debauchery not less hideous than that displayed by Messalina. Justinian
is represented as a monstrous tyrant, at once cunning and stupid, "like an
ass," in the the words of the historian, and as the wickedest man that ever
lived. The author declares that he and his wife are spirits or demons, who
have assumed the form of human beings in order to inflict the greatest
possible evils upon mankind. These accusations seem to be founded
sometimes upon fact, sometimes upon vague rumours and blind gossip.
Generally speaking, the author of the "Secret History" seems sincere, but at
the same time he shows a narrowness by confounding all Justinian's acts in
one sweeping censure, and in attributing to him the most incredible
refinements of political perversity. Critics have asked the question whether
the author of such a work can be Procopius of Caesarea, the impartial
historian of the wars. Direct proofs of authenticity are wanting, since the
most ancient authors who attribute it to him—Suidas and Nicephorus
Callistus—lived centuries later.[4] But it is easy to understand that a work
of this kind could not be acknowledged by its author, or published during
the lifetime of Justinian. In later times, it circulated privately, until the lapse
of time had rendered the Byzantine Court indifferent to the hideous picture
of the vices of a previous age. The work is evidently that of a contemporary
of Justinian; it can only have been written by a functionary familiar with the
ins and outs of Court intrigue, who had private grievances of his own to
avenge. It is true that it sheds little lustre upon the character of Procopius,
since it exhibits him as defaming the character of the masters whom he had

formerly served and flattered. But this kind of inconsistency is not
uncommon in writers of memoirs, who often revenge themselves
posthumously by blackening the reputation of their former masters.
Although the author writes under the influence of the most violent
resentment, there seems no reason to doubt that, although details may be
exaggerated, the work on the whole gives a faithful picture of the Byzantine
Court of the period.

The following sketch of the "Character and Histories of Procopius" from
Gibbon,[5] although modern authorities have taken exception to it in certain
points, will be read with interest: "The events of Justinian's reign, which
excite our curious attention by their number, variety, and importance, are
diligently related by the secretary of Belisarius, a rhetorician, whom
eloquence had promoted to the rank of senator and praefect of
Constantinople. According to the vicissitudes of courage or servitude, of
favour or disgrace, Procopius successively composed the history, the
panegyric, and the satire of his own times. The eight books of the Persian,
Vandalic, and Gothic wars, which are continued in the five books of
Agathias, deserve our esteem as a laborious and successful imitation of the
Attic, or at least of the Asiatic, writers of ancient Greece. His facts are
collected from the personal experience and free conversations of a soldier, a
statesman, and a traveller; his style continually aspires, and often attains, to
the merit of strength and elegance; his reflections, more especially in the
speeches which he too frequently inserts, contain a rich fund of political
knowledge; and the historian, excited by the generous ambition of pleasing
and instructing posterity, appears to disdain the prejudices of the people and
the flattery of courts. The writings of Procopius were read and applauded by
his contemporaries; but, although he respectfully laid them at the foot of the
throne, the pride of Justinian must have been wounded by the praise of an
hero who perpetually eclipses the glory of his inactive sovereign. The
conscious dignity of independence was subdued by the hopes and fears of a

slave, and the secretary of Belisarius laboured for pardon and reward in the
six books of imperial edifices.[6] He had dexterously chosen a subject of
apparent splendour, in which he could loudly celebrate the genius, the
magnificence, and the piety of a prince, who, both as a conqueror and
legislator, had surpassed the puerile virtues of Cyrus and Themistocles.
Disappointment might urge the flatterer to secret revenge, and the first
glance of favour might again tempt him to suspend and suppress a libel, in
which the Roman Cyrus is degraded into an odious and contemptible tyrant,
in which both the Emperor and his consort Theodora are seriously
represented as two demons, who had assumed a human form for the
destruction of mankind. Such base inconsistency must doubtless sully the
reputation and detract from the credit of Procopius; yet, after the venom of
his malignity has been suffered to exhale, the residue of the 'Anecdotes,'
even the most disgraceful facts, some of which had been tenderly hinted in
his public history, are established by their internal evidence, or the authentic
monuments of the times."[7] It remains to add that in some passages, owing
to imperfections in the text or the involved nature of the sentences, it is
difficult to feel sure as to the meaning. In these the translator can only hope
to have given a rendering which harmonises with the context and is
generally intelligible, even if the Greek does not seem to have been strictly
followed.

For a clear and succinct account of the reign of Justinian, the four
chapters in Gibbon (xl.-xliv.), which are generally admitted to be the most
successful in his great work, should be read.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Arrangement of the work—The manner in which it has been drawn up—
The causes of events omitted in previous writings—The duty of the
historian towards posterity—Lessons necessary to tyrants—Semiramis,
Sardanapalus, and Nero—Facts relating to Belisarius, Justinian, and
Theodora.

CHAPTER I

Birth and character of Antonina—Her marriage with Belisarius—Her
adulterous amours—Services rendered by her to the Empress Theodora—
Her passion for the Thracian Theodosius—Adoption of the latter—The
lovers surprised by Belisarius—His weakness—Revelation made by the
slave Macedonia—Flight of Theodosius—Vengeance of Antonina upon
Macedonia, and upon Constantine, who had spoken insultingly of her—
Theodosius refuses to return to her until the departure of her son Photius—
Retirement of Photius—Demands of Theodosius—His return—Infatuation
of Belisarius—His return to Byzantium—Theodosius enters a cloister at
Ephesus—Despair of Antonina—She causes him to be recalled—His
resistance—His secret return.

CHAPTER II

Departure of Belisarius, accompanied by the "consular" Photius, for the war
against Chosroes, King of Persia—Antonina remains at Byzantium—Her
intrigues against Photius—The latter denounces her adulterous intimacy
with Theodosius—Indignation of Belisarius—His agreement with Photius
—His vengeance postponed—Entry of the Roman army into Persia—
Downfall of John the Cappadocian—Antonina's perjuries—She sets out for
the army—Theodosius sent back to Ephesus—Capture of Sisauranum—
Arrival of Antonina—Retirement of Belisarius—Arethas and the Saracens
—Colchis or Lazica invaded by Chosroes—Capture of Petra—Reverse
sustained by Chosroes—The Huns defeated by Valerian—Insurrectionist
movement amongst the Persians—Letter of Theodora to Zaberganes—
Return of Chosroes to Persia.

CHAPTER III

Arrest of Antonina—Hesitation of Belisarius—Photius repairs to Ephesus,
and extorts from Calligonus a confession of his mistress's secrets—
Theodosius, having taken refuge in a temple, is given up by Andreas the
Bishop—Intervention of Theodora—Photius removes Theodosius, and puts
him away in Cilicia—The latter and Calligonus set free—The Empress

hands over Antonina's enemies to her—Her vengeance—Punishment of the
senator Theodosius—Forced reconciliation between Belisarius and his wife
—Arrest of Photius: his firmness under torture—Calligonus restored to
Antonina—Theodosius restored to her arms—The Empress's favours—She
promises him a high military command—His death from dysentery—Long
imprisonment of Photius—Sacred asylums violated—Weakness displayed
by the priests—Deliverance of Photius, who enters a convent at Jerusalem
—Perjury of Belisarius—His punishment—Failure of the third expedition
against Chosroes—Capture of Callinikus—Roman prisoners—Belisarius
accused of treachery and cowardice.

CHAPTER IV

Illness of Justinian—Resolutions of the army consequent upon his supposed
death—Peter and John the Glutton denounce Belisarius and Buzes—The
latter put away and tortured—Disgrace of Belisarius—He is superseded by
Martin in the command of the army of the East—His treasures carried away
by Theodora—His friendship for Antonina—His letter to Belisarius—
Submission of the latter to his wife—Division of his fortune—Betrothal of
Joannina, his daughter, to Anastasius, grandson of Theodora—Belisarius
appointed Count of the Royal Stable and again commander of the army in
Italy—Comparison of the two expeditions.

CHAPTER V

Conduct of Belisarius in Italy—His greed—Defection of Herodianus—Loss
of Spoletum—Success of Totila and his Goths—Rupture with John—

Betrothal of the latter to Justina, daughter of Germanus—Recall of
Belisarius—Perusia taken by the Goths—The marriage between Joannina
and Anastasius consummated by a trick on the part of the dying Empress—
Return of Antonina, who separates the young pair—Belisarius despised for
his weakness—Sergius causes the loss of the Roman army in Africa—
Murder of Pegasius by Solomon—The vengeance of Heaven.

CHAPTER VI

History of Justin and his two brothers, poor Illyrian husbandmen—Their
enrolment in the army—Their admission into the Palace Guards, in the
reign of Leo—Justin condemned to death, during the reign of Anastasius,
by the General John Kyrtus, for some breach of discipline—His escape by
divine intervention—He becomes praefect of the Praetorian guards—In
spite of his ignorance, he is proclaimed Emperor—The way in which he
was assisted to sign imperial documents—The Empress Lupicina-Euphemia
—Justinian, the nephew of Justin, the real master of the Empire—His
cruelty, his avarice, his inconsistency in regard to the laws—He oppresses
Italy, Africa, and the rest of the Empire—Amantius condemned, to avenge
an outrage upon the bishop John—Perjury towards Vitalianus.

CHAPTER VII

Byzantium divided between two factions: the Blues and the Greens—
Justinian puts himself at the head of the former—The Empire entirely upset
by the quarrels between these factions—The Blues dress their hair after the
manner of the Huns—Their general attire—Their excesses—Behaviour of

the Greens—Corruption of the morals of young men—Murder committed
with impunity—Inaction on the part of the authorities—Acts of violence
committed upon both sexes—A woman throws herself into the sea to save
her virtue—Culpability of Justinian—His partiality for the oppressors, upon
whom he bestows favours and dignities.

CHAPTER VIII

Calamities in the provinces—Justinian's apathy—Waste of the public
money during his reign—Useless presents of money made to the Huns—
Extravagance in buildings on the sea-shore—Attack upon the fortunes of
private individuals—Description of Justinian's personal appearance—His
resemblance to Domitian—Domitian's wife—Alterations in established
institutions.

CHAPTER IX

The bear-keeper Acacius, Theodora's father—His widow loses her place in
the amphitheatre of the Greens and takes another in that of the Blues—Her
daughters—The beginning of Theodora's career—Her precocious
immorality—Her accomplishments—Her debaucheries—Her intercourse
with Hecebolus, governor of Pentapolis—Her return from the East—
Justinian, enamoured of her, wishes to marry her—Assassination of
Hypatius—The Praefect Theodotus Colocynthius—Punishment of
malefactors—His exile and death.

CHAPTER X

The Empress Euphemia—Her opposition to the marriage of Justinian and
Theodora—Justin repeals the law prohibiting the marriage of a patrician
with a stage-performer—Justinian and Theodora colleagues on the throne—
Death of Justin—Effect of the marriage—Adulation of the senate, clergy,
people, and army—General feeling of discouragement—Personal
advantages of Theodora—Pretended antagonism between her and Justinian
—Theodora deceives the Christians and the factions—Consolidation of
despotism.

CHAPTER XI

Legislative innovations—Avarice and cruelty of Justinian—Barbarian
invasions provoked—Exorbitant subsidies to the chiefs of the Huns and
Chosroes King of Persia, followed by disturbances and violation of truce—
Saracens, Slavs, Antes, and other barbarous peoples—Desolation of the
provinces—Religious persecutions and confiscation of Church property—
Montanists, Sabbatians, Arians, and Samaritans—Pretended conversions—
Manicheans and Polytheists—Caesarea, the author's birthplace—Revolt of
the peasants under Julian—Hellenism—Law against paederasty—
Persecution of astrologers—Continuous emigration.

CHAPTER XII

Downfall and death of Zeno, grandson of Anthemius, Emperor of the West
—Robbery of Tatian, Demosthenes, the wealthy Hilara, Dionysus of
Libanus and John of Edessa—Forged wills—Theodora and Justinian evil
spirits, not simple human beings—Justinian the putative son of Sabbatius—
His mother's intimate relations with a spirit—The adventure of a monk—
Justinian's temperate manner of living—His fondness for women—
Theodora's intercourse with a spirit—Reputation of Macedonia during
Justin's time—Her prediction to Theodora—Dream of her marriage with the
Prince of the Demons.

CHAPTER XIII

Justinian's qualities—His accessibility—His partiality for the clergy—His
gifts to the churches—His passion for blood and money, shared by him with
Theodora—Flattery of Tribonianus—Justinian's fickleness and ill-faith—
Venality of justice—Corruption of officials—Justinian's fasting and
temperate mode of life.

CHAPTER XIV

Abolition of various old customs—The attributes of the quaestor and
imperial secretaries—The senate a mere cipher—Corruption of the
"Referendaries"—Guilty conduct of Zeno, the Cilician.

CHAPTER XV

Cruelty of Theodora—Her voluptuous life—Her ambition—Her character
and Justinian's compared—Her harshness towards persons of rank—Their
servility—Pretended mildness of Justinian—Theodora's eagerness for
vengeance—Her partiality—The insult offered by her to a patrician—Her
stay at Heraeum, on the sea-shore.

CHAPTER XVI

Assassination of Amalasunta, Queen of the Goths, by Peter, Theodora's
agent—The secretary, Priscus, obliged to enter a cloister—Justinian's
hypocrisy—Disgrace of Areobindus, Theodora's lover—Her way of getting
rid of persons of rank—Punishment of Basianus—False accusation against
Diogenes, a member of the municipal council—Suborning of witnesses—
Theodora's courage.

CHAPTER XVII

Murder of Callinicus, governor of Cilicia—His property confiscated by
Justinian—Theodora's severe measures against prostitutes—She compels
two girls of noble birth to marry—Her frequent abortions—Disappearance
of her natural son, John—Corrupt morals of the ladies of the capital—
Theodora disposes of ecclesiastical dignities—Takes upon herself the
general superintendence of marriages—Adventure of Saturninus—
Persecution of John of Cappadocia.

CHAPTER XVIII

Justinian, a devil in the form of a man, causes the destruction of millions of
men—His policy towards the Vandals, Goths, and other barbarians—
Chosroes and the Persians—Invasion of the Huns, Saracens, and others—
Justinian's theological studies—Religious persecution—Divine anger—
Inundations, earthquakes, and the plague.

CHAPTER XIX

A dream relating to Justinian's avarice—The vast treasures of Anastasius
squandered by Justinian—He makes himself master of the fortunes of
private individuals by false accusations, and squanders them in presents of
money to the barbarians, who plunder the Empire—Fulfilment of the
dream.

CHAPTER XX

Justinian impoverishes private individuals by "monopolies"—Two new
magistrates appointed at Constantinople—Praetor of the People to judge
cases of robbery—Legislation in regard to paederasty and female morality
—Establishment of an inquisition against heretics—Condemnations and
confiscations—Degradation of the quaestorship in the hands of Junilus and
Constantine—Their venality.

CHAPTER XXI

The impost called "Aerikon"—Exactions authorised by Justinian—The
property of John the Cappadocian confiscated—The farming of the taxes
entrusted to salaried commissioners—Increased spoliation—Oath taken
against venality—Increasing corruption of officials—The Thracians and
Illyrians at first check the depredations of the Huns, Goths, and other
barbarians, and then, in turn, take to plundering themselves.

CHAPTER XXII

John of Cappadocia replaced by Theodotus, and Theodotus by Peter
Barsyames, the Syrian, an old usurer—His greed—He suppresses the
gratuities to the soldiers—Traffic in every kind of employment—
Speculation in wheat—Scarcity of provisions at Byzantium—Discontent—
Barsyames upheld by Theodora and his own sorceries—His connection
with the Manicheans—Their influence over Justinian—Barsyames
supersedes John of Palestine as treasury minister—He abolishes the
assistance rendered to the unfortunate.

CHAPTER XXIII

Ruin of private properties—Abolition of the remission of arrears of taxes,
even in the case of cities taken by the barbarians—The imposts called
Syn[=o]n[=e], Epibol[=e], and Diagraph[=e]—Soldiers billeted in private
houses.

CHAPTER XXIV

Oppression of the soldiers by the Logothetes—Division of the soldiers into
three classes—Their promotion suspended—Their pay diverted to other
purposes—The diminishing army—Praetorian soldiers disbanded—
Alexander the Logothete in Italy—The general's aides-de-camp—The
frontier garrisons abandoned—Palace guards, Scholares, and
supernumeraries—Armenians—Peter, the Master of Offices, the murderer
of Amalasunta—Palace officials, Domestics, and Protectors—Suppression
of the quinquennial gratuity—The imperial officers and dignitaries.

CHAPTER XXV

Unjust treatment of merchants, mariners, and artisans—The straits of the
Bosphorus and the Hellespont burdened with custom-house dues—
Enormous dues levied by Addeus in the port of Byzantium—Change in the
silver coinage: its depreciation—Monopoly of the silk trade—Ruin of
Berytus and Tyre—Malversations of Peter Barsyames and his successors—
Tyranny of Theodora and avarice of Justinian.

CHAPTER XXVI

Destruction of city decorations and ornaments—Advocates deprived of
their fees by the institution of arbitrators—Physicians and professors
deprived of their pensions—Public spectacles discontinued—The
consulship suppressed—Scarcity of corn and water at Byzantium, Rome,
and Alexandria—Generosity of Theodoric, the conqueror of Italy—Greed
of Alexander Forficula—Disbanding of the garrison of Thermopylae—
Spoliation of Athens and other Greek cities—Hephaestus and Diocletian.

CHAPTER XXVII

Conduct of Justinian and Theodora in regard to the clergy and council of
Chalcedon—Arsenius the Samaritan persecutes the Christians of
Scythopolis with impunity—Paul, archbishop of Alexandria, has the deacon
Psoes put to death—Rhodon, the governor, by his orders, tortures him: but
he is dismissed, and then put to death, together with Arsenius, through the
influence of Theodora—Liberius, the new governor, and Pelagius, legate of
Pope Vigilius at Alexandria, depose Paul, who buys back the favour of
Justinian—Resistance of Vigilius—Faustinus, governor of Palestine,
denounced by the Christians as a Samaritan—His condemnation by the
Senate—The sentence annulled by Justinian—Outrages upon the
Christians.

CHAPTER XXVIII

Laws changed for money considerations—Affair of the church of
Emesa—Priscus the forger—A hundred years' prescription granted to
the churches—Mission of Longinus—Persecution of the Jews at the
Passover—Justinian's intolerance.

CHAPTER XXIX

Justinian's hypocrisy—Letters sent to both Liberius and John Laxarion,
confirming them as governors of Egypt—Intervention of Pelagius and
Eudaemon—Murder of John—Liberius acquitted by the Senate—Fine
inflicted by Justinian—Confiscation of the inheritances of Eudaemon,
Euphratas, and Irenaeus—New law as to the inheritances of municipal
councillors—Spoliation of the daughter of Anatolia and Ascalon, the widow
of Mamilianus—Affair of Tarsus—Malthanes and the Blues of Cilicia—
Unpunished assassinations—Justinian's corruptness—Leo the Referendary.

CHAPTER XXX

The "posts" and "spies"—Rapidity of the imperial couriers—Their chief
routes—Superiority of the Persians—Reverses of the Romans in Lazica at
the hands of Chosroes—The army commissariat—Spoliation of the lawyer
Evangelius—Justinian's sarcasm—He and Theodora required their feet to
be kissed by those who had audience of them—Their titles of "master" and
"mistress"—The palace crowded by applicants for audiences—The death of
Justinian alone will show how the vast wealth of the Empire has been spent.

INTRODUCTION

I have thus described the fortunes of the Romans in their wars up to the
present day, as far as possible assigning the description of events to their
proper times and places. What follows will not be arranged with the same
exactness, but everything shall be written down as it took place throughout
the whole extent of the Roman empire. My reason for this is, that it would
not have been expedient for me to describe these events fully while those
who were their authors were still alive; for, had I done so, I could neither
have escaped the notice of the multitude of spies, nor, had I been detected,
could I have avoided a most horrible death; for I could not even have relied
upon my nearest relatives with confidence. Indeed, I have been forced to
conceal the real causes of many of the events recounted in my former
books. It will now be my duty, in this part of my history, to tell what has
hitherto remained untold, and to state the real motives and origin of the
actions which I have already recounted. But, when undertaking this new
task, how painful and hard will it be, to be obliged to falter and contradict
myself as to what I have said about the lives of Justinian and Theodora: and
particularly so, when I reflect that what I am about to write will not appear
to future generations either credible or probable, especially when a long
lapse of years shall have made them old stories; for which reason I fear that
I may be looked upon as a romancer, and reckoned among playwrights.
However, I shall have the courage not to shrink from this important work,
because my story will not lack witnesses; for the men of to-day, who are the

best informed witnesses of these facts, will hand on trustworthy testimony
of their truth to posterity. Yet, when I was about to undertake this work,
another objection often presented itself to my mind, and for a long time
held me in suspense.

I doubted whether it would be right to hand down these events to
posterity; for the wickedest actions had better remain unknown to future
times than come to the ears of tyrants, and be imitated by them. For most
rulers are easily led by lack of knowledge into imitating the evil deeds of
their predecessors, and find it their easiest plan to walk in the evil ways of
their forefathers.

Later, however, I was urged to record these matters, by the reflection that
those who hereafter may wish to play the tyrant will clearly see, in the first
place, that it is probable that retribution will fall upon them for the evil that
they may do, seeing that this was what befell these people; and, secondly,
that their actions and habits of life will be published abroad for all time, and
therefore they will perhaps be less ready to transgress. Who, among
posterity, would have known of the licentious life of Semiramis, or of the
madness of Sardanapalus or Nero, if no memorials of them had been left to
us by contemporary writers? The description of such things, too, will not be
entirely without value to such as hereafter may be so treated by tyrants; for
unhappy people are wont to console themselves by the thought that they are
not the only persons who have so suffered. For these reasons, I shall first
give a description of the evil wrought by Belisarius, and afterwards I shall
describe the misdeeds of Justinian and Theodora.

CHAPTER I

The wife of Belisarius, whom I have spoken of in my previous writings,
was the daughter and grand-daughter of chariot-drivers, men who had
practised their art in the circus at Byzantium and at Thessalonica. Her
mother was one of the prostitutes of the theatre. She herself at first lived a
lewd life, giving herself up to unbridled debauchery; besides this, she
devoted herself to the study of the drugs which had long been used in her
family, and learned the properties of those which were essential for carrying
out her plans. At last she was betrothed and married to Belisarius, although
she had already borne many children.

She formed adulterous connections as soon as she was married, but took
pains to conceal the fact, by making use of familiar artifices, not out of any
respect for her husband (for she never felt any shame at any crime
whatever, and hoodwinked him by enchantments), but because she dreaded
the vengeance of the Empress; for Theodora was very bitter against her, and
had already shown her teeth. But, after she had made Theodora her humble
friend by helping her when in the greatest difficulties, first of all by making
away with Silverius, as shall be told hereafter, and afterwards by ruining
John of Cappadocia, as I have already described, she became less timid,
and, scorning all concealment, shrank from no kind of wickedness.

There was a Thracian youth, named Theodosius, in the household of
Belisarius, who by descent was of the Eunomian faith. On the eve of his

departure for Libya, Belisarius held the youth over the font, received him
into his arms after baptism, and thenceforth made him a member of his
household, with the consent of his wife, according to the Christian rite of
adoption. Antonina therefore received Theodosius as a son consecrated by
religion, and in consequence loved him, paid him especial attention, and
obtained complete dominion over him. Afterwards, during this voyage, she
became madly enamoured of him, and, being beside herself with passion,
cast away all fear of everything human or divine, together with all traces of
modesty, and enjoyed him at first in secret, afterwards even in the presence
of her servants and handmaidens; for she was by this time so mad with lust,
that she disregarded everything that stood in the way of her passion.

Once, when they were at Carthage, Belisarius caught her in the act, but
permitted himself to be deceived by his wife. He found them both together
in an underground chamber, and was furiously enraged at the sight; but she
showed no sign of fear or a desire to avoid him, and said, "I came to this
place with this youth, to hide the most precious part of our plunder, that the
Emperor might not come to know of it." This she said by way of an excuse,
and he, pretending to be convinced, let it pass, although he saw that the belt
which held Theodosius's drawers over his private parts was undone; for he
was so overpowered by his love for the creature that he preferred not to
believe his own eyes. However, Antonina's debauchery went on from bad to
worse, till it reached a shameful pitch. All who beheld it were silent, except
one slave woman, named Macedonia, who, when Belisarius was at
Syracuse after the conquest of Sicily, first made her master swear the most
solemn oaths that he never would betray her to her mistress, and then told
him the whole story, bringing as her witnesses two boys who attended on
Antonina's bed-chamber.

When Belisarius heard this, he told some of his guards to make away
with Theodosius, but the latter, being warned in time, fled to Ephesus: for

the greater part of Belisarius's followers, influenced by the natural weakness
of his character, were at more pains to please his wife than to show their
devotion to him; and this was why they disclosed to her the orders they had
received concerning Theodosius. When Constantine saw Belisarius's sorrow
at what had befallen him, he sympathized with him, but was so imprudent
as to add: "For my own part, I would have killed the woman rather than the
youth."

This having been reported to Antonina, she conceived a secret hatred for
him, until she could make him feel the weight of her resentment; for she
was like a scorpion, and knew how to hide her venom.

Not long afterwards, either by enchantments or by caresses, she
persuaded her husband that the accusation brought against her was false;
whereupon, without any hesitation, he sent for Theodosius, and promised to
deliver up to his wife Macedonia and the boys, which he afterwards did. It
is said that she first cut out their tongues, and then ordered them to be hewn
in pieces, put into sacks and thrown into the sea. In this bloody deed she
was assisted by one of her slaves named Eugenius, who had also been one
of those who perpetrated the outrage on Silverius.

Shortly afterwards, Belisarius was persuaded by his wife to kill
Constantine. What I have already recounted about Praesidius and his
daggers belongs to this period. Belisarius would have let him go, but
Antonina would not rest until she had exacted vengeance for the words
which I have just repeated. This murder stirred up a great hatred against
Belisarius on the part of the Emperor and of the chief nobles of the Empire.

Such was the course of events. Meanwhile, Theodosius refused to return
to Italy, where Belisarius and Antonina were then staying, unless Photius
were sent out of the way; for Photius was naturally disposed to show his
spite against anyone who supplanted him in another's good graces; but he

was quite right in feeling jealous of Theodosius, because he himself,
although Antonina's son, was quite neglected, whereas the other was
exceedingly powerful and had amassed great riches. They say that he had
taken treasure amounting to a hundred centenars of gold [about £400,000]
from the treasure-houses of the two cities of Carthage and Ravenna, since
he had obtained sole and absolute control of the management of them.

When Antonina heard this determination of Theodosius, she never ceased
to lay traps for her son and to concoct unnatural plots against him, until she
made him see that he must leave her and retire to Byzantium; for he could
no longer endure the designs against his life. At the same time she made
Theodosius return to Italy, where she enjoyed to the full the society of her
lover, thanks to the easy good-nature of her husband. Later on, she returned
to Byzantium in company with both of them. It was there that Theodosius
became alarmed lest their intimacy should become known, and was greatly
embarrassed, not knowing what to do. That it could remain undetected to
the end he felt was impossible, for he saw that the woman was no longer
able to conceal her passion, and indulge it in secret, but was an open and
avowed adulteress, and did not blush to be called so.

For this reason he returned to Ephesus, and after having submitted to the
tonsure, joined the monastic order. At this Antonina entirely lost her reason,
showed her distress by putting on mourning and by her general behaviour,
and roamed about the house, wailing and lamenting (even in the presence of
her husband) the good friend she had lost—so faithful, so pleasant, so
tender a companion, so prompt in action. At last she even won over her
husband, who began to utter the same lamentations. The poor fool kept
calling for the return of his well-beloved Theodosius, and afterwards went
to the Emperor and besought him and the Empress, till he prevailed upon
them to send for Theodosius, as a man whose services always had been and
always would be indispensable in the household. Theodosius, however,

refused to obey, declaring that it was his fixed determination to remain in
the cloister and embrace the monastic life. But this language was by no
means sincere, for it was his intention, as soon as Belisarius left the country,
to rejoin Antonina by stealth at Byzantium, as, in fact, he did.

CHAPTER II

Shortly afterwards Belisarius was sent by the Emperor to conduct the war
against Chosroes, and Photius accompanied him. Antonina remained
behind, contrary to her usual custom; for, before this, she had always
desired to accompany her husband on all his travels wherever he went, for
fear that, when he was by himself, he might return to his senses, and,
despising her enchantments, form a true estimate of her character. But now,
in order that Theodosius might have free access to her, Antonina began to
intrigue in order to get Photius out of her way. She induced some of
Belisarius's suite to lose no opportunity of provoking and insulting him,
while she herself wrote letters almost every day, in which she continually
slandered her son and set every one against him. Driven to bay, the young
man was forced to accuse his mother, and, when a witness arrived from
Byzantium who told him of Theodosius's secret commerce with Antonina,
Photius led him straightway into the presence of Belisarius and ordered him
to reveal the whole story. When Belisarius learned this, he flew into a
furious rage, fell at Photius's feet, and besought him to avenge him for the
cruel wrongs which he had received at the hands of those who should have
been the last to treat him in such a manner. "My dearest boy," he exclaimed,
"you have never known your father, whoever he may have been, for he
ended his life while you were still in your nurse's arms; his property has
been of little or no assistance to you, for he was by no means wealthy. Bred
under my care, though I was but your stepfather, you have now reached an

age when you are capable of assisting me to avenge the wrongs from which
I suffer. I have raised you to the consulship, and have heaped riches upon
you, so that I may justly be regarded by you as your father, your mother,
and your whole family; for it is not by the ties of blood but by deeds that
men are accustomed to measure their attachment to each other. The hour
has now come when you must not remain an indifferent spectator of the
ruin of my house and of the loss with which I am threatened, of so large a
sum of money, nor of the immeasurable shame which your mother has
incurred in the sight of all men. Remember that the sins of women reflect
disgrace not only on their husbands, but also upon their children, whose
honour suffers all the more because of their natural likeness to their
mothers.

"Be well assured that, for my own part, I love my wife with all my heart;
and should it be granted to me to punish the dishonourer of my house, I will
do her no hurt; but, as long as Theodosius remains alive, I cannot condone
her misconduct."

On hearing these words Photius replied that he would do all that he could
to aid his stepfather, but, at the same time, he feared that he himself might
come to some harm by so doing; for he was unable to feel any confidence in
Belisarius, because of his weakness of character, especially where his wife
was concerned. He dreaded the fate of Macedonia, and of many other
victims. For this reason he insisted that Belisarius should swear fidelity to
him by the most sacred oaths known to Christians, and they bound
themselves never to abandon each other, even at the cost of their lives.

For the present, they both agreed that it would be unwise to make any
attempt; and they resolved to wait until Antonina had left Byzantium to join
them, and Theodosius had returned to Ephesus, which would give Photius
the opportunity of going thither and easily disposing of both Theodosius

and his fortune. They had just invaded the Persian territory with all their
forces, and during this time the ruin of John of Cappadocia was
accomplished at Byzantium, as I have told in the former books of my
history. I have there only been silent, through fear, on one point, that it was
not by mere hazard that Antonina succeeded in deceiving John and his
daughter, but by numerous oaths, sworn on all that Christians deem most
holy, she made them believe that she intended to do them no harm.

After this, having risen greatly in favour with the Empress, she sent
Theodosius to Ephesus, and herself, foreseeing no trouble, set out for the
East.

Belisarius had just captured the fortress of Sisauranum, when he was told
of his wife's arrival; whereupon he immediately ordered his army to turn
back, disregarding the interests of the Empire for the sake of his private
feelings. Certain matters had indeed happened, as I have already set forth,
which made a retreat advisable, but his wife's presence hastened it
considerably. But, as I said at the beginning, I did not then think it safe to
describe the real motives of men's actions.

Belisarius was reproached by all the Romans for having sacrificed the
interests of his country to his domestic affairs. The reason was that, in his
first transport of passion against his wife, he could not bring himself to go
far away from Roman territory; for he felt that the nearer he was, the easier
it would be for him to take vengeance upon Theodosius, as soon as he heard
of the arrival of Antonina.

He therefore ordered Arethas and his people to cross the river Tigris, and
they returned home, without having performed anything worthy of record,
while he himself took care not to retire more than an hour's journey from
the Roman frontier. The fortress of Sisauranum, indeed, for an active man,
is not more than a day's journey from the frontier by way of Nisibis, and

only half that distance if one goes by another route. But had he chosen to
cross the river Tigris at first with all his host, I have no doubt that he would
have been able to carry off all the riches of Assyria, and extend his
conquests as far as the city of Ctesiphon, without meeting with any
opposition. He might even have secured the release of the Antiochians, and
all the other Romans who were there in captivity, before returning home.

Furthermore, he was chiefly to blame for the extreme ease with which
Chosroes led his army home from Colchis. I will now relate how this came
to pass. When Chosroes, the son of Cabades, invaded Colchis, with the
result which I have recounted elsewhere, and took Petra, the Medes
nevertheless sustained severe losses, both in battle and owing to the
difficulties of the country; for, as I have said already, Lazica is a country
almost inaccessible, owing to its rocks and precipices. They had at the same
time been attacked by pestilence, which carried off the greater part of the
troops, and many died from want of food and necessaries. It was at this
crisis of affairs that certain men from Persia came into that country,
bringing the news that Belisarius had beaten Nabedes in a battle near the
city of Nisibis, and was pressing forward; that he had taken the fortress of
Sisauranum, and had made prisoners of Bleschames and eight hundred
Persian lancers; that another corps of Romans under Arethas, the chief of
the Saracens, had been detached to cross the Tigris, and ravage the land to
the east of that river, which up to that time had remained free from invasion.

It happened also that the army of Huns, whom Chosroes had sent into
Roman Armenia, in order, by this diversion, to prevent the Romans from
hindering his expedition against the Lazi, had fallen in with and been
defeated by Valerian, at the head of a Roman army, and almost annihilated.
When this news was brought to the Persians, having been reduced to
desperate straits by their ill success at Lazica, they feared that, if an army
should cut them off in their critical position, they might all die of hunger

amidst the crags and precipices of that inaccessible country. They feared,
too, for their children, their wives and their country; and all the flower of
Chosroes' army railed bitterly at him for having broken his plighted word
and violated the common law of nations, by invading a Roman State in a
most unwarrantable manner, in time of peace, and for having insulted an
ancient and most powerful State which he would not be able to conquer in
war. The soldiers were on the point of breaking out into revolt, had not
Chosroes, alarmed at the state of affairs, discovered a remedy for it. He read
to them a letter which the Empress had just written to Zaberganes, in the
following terms:

"You must know, O Zaberganes, since you were ambassador at
our Court not long ago, that we are well disposed towards you, and
that we do not doubt that you have our interests at heart. You will
easily realise the good opinion which I have formed of you, if you
will persuade King Chosroes to maintain peaceful relations with
our empire. I promise you, in that case, the fullest recompense on
the part of my husband, who never does anything without my
advice."

When Chosroes had read this, he reproachfully asked the spokesmen of
the Persians whether they thought that that was an Empire which was
managed by a woman, and thus managed to quell their impetuosity; but,
nevertheless, he retired from his position in alarm, expecting that his retreat
would be cut off by Belisarius and his forces; but, as he found himself
unopposed on his march, he gladly made his way home.

CHAPTER III

When Belisarius entered Roman territory, he found that his wife had arrived
from Byzantium. He kept her in custody in disgrace, and was frequently
minded to put her to death, but had not the heart to do so, being
overpowered, I believe, by the ardour of his love. Others, however, say that
his mind and resolution were destroyed by the enchantments which his wife
employed against him.

Meanwhile, Photius arrived in a state of fury at Ephesus, having taken
with him in chains Calligonus, a eunuch and pander of Antonina, whom, by
frequently flogging him during the journey, he forced to tell all his
mistress's secrets. Theodosius, however, was warned in time, and took
sanctuary in the temple of St. John the Apostle, which is revered in that
town as a most sacred spot; but Andrew, the bishop of Ephesus, was bribed
into delivering him up into the hands of Photius.

Meanwhile, Theodora was very anxious about Antonina, when she heard
what had befallen her. She summoned both Belisarius and his wife to
Byzantium: on hearing this, Photius sent Theodosius away to Cilicia, where
his own spearmen were in winter quarters, giving orders to his escort to
take the man thither as secretly as possible, and, when they arrived at
Cilicia, to guard him with exceeding strictness, and not to let anyone know
in what part of the world he was. He himself, with Calligonus and

Theodosius's treasures, which were very considerable, repaired to
Byzantium.

At that juncture, the Empress clearly proved to all that she knew how to
recompense the murderous services which Antonina had rendered her, by
even greater crimes committed to further her plans. Indeed, Antonina had
only betrayed one man to her by her wiles, her enemy John of Cappadocia,
but the Empress caused the death of a large number of innocent persons,
whom she sacrificed to the vengeance of Antonina. The intimates of
Belisarius and Photius were some of them flogged, although the only charge
against them was their friendship for these two persons; and no one, to the
present day, knows what afterwards became of them; while she sent others
into exile, who were accused of the same crime—friendship for Photius and
Belisarius. One of those who accompanied Photius to Ephesus, Theodosius
by name, although he had attained the rank of senator, was deprived of all
his property, and imprisoned by Theodora in an underground dungeon,
where she kept him fastened to a kind of manger by a rope round his neck,
which was so short that it was always quite tense and never slack. The
wretched man was always forced to stand upright at this manger, and there
to eat and sleep, and do all his other needs; there was no difference between
him and an ass, save that he did not bray. No less than four months were
passed by him in this condition, until he was seized with melancholy and
became violently mad, upon which he was released from his prison and
soon afterwards died.

As for Belisarius, she forced him against his will to become reconciled to
his wife Antonina. Photius, by her orders, was tortured like a slave, and was
beaten with rods upon the back and shoulders, and ordered to disclose
where Theodosius and the pander eunuch were. But he, although cruelly
tortured, kept the oath which he had sworn inviolate; and although he was
naturally weak and delicate, and had always been forced to take care of his

health, and had never had any experience of ill-treatment or discomfort of
any kind, yet he never revealed any of Belisarius's secrets.

But afterwards all that had hitherto been kept secret came to light.
Theodora discovered the whereabouts of Calligonus, and restored him to
Antonina. She also found where Theodosius was, and had him conveyed to
Byzantium, and, on his arrival, concealed him straightway in the palace. On
the morrow she sent for Antonina, and said to her, "Dearest lady, a pearl fell
into my hands yesterday, so beautiful that I think no one has ever seen its
like. If you would like to see it, I will not grudge you the sight of it, but will
gladly show it to you."

Antonina, who did not understand what was going on, begged eagerly to
be shown the pearl, whereupon Theodora led Theodosius by the hand out of
the chamber of one of her eunuchs and displayed him to her. Antonina was
at first speechless through excess of joy, and when she had recovered
herself, warmly protested her gratitude to Theodora, whom she called her
saviour, her benefactress, and truly her mistress. Theodora kept Theodosius
in her palace, treated him with every luxury, and even boasted that, before
long, she would appoint him generalissimo of the Roman armies. But divine
justice, which carried him off through dysentery, prevented this.

Theodora had at her disposal secret and absolutely secluded dungeons, so
solitary and so dark that it was impossible to distinguish between night and
day. In one of these she kept Photius imprisoned for a long time. He
managed, however, to escape, not only once, but twice. The first time he
took sanctuary in the Church of the Mother of God, which is one of the
most sacred and famous churches in Byzantium, wherein he sat as a
suppliant at the holy table; but she ordered him to be removed by main
force and again imprisoned. The second time he fled to the Church of St.
Sophia, and suddenly took refuge in the holy font, which is held in

reverence by Christians above all other places; but the woman was able to
drag him even from thence, for to her no place ever was sacred or
unassailable; and she thought nothing of violating the holiest of sanctuaries.
The Christian priests and people were struck with horror at her impiety, but
nevertheless yielded and submitted to her in everything.

Photius had lived in this condition for nearly three years, when the
prophet Zacharias appeared to him in a dream, commanded him to escape,
and promised his assistance. Relying upon this vision, he rose, escaped
from his prison, and made his way to Jerusalem in disguise; though tens of
thousands must have seen the youth, yet none recognised him. There he
shaved off all his hair, assumed the monastic habit, and in this manner
escaped the tortures which Theodora would have inflicted upon him.

Belisarius took no account of the oaths which he had sworn, and made no
effort to avenge Photius's sufferings, in spite of the solemn vows which he
had made to do so. Hereafter, probably by God's will, all his warlike
enterprises failed. Some time afterwards he was dispatched against the
Medes and Chosroes, who had for the third time invaded the Roman
Empire, and fell under suspicion of treachery, although he was considered
to have performed a notable achievement in driving the enemy away from
the frontier; but when Chosroes, after crossing the Euphrates, took the
populous city of Callinikus without a blow, and made slaves of tens of
thousands of Romans, Belisarius remained quiet, and never so much as
offered to attack the enemy, whereby he incurred the reproach of either
treachery or cowardice.

CHAPTER IV

About this time Belisarius underwent another disgrace. The people of
Byzantium were ravaged by the pestilence of which I have already spoken.
The Emperor Justinian was attacked by it so severely that it was reported
that he had died. Rumour spread these tidings abroad till they reached the
Roman camp, whereupon some of the chief officers said that, if the Romans
set up any other emperor in Byzantium, they would not acknowledge him.
Shortly after this, the Emperor recovered from his malady, whereupon the
chiefs of the army accused one another of having used this language. The
General Peter, and John, surnamed "The Glutton," declared that Belisarius
and Buzes had used the words which I have just quoted. The Empress
Theodora, thinking that these words applied to herself, was greatly enraged.
She straightway summoned all the commanders to Byzantium to make an
inquiry into the matter, and suddenly sent for Buzes to come into her private
apartments, on the pretext of discussing important matters of business with
him. There was in the palace an underground building, which was securely
fastened, and as complicated as a labyrinth, and which might be compared
to the nether world, wherein she kept imprisoned most of those who had
offended her. Into this pit she cast Buzes; and although he was of a consular
family, nothing was known for certain concerning him; as he sat in the
darkness, he could not tell day from night; nor could he ask, for he who
flung him his daily food never spoke, but acted like one dumb beast with
another. All thought him dead, but none dared to mention him or allude to

him. Two years and four months afterwards, Theodora relented and released
him, and he appeared in the world like one raised from the dead; but ever
afterwards he was short-sighted and diseased in body. Such was the fate of
Buzes.

Belisarius, although none of the charges brought against him could be
proved, was removed by the Emperor, at the instance of Theodora, from the
command of the army in the East, which was given to Martinus. The
command of the Doryphori[8] and Hypaspitæ[9] of Belisarius, and of those
of his servants who had distinguished themselves in war, was by his orders
divided amongst the generals and certain of the palace eunuchs. They cast
lots for these soldiers, together with their arms, and divided them amongst
themselves as the lot fell. As for his friends and the many people who had
before served under him, Justinian forbade them to visit him. Thus was seen
in the city a piteous spectacle which men could scarce believe to be real,
that of Belisarius simply a private individual, almost alone, gloomy and
thoughtful, ever dreading to be set upon and assassinated.

When the Empress learned that he had amassed much treasure in the
East; she sent one of the palace eunuchs to fetch it away to the Court.
Antonina, as I have already said, was now at variance with her husband,
and the nearest and dearest friend of the Empress, because she had just
destroyed John of Cappadocia. To please Antonina, the Empress arranged
everything in such a fashion that she appeared to have pleaded for her
husband's pardon, and to have saved him from these great disasters;
whereby the unhappy man not only became finally reconciled to her, but her
absolute slave, as though he had been preserved by her from death. This
was brought about as follows:

One day Belisarius came early to the palace as usual, accompanied by a
small and miserable retinue. He was ungraciously received by the Emperor

and Empress, and even insulted in their presence by low-born villains. He
went home towards evening, often turning himself about, and looking in
every direction for those whom he expected to set upon him. In this state of
dread, he went up to his chamber, and sat down alone upon his couch,
without a brave man's spirit, and scarce remembering that he had ever been
a man, but bathed with sweat, his head dizzy, trembling and despairing,
racked by slavish fears and utterly unmanly thoughts. Antonina, who knew
nothing of what was going on, and was far from expecting what was about
to come to pass, kept walking up and down the hall, on pretence of
suffering from heartburn; for they still regarded each other with suspicion.
Meanwhile, an officer of the palace, named Quadratus, came just after
sunset, passed through the court, and suddenly appeared at the door of the
men's apartments, saying that he brought a message from the Empress.

Belisarius, on hearing him approach, drew up his hands and feet on to the
bed, and lay on his back in the readiest posture to receive the final stroke, so
completely had he lost his courage.

Quadratus, before entering, showed him the Empress' letter. It ran as
follows:

"You are not ignorant, my good sir, of all your offences against me; but I
owe so much to your wife, that I have determined to pardon all your
offences for her sake, and I make her a present of your life. For the future
you may be of good cheer as regards your life and fortune: we shall know
by your future conduct what sort of husband you will be to your wife!"

When Belisarius read this, he was greatly excited with joy, and, as he
wished at the same time to give some present proof of his gratitude, he
straightway rose, and fell on his face at his wife's feet. He embraced her
legs with either hand, and kissed the woman's ankles and the soles of her

feet, declaring that it was to her that he owed his life and safety, and that
hereafter he would be her faithful slave, and no longer her husband.

The Empress divided Belisarius's fortune into two parts; she gave thirty
centenars of gold to the Emperor, and allowed Belisarius to keep the rest.
Such was the fortune of the General Belisarius, into whose hands Fate had
not long before given Gelimer and Vitiges as prisoners of war. The man's
wealth had for a long time excited the jealousy of Justinian and Theodora,
who considered it too great, and fit only for a king. They declared that he
had secretly embezzled most of the property of Gelimer and Vitiges, which
belonged to the State, and that he had restored a small part alone, and one
hardly worthy of an Emperor's acceptance. But, when they thought of what
great things the man had done, and how they would raise unpopular
clamour against themselves, especially as they had no ground whatever for
accusing him of peculation, they desisted; but, on this occasion, the
Empress, having surprised him at a time when he was quite unmanned by
fear, managed at one stroke to become mistress of his entire fortune; for she
straightway established a relationship between them, betrothing Joannina,
Belisarius's only daughter, to her grandson Anastasius.

Belisarius now asked to be restored to his command, and to be nominated
general of the army of the East, in order to conduct the war against
Chosroes and the Medes, but Antonina would not permit this; she declared
that she had been insulted by her husband in those countries, and never
wished to see them again.

For this reason Belisarius was appointed Constable,[10] and was sent for
a second time into Italy, with the understanding, they say, with the Emperor,
that he should not ask for any money to defray the cost of this war, but
should pay all its expenses out of his own private purse. Everyone imagined
that Belisarius made these arrangements with his wife and with the Emperor

in order that he might get away from Byzantium, and, as soon as he was
outside the city walls, straightway take up arms and do some brave and
manly deed against his wife and his oppressors. But he made light of all that
had passed, forgot the oaths which he had sworn to Photius and his other
intimates, and followed his wife in a strange ecstasy of passion for her,
though she was already sixty years of age.

When he arrived in Italy, things went wrong with him daily, for he had
clearly incurred the enmity of heaven. In his former campaign against
Theodatus and Vitiges, the tactics which he had adopted as general, though
they were not thought to be suitable to the circumstances, yet, as a rule,
turned out prosperously: in this second campaign, he gained the credit of
having laid his plans better, as was to be expected from his greater
experience in the art of war; but, as matters for the most part turned out ill,
people began to have a poor opinion of him and his judgment. So true it is
that human affairs are guided, not by men's counsel, but by the influence of
heaven, which we commonly call fortune, because we see how events
happen, but know not the cause which determines them. Therefore, to that
which seems to come to pass without reason is given the name of "chance."
But this is a subject upon which everyone must form his own opinion.

CHAPTER V

At the end of Belisarius's second expedition to Italy, he was obliged to retire
in disgrace; for, as I have told already, he was unable for a space of five
years to effect a landing on the continent, because he had no stronghold
there, but spent the whole time in hovering off the coast. Totila was very
eager to meet him in the open field, but never found an opportunity, for
both the Roman general and all the army were afraid to fight. For this
reason he recovered nothing of all that had been lost, but even lost Rome as
well, and pretty nearly everything else. During this time he became
exceedingly avaricious and greedy for ignoble gain. Because he had
received no funds from the Emperor, he plundered all the Italian peoples of
Ravenna and Sicily, and the rest of Italy without mercy, by way of exacting
vengeance for irregularities in their past lives. Thus he fell upon
Herodianus, and asked him for money with the most dreadful threats;
whereupon he, in his rage, threw off his allegiance to Rome and went over
with his troops to Totila and the Goths, and handed over to them the town of
Spoletum.

I will now tell how Belisarius fell out with John, the nephew of
Vitalianus, a matter which was exceedingly prejudicial to the interests of
Rome. The Empress was so violently incensed against Germanus, and
showed her dislike of him so plainly, that no one dared to connect himself
with him by marriage, although he was the Emperor's nephew, and his

children remained unmarried as long as she lived, while his daughter
Justina was also without a husband at the age of eighteen. For this reason,
when John was sent by Belisarius on a mission to Byzantium, Germanus
was forced to enter upon negotiations with him with a view to marriage
with his daughter, although such an alliance was far beneath him. When
both had settled the matter to their satisfaction, they bound each other by
the most solemn oaths, to use their best endeavours to bring about this
alliance; for neither of them trusted the other, as John knew that he was
seeking an alliance above his station, and Germanus despaired of finding
another husband for his daughter. The Empress was beside herself at this,
and endeavoured to thwart them in every possible way; but as her threats
had no effect upon either, she openly threatened to put John to death. After
this, John was ordered to return to Italy, and, fearing Antonina's designs
upon him, held no further communication with Belisarius until her
departure for Byzantium; for he had good reason to suspect that the
Empress had sent instructions to Antonina to have him murdered; and when
he considered the character of Antonina and Belisarius's infatuation for his
wife, which made him yield to her in everything, he was greatly alarmed.

From this time forth the power of Rome, which had long been unstable,
utterly fell to the ground for want of capable support. Such were the
fortunes of Belisarius in the Gothic war. After this, despairing of success, he
begged the Emperor to allow him to leave Italy with all speed. When he
heard that his prayer had been granted, he joyfully retired, bidding a long
farewell to the Roman army and the Italians. He left the greater part of Italy
in the enemy's power and Perusia in the last agonies of a terrible siege:
while he was on his road home, it was taken, and endured all the miseries of
a city taken by assault, as I have already related. In addition to his ill-
success abroad, he also had to submit to a domestic misfortune, which came
about as follows:—The Empress Theodora was eager to bring about the
marriage of her grandson, Anastasius, with Belisarius's daughter, and

wearied her parents with frequent letters on the subject; but they, not being
desirous of contracting this alliance, put off the marriage until they could
appear in person at Byzantium, and when the Empress sent for them, made
the excuse that they could not leave Italy. But she persisted in her
determination to make her grandson master of Belisarius's fortune, for she
knew that the girl would be his heiress, as he had no other children. She did
not, however, trust Antonina's character, and feared lest, after her own
death, Antonina might prove unfaithful to her house, although she had
found her so helpful in emergencies, and might break the compact. These
considerations prompted her to a most abominable act. She made the boy
and girl live together without any marriage ceremony, in violation of the
laws. It is said that the girl was unwilling to cohabit with him, and that the
Empress had her secretly forced to do so, that the marriage might be
consummated by the dishonour of the bride, and so the Emperor might not
be able to oppose it. After this had taken place, Anastasius and the girl fell
passionately in love with each other, and lived together in this manner for
eight months.

Immediately after the Empress's death, Antonina came to Byzantium. She
found it easy to ignore the outrage which Theodora had committed upon
her, and, without considering that, if she united the girl to another, she
would be no better than a harlot, she drove away Theodora's grandson with
insults, and forcibly separated her daughter from the man whom she loved.

This action caused her to be regarded as one of the most heartless women
upon earth, but nevertheless the mother obtained, without any difficulty,
Belisarius's approval of her conduct, on his return home. Thus did this
man's true character reveal itself. Although he had sworn a solemn oath to
Photius and to several of his intimates and broken it, yet all men readily
forgave him, because they suspected that the reason of his faithlessness was
not the dominion of his wife over him, but his fear of Theodora; but now

that Theodora was dead, as I have told you, he thought nothing about
Photius or any of his intimates, but entirely submitted to the sway of his
wife, and her pander Calligonus. Then at last all men ceased to believe in
him, scorned and flouted him, and railed at him for an idiot. Such were the
offences of Belisarius, about which I have been obliged to speak freely in
this place.

In its proper place, I have said enough about the shortcomings of Sergius,
the son of Bacchus, in Libya. I have told how he was the chief cause of the
ruin of the Roman power in that country, how he broke the oath which he
swore to the Levathae on the Gospels, and how he, without excuse, put to
death the eighty ambassadors. I need only add in this place, that these men
did not come to Sergius with any treacherous intent, and that Sergius had
not the slightest reason for suspecting them, but having invited them to a
banquet and taken an oath not to harm them, he cruelly butchered them.

Solomon, the Roman army, and all the Libyans were lost owing to this
crime; for, in consequence of what he had done, especially after Solomon's
death, no officer or soldier would expose himself to the dangers of war.
John, the son of Sisinniolus, was especially averse to taking the field, out of
the hatred which he bore to Sergius, until Areobindus arrived in Libya.

Sergius was effeminate and unwarlike, very young both in years and in
mind, excessively jealous and insolent to all men, luxurious in his habits,
and inflated with pride. However, after he had become the accepted
husband of the niece of Antonina, Belisarius's wife, the Empress would not
permit him to be punished in any way or removed from his office, although
she saw distinctly that the state of affairs in Libya threatened its utter ruin;
and she even induced the Emperor to pardon Solomon, Sergius's brother, for
the murder of Pegasius. How this came to pass I will now explain.

After Pegasius had ransomed Solomon from captivity among the
Levathae, and the barbarians had returned home, Solomon and Pegasius,
who had ransomed him, set out, accompanied by a few soldiers, to
Carthage. On the way Pegasius reproached Solomon with the wrong he had
done, and bade him remember that Heaven had only just rescued him from
the enemy. Solomon, enraged at being taunted with his captivity,
straightway slew Pegasius, and thus requited him for having ransomed him.
But when Solomon reached Byzantium, the Emperor absolved him from the
guilt of murder, on the pretext that he had slain a traitor to the Roman
Empire, and gave him letters of acquittal. Solomon, having thus escaped all
punishment for his crime, departed gladly for the East, to visit his own
country and his family; but the vengeance of God fell upon him on the way,
and removed him from amongst mankind. This is what happened in regard
to Solomon and Pegasius.

CHAPTER VI

I now come to the description of the private life and character of
Justinian and Theodora, and of the manner in which they rent the Roman
Empire asunder.

At the time when Leo occupied the imperial throne, three young
husbandmen, of Illyrian birth, named Zimarchus, Ditybistus, and Justin of
Bederiane, in order to escape from their utter poverty at home, determined
to enlist in the army. They made their way to Byzantium on foot, with
knapsacks of goat's-hair on their shoulders, containing nothing but a few
biscuits which they had brought from home. On their arrival they were
enrolled in the army, and chosen by the Emperor amongst the palace
guards, being all three very handsome young men.

Afterwards, when Anastasius succeeded to the throne, war broke out with
the Isaurians who had rebelled against him. He sent a considerable army
against them, under the command of John, surnamed "The Hunchback."
This John arrested Justin for some offence and imprisoned him, and on the
following day would have put him to death, had not a vision which he
beheld in his sleep prevented him. He said that, in his dream, a man of great
stature, and in every way more than human, bade him release the man
whom he had that day cast into prison. When he awoke, he made light of
this vision; and, although he saw again the same vision and heard the same
words on the following night, not even then would he obey the command.

But the vision appeared for the third time, and threatened him terribly if he
did not do what he was commanded, and warned him that he would
thereafter stand in great need of this man and his family when his wrath
should fall upon him. Thus did Justin escape death.

As time went on, this Justin rose to great power. The Emperor Anastasius
appointed him commander of the palace guard, and when that prince died,
he, by the influence of his position, seized the throne. He was by this time
an old man with one foot in the grave, so utterly ignorant of letters, that one
may say that he did not know the alphabet—a thing which had never
happened before amongst the Romans. It had been customary for the
Emperor to sign the decrees which were issued by him with his own hand,
whereas he neither made decrees, nor was capable of conducting affairs; but
Proclus, who acted as his quaestor and colleague, arranged everything at his
own pleasure. However, in order that the Emperor's signature might appear
in public documents, his officers invented the following device. They had
the shapes of four Latin letters cut in a thin piece of wood, and then, having
dipped the pen in the imperial ink used by the Emperors in writing, they put
it in the Emperor's hand, and laying the piece of wood on the paper to be
signed, they guided the Emperor's hand and pen round the outline of the
four letters, making it follow all the convolutions cut in the wood, and then
retired with the result as the Emperor's signature. This was how the affairs
of the Empire were managed under Justin. His wife was named Lupicina;
she was a slave and a barbarian, whom he had bought for his mistress, and
at the close of his life she ascended the throne with him. Justin was not
strong enough to do his subjects either good or harm; he was utterly simple,
a very poor speaker, and a complete boor. Justinian was his sister's son,
who, when quite a young man, practically governed the State, and brought
more woe upon the Romans than anyone we have ever heard of before. He
was ever ready to commit unrighteous murders and rob men of their estates,
and thought nothing of making away with tens of thousands of men who

had given him no cause for doing so. He had no respect for established
institutions, but loved innovations in everything, and was, in short, the
greatest destroyer of all the best of his country's institutions. As for the
plague, of which I have made mention in the former books of my history,
although it ravaged the whole earth, yet as many men escaped it as perished
by it, some of them never taking the contagion, and others recovering from
it. But no human being in all the Roman Empire could escape from this
man, for he was like some second plague sent down from heaven to prey
upon the whole human race, which left no man untouched. Some he slew
without cause, others he reduced to a struggle with poverty, so that their
case was more piteous than that of the dead, and they prayed daily to be
relieved from their misery even by the most cruel death, while he robbed
others of their lives and their property at the same time.

Not content with ruining the Roman Empire, he carried out the conquest
of Italy and Africa, merely that he might treat them in the same way, and
destroy the inhabitants, together with those who were already his subjects.
He had not been in authority ten days before he put to death Amantius, the
chief of the palace eunuchs, with several others. He had no complaint
whatever against the man beyond that he had said something offensive
about John the archbishop of the city. Owing to this, he became the most
dreaded of all men in the world.

Immediately afterwards he sent for the usurper Vitalianus, to whom he
had given the most solemn pledges for his safety, and had partaken of the
Christian sacrament with him. Shortly afterwards, he conceived some
suspicion of him, and made away with him and his companions in the
palace, for no reason whatever, thus showing that he scorned to observe
even the most solemn oaths.

CHAPTER VII

In the former part of my history I have explained how the people had long
been divided into two factions. Justinian associated himself with one of
these, the Blues, which had previously favoured him, and was thus enabled
to upset everything and throw all into disorder. Thereby the Roman
constitution was beaten to its knees. However, all the Blues did not agree to
follow his views, but only those who were inclined to revolutionary
measures. Yet, as the evil spread, these very men came to be regarded as the
most moderate of mankind, for they used their opportunities of doing wrong
less than they might have done. Nor did the revolutionists of the Green
faction remain idle, but they also, as far as they were able, continually
perpetrated all kinds of excesses, although individuals of their number were
continually being punished. This only made them bolder, for men, when
they are treated harshly, usually become desperate.

At this time Justinian, by openly encouraging and provoking the Blue
faction, shook the Roman Empire to its foundation, like an earthquake or a
flood, or as though each city had been taken by the enemy. Everything was
everywhere thrown into disorder; nothing was left alone. The laws and the
whole fabric of the State were altogether upset, and became the very
opposite of what they had been. First of all, the revolutionists altered the
fashion of wearing the hair, for they cut it short, in a manner quite different
to that of the rest of the Romans. They never touched the moustache and

beard, but let them grow like the Persians: but they shaved the hair off the
front part of their heads as far as the temples, and let it hang down long and
in disorder behind, like the Massagetae. Wherefore they called this the
Hunnic fashion of wearing the hair.

In the next place they all chose to wear richly-embroidered dresses, far
finer than became their several stations in life, but they were able to pay for
them out of their illicit gains. The sleeves of their tunics were made as tight
as possible at the wrists, but from thence to the shoulder were of an
astounding width, and whenever they moved their hands, in applauding in
the theatre or the hippodrome, or encouraging the competitors, this part of
the tunic was waved aloft, to convey to the ignorant the impression that
they were so beautifully made and so strong that they were obliged to wear
such robes as these to cover their muscles. They did not perceive that the
empty width of their sleeves only made their bodies appear even more
stunted than they were. The cloaks, drawers and shoes which they mostly
affected were called after the Huns, and made in their fashion.

At first they almost all openly went about armed at night, but by day hid
short two-edged swords upon their thighs under their cloaks. They gathered
together in gangs as soon as it became dusk, and robbed respectable people
in the market-place and in the narrow lanes, knocking men down and taking
their cloaks, belts, gold buckles, and anything else that they had in their
hands. Some they murdered as well as robbed, that they might not tell
others what had befallen them. These acts roused the indignation of all men,
even the least disaffected members of the Blue faction; but as they began
not to spare even these, the greater part began to wear brazen belts and
buckles and much smaller cloaks than became their station, lest their fine
clothes should be their death, and, before the sun set, they went home and
hid themselves. But the evil spread, and as the authorities in charge of the
people did nothing to punish the criminals, these men became very daring;

for crime, when encouraged to manifest itself openly, always increases
enormously, seeing that even when punished it cannot be entirely
suppressed. Indeed, most men are naturally inclined to evil-doing. Such was
the behaviour of the Blues.

As for the opposite faction, some of them joined the bands of their
opponents, hoping thus to be able to avenge themselves upon the party
which had ill-used them; some fled secretly to other lands, while many were
caught on the spot and killed by their adversaries, or by order of the
government. A number of young men also joined this party without having
previously taken any interest in such matters, being attracted by the power
and the licence which it gave them to do evil. Indeed, there was no sort of
villany known amongst men which was not committed at this time
unpunished.

In the beginning men put away their own opponents, but, as time went
on, they murdered men who had done them no hurt. Many bribed the Blues
to kill their personal enemies, whom they straightway slew, and declared
that they were Greens, though they might never have seen them before. And
these things were not done in the dark or by stealth, but at all hours of the
day and in every part of the city, before the eyes, as it might be, of the chief
men of the State; for they no longer needed to conceal their crimes, because
they had no fear of punishment; but to kill an unarmed passer-by with one
blow was a sort of claim to public esteem, and a means of proving one's
strength and courage.

Life became so uncertain that people lost all expectation of security, for
everyone continually had death before his eyes, and no place or time
seemed to offer any hope of safety, seeing that men were slain
indiscriminately in the holiest churches, and even during divine service. No
one could trust friends or relations, for many were slain at the instance of

their nearest of kin. No inquiry took place into such occurrences, but these
blows fell unexpectedly upon everyone, and no one helped the fallen. Laws
and contracts, which were considered confirmed, had no longer any force;
everything was thrown into confusion and settled by violence. The
government resembled a despotism, not a securely established one, but one
which was changed almost daily, and was ever beginning afresh. The minds
of the chief magistrates seemed stricken with consternation, and their spirits
cowed by fear of one single man. The judges gave sentence on disputed
points not according to what they thought to be lawful and right, but
according as each of the litigants was a friend or an enemy of the ruling
faction; for any judge who disregarded their instructions was punished with
death. Many creditors also were compelled by main force to restore their
bills to their debtors without having received anything of what was owing
them, and many, against their will, had to bestow freedom upon their slaves.

It is said that some ladies were forced to submit to the embraces of their
own slaves; and the sons of leading men who had been mixed up with these
youths, forced their fathers to hand over their property to them, and to do
many other things against their will. Many boys, with their fathers'
knowledge, were forced to undergo dishonour at the hands of the Blues, and
women living with their own husbands were forced to submit to the like
treatment.

We are told that a woman, who was not over-well dressed, was sailing
with her husband in a boat towards the suburb across the strait; they met on
their way some men of this faction, who took her away from her husband
with threats, and placed her in their own boat. When she entered the boat
together with these young men, she secretly told her husband to take
courage, and not to fear any evil for her. "Never," said she, "will I permit
myself to be outraged;" and while her husband was gazing on her with the
greatest sorrow, she sprang into the sea, and was never seen again. Such

were the outrages which the people of this faction dared to commit in
Byzantium.

Yet all this did not so much gall the victims as Justinian's offences against
the State; for those who suffer most cruelly from evil-doers are in great part
consoled by the expectation that the law and the authorities will avenge
them. If they have any hope for the future, men bear their present sufferings
with a much lighter heart; but when they are outraged by the established
government, they are naturally much more hurt by the evil which befalls
them, and the improbability of redress drives them to despair. Justinian's
fault was, not only that he turned a deaf ear to the complaints of the injured,
but did not even disdain to behave himself as the avowed chief of this party;
that he gave great sums of money to these youths, and kept many of them in
his own retinue; that he even went so far as to appoint some of them to
governments and other official posts.

CHAPTER VIII

These excesses took place not only in Byzantium, but in every city of the
Empire: for these disorders were like bodily diseases, and spread from
thence over the whole Roman Empire. But the Emperor cared not at all for
what was going on, although he daily beheld what took place in the
hippodrome, for he was exceedingly stupid, very much like a dull-witted
ass, which follows whoever holds its bridle, shaking its ears the while. This
behaviour on the part of Justinian ruined everything.

As soon as he found himself the head of his uncle's empire, he at once
did his utmost to squander the public treasure over which he now had
control. For he lavished wealth extravagantly upon the Huns who from time
to time came across and, ever afterwards, the Roman provinces were
subjected to constant incursions; for these barbarians, having once tasted
our wealth, could not tear themselves away from the road which led to it.
Justinian also threw away great sums upon the construction of large moles,
as if he thought to restrain the force of the never-resting waves. He ran out
stone breakwaters from the beach far into the water to divert the currents of
the ocean, and, as it were, to match his wealth against the power of the sea.

As for the private fortunes of individual Romans, he confiscated them for
his own use in all parts of the empire, either by accusing their possessors of
some crime of which they were innocent, or by distorting their words into a
free gift of their property to him. Many were convicted on these charges of

murder and other crimes, and in order to escape paying the penalty for
them, gave him all that they had. Some who were engaged in making
frivolous claims to land belonging to their neighbours, when they found that
they had no chance of winning their cause, as the law was against them,
would make him a present of the land in dispute, and so get out of the
difficulty. Thus they gained his favour by a gift that cost them nothing, and
got the better of their adversaries by the most illegal means.

It will not be out of place, I think, to describe his personal appearance.
He was neither tall nor too short, but of a medium height, not thin, but
inclined to be fat. His face was round and not ill-favoured, and showed
colour, even after a two days' fast. In a word, he greatly resembled
Domitian, Vespasian's son, more than anybody else. This was the Emperor
whom the Romans detested so much that they could not slake their hatred
for him, even when they had torn him to pieces, but a decree of the Senate
was passed to remove his name from all documents, and that all statues of
him should be destroyed; wherefore his name has been erased from every
inscription at Rome and everywhere else, except where it occurs in a list
together with other emperors, and no statue of him is to be found in the
Roman Empire, save one only, the history of which is as follows: Domitian
had married a lady of noble birth and admirable conduct, who never harmed
anyone, and always disapproved of her husband's evil deeds. As she was so
much beloved, the Senate sent for her, after the death of Domitian, and bade
her ask whatever favour she pleased. All that she asked was to receive
Domitian's body for burial, and permission to erect a bronze statue to him in
whatever place she might choose. The Senate consented, and Domitian's
wife, not wishing to leave to posterity a memorial of the brutality of those
who had butchered her husband, adopted the following plan. She collected
the pieces of his body, pieced them accurately together, joined them
properly, and sewed the body together again. She then sent for the
statuaries, and bade them reproduce this pitiable object in a brazen statue.

The workmen straightway made the statue, and his wife, having received it
from them, set it up in the street which leads up to the Capitol from the
Forum, on the right hand side, where to this day one may see Domitian's
statue, showing the marks of his tragic end. One may say that the whole of
Justinian's person, his expression, and all his features can be traced in this
statue.

Such was his portrait; but it would be exceedingly difficult to give an
accurate estimate of his character; he was an evil-doer, and yet easily led by
the nose, being, in common parlance, a fool as well as a knave. He never
was truthful with anyone, but always spoke and acted cunningly, yet any
who chose could easily outwit him. His character was a sorry mixture of
folly and bad principles. One may say of him what one of the Peripatetic
philosophers of old said long ago, that in men, as in the mixing of colours,
the most opposite qualities combine. I will therefore only describe his
disposition as far as I have been able to fathom it.

This prince was deceitful, fond of crooked ways, artificial, given to
hiding his wrath, double-faced, and cruel, exceedingly clever in concealing
his thoughts, and never moved to tears either by joy or grief, but capable of
weeping if the occasion required it. He was always a liar not merely on the
spur of the moment; he drew up documents and swore the most solemn
oaths to respect the covenants which he made with his subjects; then he
would straightway break his plighted word and his oath, like the vilest of
slaves, who perjure themselves and are only driven to confess through fear
of torture. He was a faithless friend, an inexorable foe, and mad for murder
and plunder; quarrelsome and revolutionary, easily led to do evil, never
persuaded to act rightly, he was quick to contrive and carry out what was
evil, but loathed even to hear of good actions.

How could any man fully describe Justinian's character? He had all these
vices and other even greater ones, in larger proportion than any man;
indeed, Nature seemed to have taken away all other men's vices and to have
implanted them all in this man's breast. Besides all this, he was ever
disposed to give ear to accusations, and quick to punish. He never tried a
case before deciding it, but as soon as he had heard the plaintiff he
straightway pronounced his judgment upon it. He wrote decrees, without
the slightest hesitation, for the capture of fortresses, the burning of cities,
the enslaving of whole races of men for no crime whatever, so that, if
anyone were to reckon all the calamities of this nature which have befallen
the Roman people before his time, and weigh them against those which
were brought about by him, I imagine that it would be found that this man
was guilty of far more bloodshed than any ruler of previous times.

He had no hesitation in coolly appropriating people's property, and did
not even trouble himself to put forward any pretext or colourable legal
ground for taking another man's goods; and, when he had got it, he was
quite ready to squander it in foolish munificence or to spend it in
unreasonable largesses to the barbarians. In fine, he neither had any
property himself, nor would he suffer anyone else of all his subjects to have
any; so that he did not seem to be so much governed by avarice as by
jealousy of those who possessed wealth. He carelessly drove all the wealth
of the Romans out of the country, and was the cause of general
impoverishment. Such was the character of Justinian, as far as I am able to
describe it.

CHAPTER IX

As for Justinian's wife, I shall now describe her birth, how she was brought
up, how she married him, and how in conjunction with him she utterly
ruined the Roman Empire.

There was one Acacius at Byzantium, of the Green faction, who was
keeper of the wild beasts used in the amphitheatre, and was called the Bear-
keeper. This man died of some malady during the reign of Anastasius, and
left three daughters, Comito, Theodora and Anastasia, the eldest of whom
was not yet seven years of age. His widow married her husband's successor
in his house and profession; but the chief dancer of the Green faction,
named Asterius, was easily bribed into taking away the office from this man
and giving it to one who paid him for it: for the dancers had the power to
manage these matters as they pleased.

When Theodora's mother saw the whole populace assembled in the
amphitheatre to see the show of the wild beasts, she placed fillets on her
daughters' heads and hands, and made them sit in the attitude of suppliants.
The Greens regarded their appeal with indifference, but the Blues, who had
lately lost their own bear-keeper, bestowed the office upon them. As the
children grew up, their mother straightway sent them on the stage, for they
were handsome girls. She did not send them on all at once, but as each one
arrived at a fit age so to do. The eldest girl, Comito, had already become
one of the most celebrated prostitutes of her time.

Theodora, the next eldest, was dressed in a little sleeved tunic, such as a
slave-girl would wear, and waited on her sister, carrying on her shoulders
the stool in which she was wont to sit in public. Theodora was still too
young to have intercourse with a man after the manner of women, but she
satisfied the unnatural passions of certain wretches, even the vilest slaves,
who followed their masters to the theatre and amused their leisure by this
infamy. She remained for some time also in a brothel, where she practised
this hateful form of vice.

As soon, however, as she reached the age of puberty, as she was
handsome, her mother sent her into the theatrical troupe, and she
straightway became a simple harlot, as old-fashioned people called it; for
she was neither a musician nor a dancer, but merely prostituted herself to
everyone whom she met, giving up every part of her body to debauchery.
She associated chiefly with the theatrical "pantomimes," and took part in
their performances, playing in comic scenes, for she was exceedingly witty
and amusing; so that she soon became well known by her acting. She had
no shame whatever, and no one ever saw her put out of countenance, but
she lent herself to scandalous purposes without the least hesitation.

She excelled in raising a laugh by being slapped on her puffed-out
cheeks, and used to uncover herself so far as to show the spectators
everything before and behind which decency forbids to be shown to men.
She stimulated her lovers by lascivious jests, and continually invented new
postures of coition, by which means she completely won the hearts of all
libertines; for she did not wait to be solicited by anyone whom she met, but
herself, with joke and gestures, invited everyone whom she fell in with,
especially beardless boys.

She never succumbed to these transports; for she often went to a supper
at which each one paid his share, with ten or more young men, in the full

vigour of their age and practised in debauchery, and would pass the whole
night with all of them. When they were all exhausted, she would go to their
servants, thirty in number, it may be, and fornicate with each one of them;
and yet not even so did she quench her lust. Once she went to the house of
some great man, and while the guests were drinking pulled up her clothes
on the edge of the couch and did not blush to exhibit her wantonness
without reserve. Though she received the male in three orifices she
nevertheless complained of Nature for not having made the passage of her
breasts wider, that she might contrive a new form of coition in that part of
her person also.

She frequently became pregnant, but as she employed all known
remedies without delay, she promptly procured abortion. Often, even on the
stage, she stripped before the eyes of all the people, and stood naked in their
midst, wearing only a girdle about her private parts and groin; not because
she had any modesty about showing that also to the people, but because no
one was allowed to go on the stage without a girdle about those parts. In
this attitude she would throw herself down on the floor, and lie on her back.
Slaves, whose duty it was, would then pour grains of barley upon her girdle,
which trained geese would then pick up with their beaks one by one and eat.
She did not blush or rise up, but appeared to glory in this performance; for
she was not only without shame, but especially fond of encouraging others
to be shameless, and often would strip naked in the midst of the actors, and
swing herself backwards and forwards, explaining to those who had already
enjoyed her and those who had not, the peculiar excellences of that
exercise.

She proceeded to such extremities of abuse as to make her face become
what most women's private parts are: wherefore her lovers became known
at once by their unnatural tastes, and any respectable man who met her in
the public streets turned away, and made haste to avoid her, lest his clothes

should be soiled by contact with such an abandoned creature, for she was a
bird of ill-omen, especially for those who saw her early in the day. As for
her fellow-actresses, she always abused them most savagely, for she was
exceedingly jealous.

Afterwards she accompanied Hecebolus, who had received the
appointment of Governor of Pentapolis, to that country, to serve his basest
passions, but quarrelled with him, and was straightway sent out of the
country. In consequence of this she fell into want of common necessaries,
with which she hereafter provided herself by prostitution, as she had been
accustomed to do. She first went to Alexandria, and afterwards wandered all
through the East, until she reached Byzantium, plying her trade in every
city on her way—a trade which, I imagine, Heaven will not pardon a man
for calling by its right name—as if the powers of evil would not allow any
place on earth to be free from the debaucheries of Theodora. Such was the
birth, and such the training of this woman, and her name became better
known than that of any other prostitute of her time.

On her return to Byzantium, Justinian became excessively enamoured of
her. At first he had intercourse with her merely as her lover, although he
raised her to the position of a patrician. By this means Theodora was
straightway enabled to gain very great influence and to amass considerable
sums of money. She charmed Justinian beyond all the world, and, like most
infatuated lovers, he delighted to show her all the favour and give her all the
money that he could. This lavishness added fuel to the flame of passion. In
concert with her he plundered the people more than ever, not only in the
capital, but throughout the Roman Empire; for, as both of them had for a
long time been members of the Blue faction, they had placed unlimited
power in its hands, although the evil was subsequently somewhat checked,
in the manner which I will now relate.

Justinian had for some time suffered from a dangerous illness; in fact, it
was even reported that he was dead. The Blue faction were committing the
crimes of which I have spoken, and slew Hypatius, a person of
consequence, in the Church of St. Sophia, in broad daylight. When the
murderer had accomplished his work, clamour was raised which reached
the Emperor's ears, and all his courtiers seized upon the opportunity of
pointing out the outrageous character of the offence which, owing to
Justinian's absence from public affairs, the murderer had been enabled to
perpetrate, and enumerated all the crimes that had been committed from the
outset. Hereupon the Emperor gave orders to the prefect of the city to
punish these crimes. This man was named Theodotus, nick-named
Colocynthius.[11] He instituted an inquiry into the whole matter, and had
the courage to seize and put to death, according to the law, many of the
malefactors, several of whom, however, hid themselves and so escaped,
being destined to perish afterwards together with the Roman Empire.
Justinian, who miraculously recovered, straightway began to plan the
destruction of Theodotus, on the pretext that he was a magician and used
philtres. However, as he found no proofs on which the man could be
condemned, he flogged and tortured some of his intimates until he forced
them to make most unfounded accusations against him. When no one dared
to oppose Justinian, but silently bewailed the plot against Theodotus,
Proclus, the Quaestor, alone declared that the man was innocent and did not
deserve to die. Theodotus was therefore sentenced by the Emperor to
banishment to Jerusalem. But, learning that certain men had been sent
thither to assassinate him, he took sanctuary in the temple, where he spent
the rest of his life in concealment until he died. Such was the end of
Theodotus.

From this time forth, however, the Blue party behaved with the greatest
moderation; they did not venture to perpetrate such crimes, although they
had it in their power to abuse their authority more outrageously and with

greater impunity than before. Here is a proof of this; when a few of them
afterwards showed the same audacity in evil-doing, they were not punished
in any way; for those who had the power to punish always gave malefactors
an opportunity to escape, and by this indulgence encouraged them to
trample upon the laws.

CHAPTER X

As long as the Empress Euphemia was alive, Justinian could not contrive to
marry Theodora. Though she did not oppose him on any other point, she
obstinately refused her consent to this one thing. She was altogether free
from vice, although she was a homely person and of barbarian descent, as I
have already said. She never cultivated any active virtues, but remained
utterly ignorant of State affairs. She did not bear her own name, which was
a ridiculous one, when she came to the palace, but was re-named Euphemia.
Soon afterwards, however, she died.

Justin was in his second childhood and so sunk in senility that he was the
laughing-stock of his subjects. All despised him utterly, and disregarded
him because he was incompetent to control State affairs, but they paid their
court to Justinian with awe, for he terrified them all by his love of
disturbance and reckless innovations.

He then resolved to bring about his marriage with Theodora. It was
forbidden by the most ancient laws of the State that anyone of the senatorial
order should marry a courtesan; so he prevailed upon the Emperor to repeal
the existing law and introduce a new one, whereby he was allowed to live
with Theodora as his legitimate wife, and it became possible for anyone
else to marry a courtesan. He also straightway assumed the demeanour of
absolute despot, veiling his forcible seizure of power under the pretext of
reasons of State. He was proclaimed Emperor of the Romans, as his uncle's

colleague. Whether this was legal or not may be doubted, since he owed his
election to the terror with which he inspired those who gave him their votes.

So Justinian and Theodora ascended the Imperial throne three days
before Easter, at a time when it is forbidden to make visits or even to greet
one's friends. A few days later Justin was carried off by disease, after a
reign of nine years, and Justinian and Theodora reigned alone.

Thus did Theodora, as I have told you, in spite of her birth and bringing-
up, reach the throne without finding any obstacle in her way. Justinian felt
no shame at having wedded her, although he might have chosen the best
born, the best educated, the most modest and virtuously nurtured virgin in
all the Roman Empire, with outstanding breasts, as the saying is; whereas
he preferred to take to himself the common refuse of all mankind, and
without a thought of all that has been told, married a woman stained with
the shame of many abortions and many other crimes. Nothing more, I
conceive, need be said about this creature's character, for all the vices of his
heart are thoroughly displayed in the fact of so unworthy a marriage. When
a man feels no shame at an act of this kind, and braves the loathing of the
world, there is thereafter no path of wickedness which may not be trodden
by him, but, with a face incapable of blushing, he plunges, utterly devoid of
scruple, into the deepest baseness.

However, no one in the Senate had the courage to show dissatisfaction at
seeing the State fasten this disgrace upon itself, but all were ready to
worship Theodora as if she had been a goddess. Neither did any of the
clergy show any indignation, but bestowed upon her the title of "Lady." The
people who had formerly seen her upon the stage now declared themselves,
with uplifted hands, to be her slaves, and made no secret of the name. None
of the army showed irritation at having to face the dangers of war in the
service of Theodora, nor did anyone of all mankind offer her the least

opposition. All, I suppose, yielded to circumstances, and suffered this
disgraceful act to take place, as though Fortune had wished to display her
power by disposing human affairs so that events came about in utter
defiance of reason, and human counsel seemed to have no share in directing
them. Fortune does thus raise men suddenly to great heights of power, by
means in which reason has no share, in spite of all obstacles that may bar
the way, for nothing can check her course, but she proceeds straight on
towards her goal, and everything makes way for her. But let all this be, and
be represented as it pleases God.

Theodora was at this time handsome and of a graceful figure, but she was
short, without much colour, but rather of a pale complexion, and with
brilliant and piercing eyes. It would take a life-time to tell of all her
adventures during her theatrical life, but I think what little I have selected
above will be sufficient to give an indication of her character. We must now
briefly set forth what she and her husband did, for during their married life
neither ever did anything without the other. For a long time they appeared
to all to be at variance both in their characters and in their actions; but
afterwards this disagreement was seen to have been purposely arranged
between them, in order that their subjects might not come to an agreement
and rise against them, but might all be divided in their opinion. First, they
split up the Christians into two parties and brought them to ruin, as I shall
tell you hereafter, by this plan of pretending to take different sides. Next
they created divisions amongst the State factions. Theodora feigned to be an
eager partisan of the Blues, and gave them permission to commit the
greatest atrocities and deeds of violence against the opposite faction, while
Justinian pretended to be grieved and annoyed in his secret soul, as though
he could not oppose his wife's orders; and often they would pretend to act in
opposition. The one would declare that the Blues must be punished because
they were evil-doers, while the other pretended to be enraged, and angrily
declared that she was overruled by her husband against her will. Yet, as I

have said, the Blue faction seemed wondrously quiet, for they did not
outrage their neighbours as much as they might have done.

In legal disputes, each of them would pretend to favour one of the
litigants, and of necessity made the man with the worse case win; by this
means they plundered both the parties of most of the disputed property. The
Emperor received many persons into his intimacy, and gave them
appointments with liberty to do what they pleased in the way of violent
injustice and fraud against the State; but when they were seen to have
amassed a considerable amount of wealth, they straightway fell into
disgrace for having offended the Empress. At first Justinian would take
upon himself to inquire kindly into their case, but soon he would drop the
pretence of good-will, and his zeal on their behalf would throw the whole
matter into confusion. Upon this, Theodora would treat them in the most
shameful way, while he, pretending not to understand what was going on,
would shamelessly confiscate their entire property. They used to carry on
these machinations by appearing to be at variance, while really playing into
each other's hands, and were thus able to set their subjects by their ears and
firmly establish their own power.

CHAPTER XI

When Justinian came to the throne, he straightway succeeded in upsetting
everything. What had previously been forbidden by the laws he introduced,
while he abolished all existing institutions, as though he had assumed the
imperial robe for no other purpose than to alter completely the form of
government. He did away with existing offices, and established other new
ones for the management of affairs. He acted in the same manner in regard
to the laws and the army; not that he was led to do so by any love of justice
or the public advantage, but merely in order that all institutions might be
new and might bear his name; if there was any institution that he was
unable to abolish at once, he gave it his name, that at least it might appear
new. He could never satisfy his insatiable desire, either of money or blood;
but after he had plundered one wealthy house, he would seek for another to
rob, and straightway squander the plunder upon subsidies to barbarians, or
senseless extravagance in building. After he had destroyed his victims by
tens of thousands, he immediately began to lay plots against even greater
numbers. As the Roman Empire was at peace with foreign nations, his
impatience of quiet led him, out of uncontrollable love of bloodshed, to set
the barbarians fighting with one another. Sending for the chieftains of the
Huns for no reason whatever, he took a pride in lavishing great sums of
money upon them, under the pretext of securing their friendship, just as he
did in the time of the Emperor Justin, as I have already told you. These
Huns, when they had got the money, sent to some of their fellow-chieftains

with their retainers, and bade them make inroads into the Emperor's
territory, that they also might make a bargain with him for the peace which
he was so ready to purchase. These men straightway subjugated the Empire,
and nevertheless remained in the Emperor's pay; and, following their
examples, others straightway began to harass the wretched Romans, and,
after they had secured their booty, were graciously rewarded by the
Emperor for their invasion. Thus the whole Hunnish nation, one tribe after
another, never ceased at any time to lay waste and plunder the Empire; for
these barbarians are under several independent chieftains, and the war,
having once begun through his foolish generosity, never came to an end, but
always kept beginning anew; so that, during this time, there was no
mountain, no cave, no spot whatever in the Roman Empire that remained
unravaged, and many countries were harried and plundered by the enemy
more than five several times.

These calamities, and those which were brought upon the Empire by the
Medes, the Saracens, the Sclavonians, the Antes, and other barbarians, I
have described in the previous books of my history; but, as I have said at
the beginning of this story, I was here obliged to explain the causes which
led thereto.

Justinian paid Chosroes many centenars in order to secure peace, and
then, with unreasonable arbitrariness, did more than anyone to break the
truce, by employing every effort to bring Alamundur and his Huns over to
his own side, as I have already set forth in plain terms in my history.

While he was stirring up all this strife and war to plague the Romans, he
also endeavoured, by various devices, to drench the earth in human blood,
to carry off more riches for himself, and to murder many of his subjects. He
proceeded as follows. There prevail in the Roman Empire many Christian
doctrines which are known as heresies, such as those of the Montanists and

Sabbatians and all the others by which men's minds are led astray. Justinian
ordered all these beliefs to be abandoned in favour of the old religion, and
threatened the recusants with legal disability to transmit their property to
their wives and children by will. The churches of these so-called heretics—
especially those belonging to the Arian heresy—were rich beyond belief.
Neither the whole of the Senate, or any other of the greatest corporations in
the Roman Empire, could be compared with these churches in wealth. They
had gold and silver plate and jewels more than any man could count or
describe; they owned many mansions and villages, and large estates
everywhere, and everything else which is reckoned and called wealth
among men.

As none of the previous Emperors had interfered with them, many
people, even of the orthodox faith, procured, through this wealth, work and
the means of livelihood. But the Emperor Justinian first of all sequestrated
all the property of these churches, and suddenly took away all that they
possessed, by which many people lost the means of subsistence. Many
agents were straightway sent out to all parts of the Empire to force
whomsoever they met to change the faith of his forefathers. These homely
people, considering this an act of impiety, decided to oppose the Emperor's
agents. Hereupon many were put to death by the persecuting faction, and
many made an end of themselves, thinking, in their superstitious folly, that
this course best satisfied the claims of religion; but the greater part of them
voluntarily quitted the land of their forefathers, and went into exile. The
Montanists, who were settled in Phrygia, shut themselves up in their
churches, set them on fire, and perished in the flames; and, from this time
forth, nothing was to be seen in the Roman Empire except massacres and
flight.

Justinian straightway passed a similar law with regard to the Samaritans,
which produced a riot in Palestine. In my own city of Caesarea and other

cities, the people, thinking that it was a foolish thing to suffer for a mere
senseless dogma, adopted, in place of the name which they had hitherto
borne, the appellation of "Christians," and so avoided the danger with
which they were threatened by this law. Such of them as had any claims to
reason and who belonged to the better class, thought it their duty to remain
stedfast to their new faith; but the greater part, as though out of pique at
having been forced against their will by the law to abandon the faith of their
fathers, adopted the belief of the Manicheans, or what is known as
Polytheism.

But all the country people met together in a body and determined to take
up arms against the Emperor. They chose a leader of their own, named
Julian, the son of Sabarus, and for some time held their own in the struggle
with the Imperial troops, but were at last defeated and cut to pieces,
together with their leader. It is said that one hundred thousand men fell in
this engagement, and the most fertile country on the earth has ever since
been without cultivators. This did great harm to the Christian landowners in
that country, for, although they received nothing from their property, yet
they were forced to pay heavy taxes yearly to the Emperor for the rest of
their lives, and no abatement or relief from this burden was granted to them.

After this he began to persecute those who were called Gentiles, torturing
their persons and plundering their property. All of these people, who
decided to adopt the Christian faith nominally, saved themselves for the
time, but not long afterwards most of them were caught offering libations
and sacrifices and performing other unholy rites. How he treated the
Christians I will subsequently relate.

Next he forbade paederasty by law, and he made this law apply not only
to those who transgressed it after it had been passed, but even to those who
had practised this wickedness long before. The law was applied to these

persons in the loosest fashion, the testimony of one man or boy, who
possibly might be a slave unwilling to bear witness against his master, was
held to be sound evidence. Those who were convicted were carried through
the city, after having had their genitals cut off. This cruelty was not at first
practised against any except those who belonged to the Green faction or
were thought to be very rich, or had otherwise offended.

Justinian and Theodora also dealt very harshly with the astrologers, so
that the officers appointed to punish thieves proceeded against these men
for no other cause than that they were astrologers, dealt many stripes on
their backs, and paraded them on camels through the city; yet they were old
and respectable men, against whom no reproach could be brought except
that they dwelt in Byzantium and were learned about the stars.

There was a continual stream of emigration, not only to the lands of the
barbarians, but also to the nations most remote from Rome; and one saw a
very great number of foreigners both in the country and in each city of the
Empire, for men lightly exchanged their native land for another, as though
their own country had been captured by an enemy.

CHAPTER XII

Those who were considered the wealthiest persons in Byzantium and the
other cities of the Empire, next after members of the Senate, were robbed of
their wealth by Justinian and Theodora in the manner which I have
described above. I shall now describe how they managed to take away all
the property of members of the Senate.

There was at Constantinople one Zeno, the grandson of that Anthemius
who formerly had been Emperor of the West. They sent this man to Egypt
as governor. He delayed his departure, while he loaded his ship with
precious valuables; for he had silver beyond any man's counting, and gold
plate set with pearls and emeralds, and with other like precious stones. But
Justinian and Theodora bribed some of those who passed for his most
faithful servants, to take everything out of the ship as fast as they could, set
it on fire in the hold, and then go and tell Zeno that his ship had taken fire
of its own accord, and that all his property was lost. Some time after this
Zeno died suddenly, and they took possession of his property as his heirs,
producing a will which, it is currently reported, was never made by him.

In like manner they made themselves the heirs of Tatian, of
Demosthenes, and of Hilara, persons who at that time held the first rank in
the Roman Senate. They obtained other persons' fortunes by the production,
not of formal wills, but of counterfeit conveyances. This was how they
became the heirs of Dionysius, who dwelt in Libanus, and of John the son

of Basil, who was the leading man in Edessa, and had been delivered up to
the Persians as a hostage against his will by Belisarius, as I have told
already. Chosroes kept this John a prisoner, and refused to let him go,
declaring that the Romans had not performed all the terms of the treaty for
which John had been given in pledge by Belisarius, but he was prepared to
let him be ransomed as a prisoner of war. His grandmother, who was still
alive, got together the money for his ransom, not less than two thousand
pounds of silver, and would have ransomed her grandson; but when this
money arrived at Dara, the Emperor heard of the transaction and forbade it,
that the wealth of Romans might not be conveyed to barbarians. Not long
after this John fell ill and died; whereupon the governor of the city forged a
letter which he said John had written to him as a friend not long before, to
the effect that he desired the Emperor to succeed to his property.

I could not give the list of all the other people whose heirs Justinian and
Theodora became by the free will of the testators. However, up to the time
of the insurrection called Nika, they only plundered rich men of their
property one by one; but when this broke out, as I have described in my
former works, they then sequestrated nearly all the property of the Senate.
They laid their hands upon all movables and the finest parts of the estates,
but set apart such lands as were burdened with grievous imposts, and, under
pretence of kindness, restored them to their former possessors. So these
people, oppressed by the tax-gatherers, and tormented by the never-ceasing
interest to be paid upon their debts, became weary of their lives.

For the reasons which I have stated, I, and many of my position, never
believed that they were really two human beings, but evil demons, and what
the poets call scourges of mankind, who laid their heads together to see how
they could fastest and most easily destroy the race and the works of man,
but who had assumed human forms, and become something between men
and demons, and thus convulsed the whole world. One can find proofs of

this theory more particularly in the superhuman power with which they
acted.

There is a wide distinction between the human and the supernatural.
Many men have been born in every age who, either by circumstances or
their own character, have shown themselves terrible beings, who became
the ruin of cities, countries, and whatever else fell into their hands; but to
destroy all men and to ruin the whole earth has been granted to none save
these two, who have been helped by Fortune in their schemes to destroy the
whole human race. For, about this time, much ruin was caused by
earthquakes, pestilences and inundations of rivers, as I shall immediately
tell you. Thus it was not by mere human power, but by something greater,
that they were enabled to work their evil will.

It is said that Justinian's mother told some of her intimates that Justinian
was not the son of Sabbatius, her husband, or of any human being; but that,
at the time when she became pregnant, an unseen demon companied with
her, whom she only felt as when a man has connection with a woman, and
who then vanished away as in a dream.

Some who have been in Justinian's company in the palace very late at
night, men with a clear conscience, have thought that in his place they have
beheld a strange and devilish form. One of them said that Justinian
suddenly arose from his royal throne and walked about (although, indeed,
he never could sit still for long), and that at that moment his head
disappeared, while the rest of his body still seemed to move to and fro. The
man who beheld this stood trembling and troubled in mind, not knowing
how to believe his eyes. Afterwards the head joined the body again, and
united itself to the parts from which it had so strangely been severed.

Another declared that he stood beside Justinian as he sat, and of a sudden
his face turned into a shapeless mass of flesh, without either eyebrows or

eyes in their proper places, or anything else which makes a man
recognisable; but after a while he saw the form of his face come back again.
What I write here I did not see myself, but I heard it told by men who were
positive that they had seen it.

They say, too, that a certain monk, highly in favour with God, was sent to
Byzantium by those who dwelt with him in the desert, to beg that favour
might be shown to their neighbours, who had been wronged and outraged
beyond endurance. When he arrived at Byzantium, he straightway obtained
an audience of the Emperor; but just as he was about to enter his apartment,
he started back, and, turning round, suddenly withdrew. The eunuch, who
was escorting him, and also the bystanders, besought him earnestly to go
forward, but he made no answer, but like one who has had a stroke of the
palsy, made his way back to his lodging. When those who had come with
him asked why he acted thus, they say that he distinctly stated that he saw
the chief of the devils sitting on his throne in the midst of the palace, and he
would not meet him or ask anything of him. How can one believe this man
to have been anything but an evil demon, who never took his fill of drink,
food, or sleep, but snatched at the meals which were set before him anyhow,
and roamed about the palace at untimely hours of the night, and yet was so
passionately addicted to venery.

Some of Theodora's lovers, when she was still on the stage, declare that a
demon had fallen upon them and driven them out of her bedchamber that it
might pass the night with her. There was a dancer named Macedonia, who
belonged to the Blue faction at Antioch, and had very great influence with
Justinian. This woman used to write letters to him while Justin was still on
the throne, and thus easily made away with any great man in the East whom
she chose, and caused their property to be confiscated for the public use.
They say that this Macedonia once greeted Theodora, when she saw her
very much troubled and cast down at the ill-treatment which she had

received at the hands of Hecebolius, and at the loss of her money on her
journey, and encouraged and cheered her, bidding her remember the
fickleness of fortune, which might again grant her great possessions. They
say that Theodora used to tell how, that night, she had a dream which bade
her take no thought about money, for that when she came to Byzantium, she
would share the bed of the chief of the demons; that she must manage by all
means to become his wedded wife, and that afterwards she would have all
the wealth of the world at her disposal.

This was the common report in regard to these matters.

CHAPTER XIII

Although Justinian's character was such as I have already explained, he was
easy of access, and affable to those whom he met. No one was ever denied
an audience, and he never was angry even with those who did not behave or
speak properly in his presence. But, on the other hand, he never felt
ashamed of any of the murders which he committed. However, he never
displayed any anger or pettishness against those who offended him, but
preserved a mild countenance and an unruffled brow, and with a gentle
voice would order tens of thousands of innocent men to be put to death,
cities to be taken by storm, and property to be confiscated. One would
think, from his manner, that he had the character of a sheep; but if anyone,
pitying his victims, were to endeavour, by prayers and supplications, to
make him relent, he would straightway become savage, show his teeth, and
vent his rage upon his subjects. As for the priests, he let them override their
neighbours with impunity, and delighted to see them plunder those round
about them, thinking that in this manner he was showing piety. Whenever
he had to decide any lawsuit of this sort, he thought that righteous judgment
consisted in letting the priest win his cause and leave the court in triumph
with some plunder to which he had no right whatever; for, to him, justice
meant the success of the priest's cause. He himself, when by malpractices
he had obtained possession of the property of people, alive or dead, would
straightway present his plunder to one of the churches, by which means he
would hide his rapacity under the cloak of piety, and render it impossible

for his victims ever to recover their possessions. Indeed, he committed
numberless murders through his notion of piety; for, in his zeal to bring all
men to agree in one form of Christian doctrine, he recklessly murdered all
who dissented therefrom, under the pretext of piety, for he did not think that
it was murder, if those whom he slew were not of the same belief as
himself. Thus, his thoughts were always fixed upon slaughter, and, together
with his wife, he neglected no excuse which could bring it about; for both
of these beings had for the most part the same passions, but sometimes they
played a part which was not natural to them; for each of them was
thoroughly wicked, and by their pretended differences of opinion, brought
their subjects to ruin. Justinian's character was weaker than water, and
anyone could lead him whither he would, provided it was not to commit
any act of kindness or incur the loss of money. He especially delighted in
flattery, so that his flatterers could easily make him believe that he should
soar aloft and tread upon the clouds. Once indeed, Tribonianus, when sitting
by him, declared that he was afraid that some day Justinian would be caught
up into heaven because of his righteousness, and would be lost to men.
Such praises, or rather sneers, as these he constantly bore in mind; yet, if he
admired any man for his goodness, he would shortly afterwards upbraid
him for a villain, and after having railed at one of his subjects without any
cause, he would suddenly take to praising him, having changed his mind on
no grounds whatever; for what he really thought was always the opposite of
what he said, and wished to appear to think. How he was affected by
emotions of love or hate I think I have sufficiently indicated by what I have
said concerning his actions. As an enemy, he was obstinate and relentless;
as a friend, inconstant; for he made away with many of his strongest
partisans, but never became the friend of anyone whom he had once
disliked. Those whom he appeared to consider his nearest and dearest
friends he would in a short time deliver up to ruin to please his wife or
anyone else, although he knew well that they died only because of devotion

for him; for he was untrustworthy in all things save cruelty and avarice,
from which nothing could restrain him. Whenever his wife could not
persuade him to do a thing, she used to suggest that great gain was likely to
result from it, and this enabled her to lead him into any course of action
against his will. He did not blush to make laws and afterwards repeal them,
that he might make some infamous profit thereby. Nor did he give judgment
according to the laws which he himself had made, but in favour of the side
which promised him the biggest and most splendid bribe. He thought it no
disgrace to steal away the property of his subjects, little by little, in cases
where he had no grounds for taking it away all at one swoop, either by
some unexpected charge or a forged will. While he was Emperor of the
Romans neither faith in God nor religion was secure, no law continued in
force, no action, no contract was binding. When he intrusted any business to
his officials, if they put to death numbers of those who fell into their hands
and carried off great wealth as plunder, they were looked upon as faithful
servants of the Emperor, and were spoken of as men who had accurately
carried out his instructions; but, if they came back after having shown any
mercy, he took a dislike to them and was their enemy for life, and never
again would employ them, being disgusted with their old-fashioned ways.
For this reason many men were anxious to prove to him that they were
villains, although they really were not such. He would often make men
repeated promises, and confirm his promise by an oath or by writing, and
then purposely forget all about it, and think that such an action did him
credit. Justinian behaved in this manner not only towards his own subjects,
but also towards many of his enemies, as I have already told. As a rule he
dispensed with both rest and sleep, and never took his fill of either food or
drink, but merely picked up a morsel to taste with the tips of his fingers, and
then left his dinner, as if eating had been a bye-work imposed upon him by
nature. He would often go without food for two days and nights, especially
when fasting was enjoined, on the eve of the feast of Easter, when he would

often fast for two days, taking no sustenance beyond a little water and a few
wild herbs, and sleeping, as it might be, for one hour only, passing the rest
of the time in walking to and fro. Had he spent all this time in useful works,
the State would have nourished exceedingly; but, as it was, he used his
natural powers to work the ruin of the Romans, and succeeded in
thoroughly disorganizing the constitution. His constant wakefulness, his
privations, and his labour were undergone for no other purpose than to
make the sufferings of his subjects every day more grievous; for, as I have
said before, he was especially quick in devising crimes, and swift to carry
them out, so that even his good qualities seemed to have been so largely
bestowed upon him merely for the affliction of his people.

CHAPTER XIV

Everything was done at the wrong time, and nothing that was established
was allowed to continue. To prevent my narrative being interminable, I will
merely mention a few instances, and pass over the remainder in silence. In
the first place, Justinian neither possessed in himself the appearance of
Imperial dignity, nor demanded that it should be respected by others, but
imitated the barbarians in language, appearance, and ideas. When he had to
issue an Imperial decree, he did not intrust it to the Quaestor in the usual
way, but for the most part delivered it himself by word of mouth, although
he spoke his own language like a foreigner; or else he left it in the hands of
one of those by whom he was surrounded, so that those who had been
injured by such resolutions did not know to whom to apply. Those who
were called A Secretis,[12] and had from very ancient times fulfilled the
duty of writing the secret dispatches of the Emperor, were no longer
allowed to retain their privileges; for he himself wrote them nearly all, even
the sentences of the municipal magistrates, no one throughout the Roman
world being permitted to administer justice with a free hand. He took
everything upon himself with unreasoning arrogance, and so managed cases
that were to be decided, that, after he had heard one of the litigants, he
immediately pronounced his verdict and obliged them to submit to it, acting
in accordance with no law or principle of justice, but being evidently
overpowered by shameful greed. For the Emperor was not ashamed to take
bribes, since his avarice had deprived him of all feelings of shame. It

frequently happened that the decrees of the Senate and the edicts of the
Emperor were opposed to each other; for the Senate was as it were but an
empty shadow, without the power of giving its vote or of keeping up its
dignity; it was assembled merely for form's sake and in order to keep up an
ancient custom, for none of its members were allowed to utter a single
word. But the Emperor and his consort took upon themselves the
consideration of questions that were to be discussed, and whatever
resolutions they came to between themselves prevailed. If he whose cause
had been victorious had any doubt as to the legality of his success, all he
had to do was to make a present of gold to the Emperor, who immediately
promulgated a law contrary to all those formerly in force. If, again, anyone
else desired the revival of the law that had been repealed, the autocrat did
not disdain to revoke the existing order of things and to reestablish it. There
was nothing stable in his authority, but the balance of justice inclined to one
side or the other, according to the weight of gold in either scale. In the
market-place there were buildings under the management of palace
officials, where traffic was carried on, not only in judicial, but also in
legislative decisions. The officers called "Referendars" (or mediators) found
it difficult to present the requests of petitioners to the Emperor, and still
more difficult to bring before the council in the usual manner the answer
proper to be made to each of them; but, gathering together from all quarters
worthless and false testimony, they deceived Justinian, who was naturally a
fit subject for deception, by fallacious reports and misleading statements.
Then, immediately going out to the contending parties, without acquainting
them with the conversation that had taken place, they extorted from them as
much money as they required, without anyone venturing to oppose them.

Even the soldiers of the Praetorian guard, whose duty it was to attend the
judges in the court of the palace, forced from them whatsoever judgments
they pleased. All, so to speak, abandoned their own sphere of duty, and
followed the paths that pleased them, however difficult or untrodden they

had previously been. Everything was out of gear; offices were degraded, not
even their names being preserved. In a word, the Empire resembled a queen
over boys at play. But I must pass over the rest, as I hinted at the
commencement of this work.

I will now say something about the man who first taught the Emperor to
traffic in the administration of justice. His name was Leo; he was a native
of Cilicia, and passionately eager to enrich himself. He was the most utterly
shameless of flatterers, and most apt in ingratiating himself with the
ignorant, and with the Emperor, whose folly he made use of in order to ruin
his subjects. It was this Leo who first persuaded Justinian to barter justice
for money. When this man had once discovered these means of plunder, he
never stopped. The evil spread and reached such a height that, if anyone
desired to come off victorious in an unjust cause against an honest man, he
immediately repaired to Leo, and, promising to give half of his claim to be
divided between the latter and the Emperor, left the palace, having already
gained his cause, contrary to all principles of right and justice. In this
manner Leo acquired a vast fortune, and a great quantity of land, and
became the chief cause of the ruin of the State. There was no longer any
security in contracts, in law, in oaths, in written documents, in any penalty
agreed upon, or in any other security, unless money had been previously
given to Leo and the Emperor. Nor was even this method certain, for
Justinian would accept bribes from both parties; and, after having drained
the pockets of both of those who had put confidence in him, he was not
ashamed to cheat one or other of them (no matter which), for, in his eyes,
there was nothing disgraceful in playing a double part, provided only that it
turned out profitable for him.

Such a man was Justinian.

CHAPTER XV

As for Theodora, her disposition was governed by the most hardened and
inveterate cruelty. She never did anything either under persuasion or
compulsion, but employed all her self-willed efforts to carry out her
resolutions, and no one ventured to intercede in favour of those who fell in
her way. Neither length of time, nor fulness of punishment, nor carefully
drawn-up prayers, nor the fear of death, nor the vengeance of Heaven, by
awe of which the whole human race is impressed, could persuade her to
abate her wrath. In a word, no one ever saw Theodora reconciled to one
who had offended her, either during his lifetime or after his death; for the
children of the deceased father inherited the hatred of the Empress, as if it
were part of his patrimony; and, when he died, left it in turn to his sons. Her
mind was ever most readily stirred to the destruction of men, and was
incapable of being checked. She bestowed upon her person greater care
than necessity demanded, but less than her desire prompted her to. She
entered the bath very early in the morning; and, having spent a long time
over her ablutions, went to breakfast, and afterwards again retired to rest. At
dinner and supper she partook of every kind of food and drink. She slept a
great deal: during the day, till nightfall, and, during the night, till sunrise.
And, although she thus abandoned herself to every intemperance, she
considered that the little time she had left was sufficient for the conduct of
the affairs of the Roman Empire. If the Emperor intrusted anyone with a
commission without having previously consulted Theodora, the unfortunate

man soon found himself deprived of his office, in the deepest disgrace, and
perished by a most dishonourable death. Justinian was speedy in the
conduct of business of all kinds, not only owing to his continual
sleeplessness (as has been mentioned before), but also by reason of his
easiness of temper, and, above all, his affability. For he allowed people to
approach him, although they were altogether obscure and unknown; and the
interview was not limited to mere admission to the presence of the Emperor,
but he permitted them to converse and associate with him on confidential
terms. With the Empress the case was different; even the highest officials
were not admitted until they had waited a long time, and after a great deal
of trouble. They all waited patiently every day, like so many slaves, in a
body, in a narrow and stifling room; for the risk they ran if they absented
themselves was most serious. There they remained standing all the time on
tip-toe, each trying to keep his face above his fellow's, that the eunuchs, as
they came out, might see them. Some were invited to her presence, but
rarely, and after several days of attendance; when at last they were admitted,
they merely did obeisance to her, kissed both her feet, and then hastily
retired in great awe; for they were not allowed to address her or to prefer
any request except at her bidding; so slavishly had the spirit of Roman
society degenerated under the instruction of Theodora, and to such a state of
decay had the affairs of the Empire sunk, partly in consequence of the too
great apparent easiness of the Emperor, partly owing to the harsh and
peevish nature of Theodora; for the easiness of the one was uncertain, while
the peevishness of the other hindered the transaction of public business.

There was this difference in their disposition and manner of life; but, in
their love of money, thirst of blood, and aversion to truth, they were in
perfect accord. They were, both of them, exceedingly clever inventors of
falsehoods; if any one of those who had incurred the displeasure of
Theodora was accused of any offence, however trivial and unimportant, she
immediately trumped up against him charges with which he was in no way

concerned, and greatly aggravated the matter. A number of accusations were
heard, and a court was immediately appointed to put down and plunder the
subjects; judges were called together by her, who would compete amongst
themselves to see which of them might best be able to accommodate his
decision to the cruelty of Theodora. The property of the accused was
immediately confiscated, after he had first been cruelly flogged by her
orders (although he might be descended from an illustrious family), nor had
she any scruples about banishing, or even putting him to death. On the other
hand, if any of her favourites were found guilty of murder or any other great
crime, she pulled to pieces and scoffed at the efforts of the accusers, and
forced them, against their will, to abandon proceedings. Whenever it
pleased her, she turned affairs of the greatest importance into ridicule, as if
they were taking place upon the stage of the theatre. A certain patrician, of
advanced age, and who had for a long time held office (whose name is
known to me, although I will not disclose it, in order to avoid bringing
infinite disgrace upon him), being unable to recover a large sum of money
which was owing to him from one of Theodora's attendants, applied to her,
intending to press his claim against the debtor, and to beg her to assist him
in obtaining his rights. Having heard of this beforehand, Theodora ordered
her eunuchs to surround the patrician in a body on his arrival, and to listen
to what was said by her, so that they might reply in a set form of words
previously suggested by her. When the patrician entered her chamber, he
prostrated himself at her feet in the usual manner, and, with tears in his
eyes, thus addressed her:

"O sovereign lady! it is hard for a patrician to be in want of money; for
that which in the case of others excites pity and compassion, becomes, in
the case of a person of rank, a calamity and a disgrace. When any ordinary
individual is in great straits, and informs his creditors, this immediately
affords him relief from his trouble; but a patrician, when unable to pay his
creditors, would, in the first place, be ashamed to own it; and, if he did so,

he would never make them believe it, since the world is firmly convinced
that poverty can never be associated with our class; even if he should
persuade them to believe it, it would be the greatest blow to his dignity and
reputation that could happen. Well, my lady, I owe money to some, while
others owe money to me. Out of respect for my rank, I cannot cheat my
creditors, who are pressing me sorely, whereas my debtors, not being
patricians, have recourse to cruel subterfuges. Wherefore, I beg and entreat
and implore your majesty to assist me to gain my rights, and to deliver me
from my present misfortunes!"

Such were his words. Theodora then commenced to sing, "O patrician,"
and the eunuchs took up her words and joined in chorus, "you have a large
tumour." When he again entreated her, and added a few words to the same
effect as before, her only answer was the same refrain, which was taken up
by the chorus of eunuchs. At length the unhappy man, tired of the whole
affair, did reverence to the Empress in the usual manner, and returned home.

During the greater part of the year, Theodora resided in the suburbs on
the coast, chiefly in the Heraeum, where her numerous retinue and
attendants suffered great inconvenience, for they were short of the
necessaries of life, and were exposed to the perils of the sea, of sudden
storms, or the attacks of sea-monsters. However, they regarded the greatest
misfortunes as of no importance, if only they had the means of enjoying the
pleasures of the court.

CHAPTER XVI

I will now relate how Theodora treated those who had offended her, merely
giving a few details, that I may not seem to have undertaken a task without
end.

When Amalasunta, as I have narrated in the earlier books, desiring to
abandon her connection with the affairs of the Goths, resolved to change
her manner of life, and to retire to Byzantium, Theodora, considering that
she was of illustrious descent and a princess, that she was of singular
beauty, and exceedingly active in forming plans to carry out her wishes,
was seized with suspicion of her distinguished qualities and eminent
courage, and at the same time with apprehensions on account of her
husband's fickleness. This made her exceedingly jealous; and she
determined to compass the death of her rival by intrigue. She immediately
persuaded the Emperor to send a man named Peter, by himself, to Italy, as
ambassador to her. On his setting out, the Emperor gave him the
instructions which I have mentioned in the proper place, where it was
impossible for me to inform my readers of the truth, for fear of the
Empress. The only order she gave the ambassador was to compass the death
of Amalasunta with all possible despatch, having bribed him with the
promise of great rewards if he successfully carried out his instructions. This
man, expecting either preferment or large sums of money (for under such
circumstances men are not slow to commit an unjust murder), when he

reached Italy, by some arguments or other persuaded Theodatus to make
away with Amalasunta. After this, Peter was advanced to the dignity of
"Master of Offices," and attained to the highest influence, in spite of the
detestation with which he was universally regarded. Such was the end of the
unhappy Amalasunta.

Justinian had a secretary named Priscus, a Paphlagonian by birth, a man
distinguished in every kind of villainy, a likely person to please the humour
of his master, to whom he was exceedingly devoted, and from whom he
expected to receive similar consideration; and by these means, in a short
time, he unjustly amassed great wealth. Theodora, unable to endure his
insolence and opposition, accused him to the Emperor. At first she was
unsuccessful, but, shortly afterwards, she put him on board a ship, sent him
away to a place she had previously determined upon, and having ordered
him to be shaved, forced him to become a priest. In the meantime, Justinian,
pretending that he knew nothing of what was going on, neither inquired to
what part of the world Priscus had been banished, nor ever thought of him
again afterwards, but remained silent, as if he had fallen into a state of
lethargy. However, he seized the small fortune that he had left behind him.

Theodora had become suspicious of one of her servants named
Areobindus, a barbarian by birth, but a youth of great comeliness, whom
she had appointed her steward. Wishing to purge the imagined offence,
(although, as was said) she was violently enamoured of him, she caused
him to be cruelly beaten with rods, for no apparent reason. What became of
him afterwards we do not know; nor has anyone seen him up to the present
day. For when Theodora desired to keep any of her actions secret, she took
care to prevent their being talked about or remembered. None of those who
were privy to them were permitted to disclose them even to their nearest
relations, or to any who desired to obtain information on the subject,
however curious they might be. No tyrant had ever yet inspired such fear,

since it was impossible for any word or deed of her opponents to pass
unnoticed. For she had a number of spies in her employ who informed her
of everything that was said and done in public places and private houses.
When she desired to punish anyone who had offended her, she adopted the
following plan. If he were a patrician, she sent for him privately, and
handed him over to one of her confidential attendants, with instructions to
carry him to the furthest boundaries of the empire. In the dead of night, her
agent, having bound the unfortunate man and muffled his face, put him on
board a ship, and, having accompanied him to the place whither he had
been instructed to convey him, departed, having first delivered him secretly
to another who was experienced in this kind of service, with orders that he
was to be kept under the strictest watch, and that no one should be informed
of it, until either the Empress took pity upon the unfortunate man, or, worn
out by his sufferings, he at length succumbed and died a miserable death.

A youth of distinguished family, belonging to the Green faction, named
Basianus, had incurred the Empress's displeasure by speaking of her in
sarcastic terms. Hearing that she was incensed against him, he fled for
refuge to the church of St. Michael the Archangel. Theodora immediately
sent the Praetor of the people to seize him, bidding him charge him,
however, not with insolence towards herself, but with the crime of sodomy.
The magistrate, having dragged him from the church, subjected him to such
intolerable torments, that the whole assembled people, deeply moved at
seeing a person of such noble mien, and one who had been so delicately
brought up, exposed to such shameful treatment, immediately
commiserated his sufferings, and cried out with loud lamentations that
reached the heavens, imploring pardon for the young man. But Theodora
persisted in her work of punishment, and caused his death by ordering him
to be castrated, although he had been neither tried nor condemned. His
property was confiscated by the Emperor. Thus this woman, when
infuriated, respected neither the sanctuary of the church, nor the prohibitive

authority of the laws, nor the intercession of the people, nor any other
obstacle whatsoever. Nothing was able to save from her vengeance anyone
who had given her offence. She conceived a hatred, on the ground of his
belonging to the Green faction, for a certain Diogenes, a native of
Constantinople, an agreeable person, who was liked by the Emperor and
everyone else. In her wrath, she accused him, in like manner, of sodomy,
and, having suborned two of his servants, put them up to give evidence
against and to accuse their master. But, as he was not tried secretly and in
private, as was the usual custom, but in public, owing to the reputation he
enjoyed, a number of distinguished persons were selected as judges, and
they, scrupulous in the discharge of their duties, rejected the testimony of
his servants as insufficient, especially on the ground of their not being of
legal age. The Empress thereupon caused one of the intimate friends of
Diogenes, named Theodorus, to be shut up in one of her ordinary prisons,
and endeavoured to win him over, at one time by flattery, at another by ill-
treatment. When none of these measures proved successful, she ordered a
cord of ox-hide to be bound round his head, over his forehead and ears and
then to be twisted and tightened. She expected that, under this treatment, his
eyes would have started from their sockets, and that he would have lost his
sight. But Theodorus refused to tell a lie. The judges, for want of proof,
acquitted him; and his acquittal was made the occasion of public rejoicing.

Such was the manner in which Theodorus was treated.

CHAPTER XVII

As for the manner in which she treated Belisarius, Photius, and Buzes,
I have already spoken of it at the commencement of this work.

Two Cilicians, belonging to the Blue faction, during a mutiny, laid
violent hands upon Callinicus, governor of the second Cilicia, and slew his
groom, who was standing near him, and endeavoured to defend his master,
in the presence of the governor and all the people. Callinicus condemned
them to death, since they had been convicted of several other murders
besides this. When Theodora heard of this, in order to show her devotion to
the party of the Blues, she ordered that the governor, while he still held
office, should be crucified in the place where the two offenders had been
executed, although he had committed no crime. The Emperor, pretending
that he bitterly lamented his loss, remained at home, grumbling and
threatening all kinds of vengeance upon the perpetrators of the deed. He did
nothing, however; but, without scruple, appropriated the property of the
dead man to his own use. Theodora likewise devoted her attention to
punishing those women who prostituted their persons. She collected more
than five hundred harlots, who sold themselves for three obols in the
market-place, thereby securing a bare subsistence, and transported them to
the other side of the Bosphorus, where she shut them up in the Monastery of
Repentance, with the object of forcing them to change their manner of life.

Some of them, however, threw themselves from the walls during the night,
and in this manner escaped a change of life so contrary to their inclinations.

There were at Byzantium two young sisters, illustrious not only by the
consulships of their father and grandfather, but by a long descent of
nobility, and belonging to one of the chief families of the Senate. They had
married early and lost their husbands. Theodora, charging them with living
an immoral life, selected two debauchees from the common people and
designed to make them their husbands. The young widows, fearing that they
might be forced to obey, took refuge in the church of St. Sophia, and,
approaching the sacred bath, clung closely to the font. But the Empress
inflicted such privations and cruel treatment upon them, that they preferred
marriage in order to escape from their immediate distress. In this manner
Theodora showed that she regarded no sanctuary as inviolable, no spot as
sacred. Although suitors of noble birth were ready to espouse these ladies,
they were married against their will to two men, poor and outcast, and far
below them in rank. Their mother, who was a widow like themselves, was
present at the marriage, but did not venture to cry out or express her sorrow
at this atrocious act. Afterwards, Theodora, repenting of what she had done,
endeavoured to console them by promoting their husbands to high offices to
the public detriment. But even this was no consolation to these young
women, for their husbands inflicted incurable and insupportable woes upon
almost all their subjects, as I will describe later; for Theodora paid no heed
to the dignity of the office, the interests of the State, or any other
consideration, provided only she could accomplish her wishes.

While still on the stage, she became with child by one of her friends, but
did not perceive her misfortune until it was too late. She tried all the means
she had formerly employed to procure abortion, but she was unable
prematurely to destroy the living creature by any means whatsoever, since it
had nearly assumed the form of a human being. Therefore, finding her

remedies unsuccessful, she abandoned the attempt, and was obliged to bring
forth the child. Its father, seeing that Theodora was at a loss what to do, and
was indignant because, now that she had become a mother, she was no
longer able to traffic with her person as before, and being with good reason
in fear for the child's life, took it up, named it John, and carried it away with
him to Arabia, whither he had resolved to retire. The father, just before his
death, gave John, who was now grown up, full information concerning his
mother.

John, having performed the last offices for his dead father, some time
afterwards repaired to Byzantium, and explained the state of affairs to those
who were charged with the duty of arranging admission to an audience with
the Empress. They, not suspecting that she would conceive any inhuman
designs against him, announced to the mother the arrival of her son. She,
fearing that the report might reach the ears of the Emperor, ordered her son
to be brought to her. When she saw him approaching, she went to meet him
and handed him over to one of her confidants, whom she always intrusted
with commissions of this kind. In what manner the unfortunate youth
disappeared I cannot say. He has never been seen to this day—not even
after his mother's death.

At that time the morals of women were almost without exception corrupt.
They were faithless to their husbands with absolute licence, since the crime
of adultery brought neither danger nor harm upon them. When convicted of
the offence, they escaped punishment, thanks to the Empress, to whom they
immediately applied. Then, getting the verdict quashed on the ground that
the charges were not proved, they in turn accused their husbands, who,
although not convicted, were condemned to refund twice the amount of the
dower, and, for the most part, were flogged and led away to prison, where
they were permitted to look upon their adulterous wives again, decked out
in fine garments and in the act of committing adultery without the slightest

shame with their lovers, many of whom, by way of recompense, received
offices and rewards. This was the reason why most husbands afterwards put
up with unholy outrages on the part of their wives, and gladly endured them
in silence in order to escape the lash. They even afforded them every
opportunity to avoid being surprised.

Theodora claimed complete control of the State at her sole discretion.
She appointed magistrates and ecclesiastical dignitaries. Her only care and
anxiety was—and as to this she made the most careful investigation—to
prevent any office being given to a good and honourable man, who might
be prevented by his conscience from assisting her in her nefarious designs.

She ordered all marriages as it were by a kind of divine authority; men
never made a voluntary agreement before marriage. A wife was found for
each without any previous notice, not because she pleased him (as is
generally the case even amongst the barbarians) but because Theodora so
desired it. Brides also had to put up with the same treatment, and were
obliged to marry husbands whom they did not desire. She often turned the
bride out of bed herself, and, without any reason, dismissed the bridegroom
before the marriage had been consummated, merely saying, in great anger,
that she disapproved of her. Amongst others whom she treated in this
manner was Leontius the "referendary," and Saturninus, the son of
Hermogenes the late Master of Offices, whom she deprived of their wives.
This Saturninus had a young maiden cousin of an age to marry, free-born
and modest, whom Cyrillus, her father, had betrothed to him after the death
of Hermogenes. After the bridal chamber had been made ready and
everything prepared, Theodora imprisoned the youthful bridegroom, who
was afterwards conducted to another chamber, and forced, in spite of his
violent lamentations and tears, to wed the daughter of Chrysomallo. This
Chrysomallo had formerly been a dancer and a common prostitute, and at
that time lived with another woman like her, and with Indaro, in the palace,

where, instead of devoting themselves to phallic worship and theatrical
amusements, they occupied themselves with affairs of State together with
Theodora.

Saturninus, having lain with his new wife and discovered that she had
already lost her maidenhead, informed one of his friends that his wife was
no virgin. When this reached the ears of Theodora, she ordered the servants
to hoist him up, like a boy at school, upbraiding him with having behaved
too saucily and having taken an unbecoming oath. She then had him
severely flogged on the bare back, and advised him to restrain his talkative
tongue for the future.

In my former writings I have already related her treatment of John of
Cappadocia, which was due to a desire to avenge personal injuries, not to
punish him for offences against the State, as is proved by the fact that she
did nothing of the kind in the case of those who committed far greater
cruelties against their subjects. The real cause of her hatred was, that he
ventured to oppose her designs and accused her to the Emperor, so that they
nearly came to open hostilities. I mention this here because, as I have
already stated, in this work I am bound to state the real causes of events.
When, after having inflicted upon him the sufferings I have related, she had
confined him in Egypt, she was not even then satisfied with his punishment,
but was incessantly on the look out to find false witnesses against him. Four
years afterwards, she succeeded in finding two of the Green faction who
had taken part in the sedition at Cyzicus, and were accused of having been
accessory to the assault upon the Bishop. These she attacked with flattery,
promises, and threats. One of them, alarmed and inveigled by her promises,
accused John of the foul crime of murder, but the other refused to utter
falsehoods, although he was so cruelly tortured that he seemed likely to die
on the spot. She was, therefore, unable to compass the death of John on this
pretext, but she caused the young men's right hands to be chopped off—that

of the one because he refused to bear false witness; that of the other, to
prevent her intrigue becoming universally known, for she endeavoured to
keep secret from others those things which were done in the open market-
place.

CHAPTER XVIII

That Justinian was not a man, but a demon in human shape, as I have
already said, may be abundantly proved by considering the enormity of the
evils which he inflicted upon mankind, for the power of the acting cause is
manifested in the excessive atrocity of his actions. I think that God alone
could accurately reckon the number of those who were destroyed by him,
and it would be easier for a man to count the grains of sand on the sea-shore
than the number of his victims. Considering generally the extent of country
which was depopulated by him, I assert that more than two millions of
people perished. He so devastated the vast tract of Libya that a traveller,
during a long journey, considered it a remarkable thing to meet a single
man; and yet there were eighty thousand Vandals who bore arms, besides
women, children and servants without number. In addition to these, who
amongst men could enumerate the ancient inhabitants who dwelt in the
cities, tilled the land, and traded on the coast, of whom I myself have seen
vast numbers with my own eyes? The natives of Mauretania were even still
more numerous, and they were all exterminated, together with their wives
and children. This country also proved the tomb of numbers of Roman
soldiers and of their auxiliaries from Byzantium. Therefore, if one were to
assert that five millions perished in that country, I do not feel sure that he
would not under-estimate the number. The reason of this was that Justinian,
immediately after the defeat of the Vandals, did not take measures to
strengthen his hold upon the country, and showed no anxiety to protect his

interests by securing the goodwill of his subjects, but immediately recalled
Belisarius on a charge of aspiring to royal power (which would by no
means have suited him) in order that he might manage the affairs of the
country at his own discretion, and ravage and plunder the whole of Libya.
He sent commissioners to value the province, and imposed new and most
harsh taxes upon the inhabitants. He seized the best and most fertile estates,
and prohibited the Arians from exercising the rites of their religion. He was
dilatory in keeping his army well supplied and in an effective condition,
while in other respects he was a severe martinet, so that disturbances arose
which ended in great loss. He was unable to abide by what was established,
but was by nature prone to throw everything into a state of confusion and
disturbance.

Italy, which was three times larger than Libya, was depopulated far more
than the latter throughout its whole extent, whence a computation may be
made of the number of those who perished there, for I have already spoken
of the origin of the events that took place in Italy. All his crimes in Africa
were repeated in Italy; having despatched Logothetae to this country also,
he immediately overthrew and ruined everything.

Before the Italian war, the Empire of the Goths extended from the
territory of the Gauls to the boundaries of Dacia, and the city of Sirmium;
but, when the Roman army arrived in Italy, the greater part of Cisalpine
Gaul and of the territory of the Venetians was in the occupation of the
Germans. Sirmium and the adjacent country was in the hands of the
Gepidae. The entire tract of country, however, was utterly depopulated; war
and its attendant evils, disease and famine, had exterminated the
inhabitants. Illyria and the whole of Thrace, that is to say, the countries
between the Ionian Gulf and the suburbs of Byzantium, including Hellas
and the Chersonese, were overrun nearly every year after the accession of
Justinian by the Huns, Slavs and Antes, who inflicted intolerable sufferings

upon the inhabitants. I believe that, on the occasion of each of these
inroads, more than two hundred thousand Romans were either slain or
carried away into slavery, so that the solitude of Scythia overspread these
provinces.

Such were the results of the wars in Libya and Europe. During all this
time, the Saracens also made perpetual inroads upon the Eastern Romans,
from Egypt to the Persian frontiers, and harassed them so persistently, that
those districts gradually became depopulated. I believe it would be
impossible for anyone to estimate correctly the number of men who
perished there.

The Persians under Chosroes thrice invaded the rest of the Roman
territory, destroyed the cities, slew or carried off those whom they found in
the captured towns in each district, and depopulated the country wherever
they attacked it. From the time they entered Colchis, the losses were
divided between themselves, the Lazes, and the Romans, as up to the
present day.

However, neither Persians, Saracens, Huns, Slavs, nor any other
barbarians were themselves able to evacuate Roman territory without
considerable loss, for, in their inroads, and still more in their sieges and
engagements, they often met with numerous reverses which inflicted equal
disasters upon them. Thus not only the Romans, but almost all the
barbarians, felt the bloodthirstiness of Justinian. Chosroes (as I have stated
in the proper place) was certainly a man of depraved character, but it was
Justinian who always took the initiative in bringing about war with this
prince, for he took no care to adapt his policy to circumstances, but did
everything at the wrong moment. In time of peace or truce, his thoughts
were ever craftily engaged in endeavouring to find pretexts for war against
his neighbours. In war, he lost heart without reason, and, owing to his

meanness, he never made his preparations in good time; and, instead of
devoting his earnest attention to such matters, he busied himself with the
investigation of heavenly phenomena and with curious researches into the
nature of God. Nevertheless, he would not abandon war, being by nature
tyrannical and bloodthirsty, although he was unable to overcome his
enemies, since his meanness prevented him from making the necessary
preparations. Thus, during the reign of this prince, the whole world was
deluged with the blood of nearly all the Romans and barbarians.

Such were the events that took place, during the wars abroad, throughout
the whole of the Roman Empire; but the disturbances in Byzantium and
every other city caused equal bloodshed; for, since no regard was had to
justice or impartiality in meting out punishment for offences, each faction
being eager to gain the favour of the Emperor, neither party was able to
keep quiet. They alternately abandoned themselves to the madness of
despair or presumptuous vanity, according as they failed or succeeded in
ingratiating themselves with him. Sometimes they attacked one another en
masse, sometimes in small bands, sometimes in single combat, or set
ambuscades for each other at every opportunity. For thirty-two years
without intermission they inflicted horrible cruelties upon one another. They
were frequently put to death by the Praefect of the city, although
punishment for offences fell most heavily upon the Green faction. The
punishment of the Samaritans also, and other so-called heretics, deluged the
Roman Empire with blood. Let it suffice, on the present occasion, to recall
briefly what I have already narrated in greater detail. These calamities,
which afflicted the whole world, took place during the reign of this demon
in the form of a man, for which he himself, when Emperor, was responsible.
I will now proceed to relate the evils he wrought by some hidden force and
demoniacal power.

During his control of the Empire, numerous disasters of various kinds
occurred, which some attributed to the presence and artifices of his evil
genius, while others declared that the Divinity, in detestation of his works,
having turned away in disgust from the Roman Empire, had given
permission to the avenging deities to inflict these misfortunes. The river
Scirtus overflowed Edessa, and brought the most grievous calamities upon
the inhabitants of the district, as I have already related. The Nile, having
overflown its banks as usual, did not subside at the ordinary time, and
caused great suffering among the people. The Cydnus was swollen, and
nearly the whole of Tarsus lay for several days under water; and it did not
subside until it had wrought irreparable damage to the city.

Several cities were destroyed by earth-quake—Antioch, the chief city of
the East, Seleucia, and Anazarbus, the most famous town in Cilicia. Who
could calculate the numbers of those who were thereby destroyed? To these
cities we may add Ibora, Amasea (the chief city of Pontus), Polybotus in
Phrygia (called Polymede by the Pisidians), Lychnidus in Epirus, and
Corinth, cities which from ancient times had been thickly populated. All
these cities were overthrown at that time by an earthquake, during which
nearly all their inhabitants perished. Afterwards the plague (which I have
spoken of before) began to rage, and swept away nearly half the survivors.
Such were the disasters that afflicted mankind, from the day when Justinian
first commenced to manage the affairs of the kingdom to the time, and after
he had ascended the Imperial throne.

CHAPTER XIX

I will now relate the manner in which he got possession of the wealth of the
world, after I have first mentioned a vision which was seen in a dream by a
person of distinction at the commencement of his reign. He thought he was
standing on the coast at Byzantium, opposite Chalcedon, and saw Justinian
standing in the midst of the channel. The latter drank up all the water of the
sea, so that it seemed as if he were standing on dry land, since the water no
longer filled the strait. After this, other streams of water, full of filth and
rubbish, flowing in from the underground sewers on either side, covered the
dry land. Justinian again swallowed these, and the bed of the channel again
became dry. Such was the vision this person beheld in his dream.

This Justinian, when his uncle Justin succeeded to the throne, found the
treasury well filled, for Anastasius, the most provident and economical of
all the Emperors, fearing (what actually happened) that his successor, if he
found himself in want of money, would probably plunder his subjects, filled
the treasure-houses with vast stores of gold before his death. Justinian
exhausted all this wealth in a very short time, partly by senseless buildings
on the coast, partly by presents to the barbarians, although one would have
imagined that a successor, however profligate and extravagant, would have
been unable to have spent it in a hundred years; for the superintendents of
the treasures and other royal possessions asserted that Anastasius, during his
reign of more than twenty-seven years, had without any difficulty

accumulated 320,000 centenars, of which absolutely nothing remained, it
having all been spent by this man during the lifetime of his uncle, as I have
related above. It is impossible to describe or estimate the vast sums which
he appropriated to himself during his lifetime by illegal means and wasted
in extravagance; for he swallowed up the fortunes of his subjects like an
ever-flowing river, daily absorbing them in order to disgorge them amongst
the barbarians. Having thus squandered the wealth of the State, he cast his
eyes upon his private subjects. Most of them he immediately deprived of
their possessions with unbounded rapacity and violence, at the same time
bringing against the wealthy inhabitants of Byzantium, and those of other
cities who were reputed to be so, charges utterly without foundation. Some
were accused of polytheism, others of heresy; some of sodomy, others of
amours with holy women; some of unlawful intercourse, others of attempts
at sedition; some of favouring the Green faction, others of high treason, or
any other charge that could be brought against them. On his own
responsibility he made himself heir not only of the dead, but also of the
living, as opportunity offered. In such matters he showed himself an
accomplished diplomatist. I have already mentioned above how he profited
by the sedition named Nika which was directed against him, and
immediately made himself heir of all the members of the Senate, and how,
shortly before the sedition broke out, he obtained possession of the fortunes
of private individuals. On every occasion he bestowed handsome presents
upon all the barbarians alike, those of East and West, and North and South,
as far as the inhabitants of the British Islands and of the whole world,
nations of whom we had not even heard before, and whose names we did
not know, until we became acquainted with them through their
ambassadors. When these nations found out Justinian's disposition, they
flocked to Byzantium from all parts of the world to present themselves to
him. He, without any hesitation, overjoyed at the occurrence, and regarding
it as a great piece of good luck to be able to drain the Roman treasury and

fling its wealth to barbarians or the waves of the sea, dismissed them every
day loaded with handsome presents. In this manner the barbarians became
absolute masters of the wealth of the Romans, either by the donations which
they received from the Emperor, their pillaging of the Empire, the ransom
of their prisoners, or their trafficking in truces. This was the signification of
the dream which I have mentioned above.

CHAPTER XX

Besides this, Justinian found other means of contriving to plunder his
subjects, not en masse and at once, but by degrees and individually. These
methods I will now proceed to describe as well as I am able. First of all he
appointed a new magistrate, who had the right of conferring upon all those
who kept shops the privilege of selling their wares at whatever price they
pleased, on payment of a yearly rent to the Emperor. The citizens were
compelled to make their purchases in the market, where they paid three
times as much as elsewhere; nor, although he suffered severe loss, was the
purchaser allowed to claim damages from anyone, for part of the profit
went to the Emperor, and part to increase the salary of these officials.
Purchasers were equally cheated by the magistrates' servants, who took part
in these disgraceful transactions, while the shopkeepers, who were allowed
to put themselves beyond reach of the law, inflicted great hardships upon
their customers—not merely by raising their prices many times over, but by
being guilty of unheard-of frauds in regard to their wares. Afterwards,
Justinian instituted several "monopolies," as they were called, and sold the
liberty of the subject to any who were willing to undertake this disgraceful
traffic, after having settled with them the price that was to be paid. This
done, he allowed those with whom he had made the bargain to carry out the
management of the affair in whatever way they thought fit. He made these
disgraceful arrangements, without any attempt at concealment, with all the
other magistrates, who plundered their subjects with less apprehension,

either themselves or through their agents, since some part of the profits of
the plunder always fell to the share of the Emperor. Under the pretence that
the former magistrates were insufficient to carry out these arrangements
(although the city prefect had previously been able to deal with all criminal
charges) he created two new ones. His object in this was, that he might have
at his disposal a larger number of informers, and that he might the more
easily inflict punishment and torture upon the innocent. One of these was
called Praetor of the People, whose nominal duty it was to deal with
thieves; the second was called the Commissioner, whose function it was to
punish all cases of paederasty, buggery, superstition and heresy. If the
Praetor found any articles of value amongst stolen goods, he handed them
over to the Emperor, declaring that no owner could be found for them, and
in this manner Justinian every day got possession of something of very
great value. The Commissioner, after he had condemned offenders,
confiscated what he pleased out of their estates and bestowed it upon the
Emperor, who thus, in defiance of the law, enriched himself out of the
fortunes of others; for the servants of these magistrates did not even take the
trouble at the commencement of the trial to bring forward accusers or to
produce any witnesses to the offences, but, during the whole of this period,
without intermission, unexamined and unconvicted, the accused were
secretly punished by death and the confiscation of their property by the
Emperor.

Afterwards, this accursed wretch ordered both these magistrates and the
city prefect to deal with all criminal affairs indifferently, bidding them enter
into rivalry to see which of them could destroy the greatest number of
citizens in the shortest time. It is said that, when one of them asked him
which of them should have the decision if anyone was accused before all
three, he replied, "Whichever of you has anticipated the others."

He debased the office of Quaestor, which almost all the preceding
Emperors had held in especial regard, so that it was only filled by men of
wisdom and experience, who above all were learned in the law and free
from all suspicion of corruptibility, for it was felt that it would unavoidably
be disastrous to the State if it were to be filled by men without experience
or who were the slaves of avarice. This Emperor first bestowed it upon
Tribonianus, whose character and misdeeds I have sufficiently described
elsewhere. After his death, Justinian seized part of his estate, although he
had left a son and several relatives who survived him. He then appointed
Junilus (a Libyan by birth), a man who had not so much as a hearsay
knowledge of law, for he had not even studied it in the public schools.
Although he had a knowledge of Latin, he had never had any tuition in
Greek, and was unable to speak the language. Frequently, when he
attempted to say a few words in Greek, he was laughed at by his own
servants. He was so mad after filthy lucre, that he had not the least scruple
in publicly selling letters of office signed by the Emperor, and was never
ashamed to stretch out his hand to those who had to do with him for a stater
of gold. For no less than seven years the State dured the shame and ridicule
brought upon it by this officer.

On the death of Junilus, Justinian elevated to this office Constantine, who
was not unacquainted with law, but was very young and had never yet taken
part in a trial; besides which, he was the most abandoned thief and braggart
in the world. Justinian entertained the highest regard for him and showed
him very great favour, condescending to make him the chief instrument of
his extortion and sole arbiter in legal decisions. By this means Constantine
in a short time amassed great wealth, but his insolence was outrageous, and
his pride led him to treat everyone with contempt. Even those who were
desirous of making him considerable presents were obliged to intrust them
to those who seemed to be most in his confidence, for no one was permitted
to approach or converse with him, except when he was hurrying to or

returning from the Emperor. Even then he did not slacken his pace, but
walked on hastily, for fear that those who approached him might waste his
time without paying for it. Such was the manner in which Justinian dealt
with the Quaestorship.

CHAPTER XXI

The Praefect of the supreme tribunals, besides the public tax, annually paid
to the Emperor more than thirty centenars of gold. This sum was called the
"aerial tribute," doubtless because it was no regular or usual one, but
seemed to have fallen as it were by chance from Heaven, whereas it ought
rather to have been called "the impost of his wickedness," for it served as a
pretext to those functionaries, who were invested with high power, to
plunder their subjects incessantly without fear of punishment. They
pretended that they had to hand over the tribute to the Emperor, and they
themselves, without any difficulty, acquired sufficient sums to secure regal
affluence for themselves. Justinian allowed them to go on unchecked and
unheeded, waiting until they had amassed great wealth, when it was his
practice to bring against them some charge from which they could not
readily clear themselves, and to confiscate the whole of their property, as he
had treated John of Cappadocia. All those who held this office during his
reign became wealthy to an extraordinary degree, and suddenly, with two
exceptions. One of these was Phocas, of whom I have spoken in my
previous writings—a man in the highest degree observant of integrity and
honesty; who, during his tenure of office, was free from all suspicion of
illegal gain. The other was Bassus, who was appointed later. Neither of
them enjoyed their dignity for a year. At the end of a few months they were
deprived of it as being incapable and unsuited to the times. But, not to go

into details in every case, which would be endless, I will merely say that it
was the same with all the other magistrates of Byzantium.

In all the cities throughout the Empire, Justinian selected for the highest
offices the most abandoned persons he could find, and sold to them for vast
sums the positions which they degraded. In fact, no honest man, possessed
of the least common sense, would ever have thought of risking his own
fortune in order to plunder those who had committed no offence. When
Justinian had received the money from those with whom he made the
bargain, he gave them full authority to deal with their subjects as they
pleased, so that, by the destruction of provinces and populations, they might
enrich themselves in the future; for, since they had borrowed large sums
from the bankers at heavy rates of interest to purchase their magistracies,
and had paid the sum due to him who sold them, when they arrived in the
cities, they treated their subjects with every kind of tyranny, paying heed to
nothing save how they might fulfil their engagements with their creditors
and lay up great wealth for themselves. They had no apprehension that their
conduct would bring upon them the risk of punishment; on the contrary,
they expected that the greater number of those whom they plundered put to
death without cause, the greater the reputation they would attain, for the
name of murderer and robber was regarded as a proof of activity. But when
Justinian learned that they had amassed considerable wealth during office,
he entangled them in his net, and on some pretence or other deprived them
of all their riches in a moment.

He had published an edict that candidates for offices should swear that
they would keep themselves free from extortion, that they would neither
give nor receive anything for their offices, and uttered against those who
transgressed the law the most violent curses of ancient times. The law had
not been in force a year when, forgetting its terms and the malediction
which had been pronounced, he shamelessly put up these offices for sale,

not secretly, but publicly in the market-place, and those who purchased
them, in spite of their oaths to the contrary plundered and ravaged with
greater audacity than before.

He afterwards thought of another contrivance, which may seem
incredible. He resolved no longer to put up for sale, as before, the offices
which he believed to be of greatest repute in Byzantium and other cities, but
sought out a number of hired persons, whom he appointed at a fixed salary,
and ordered to bring all the revenues to himself. These men, having
received their salary, shamelessly got together from every country and
carried off everything that they could. The stipendiary commission went
from one place to another, plundering the subjects of the Empire in the
name of their office.

Thus the Emperor exercised in every case the greatest care in the
selection of these agents of his, who were truly the greatest scoundrels in
the world; nor were his efforts and industry in this detestable business
unsuccessful. When he advanced the first of his wicked agents to high
offices, and the licence of authority revealed their corruption, we were
astounded to think how the nature of man could be capable of such
enormity. But when those who succeeded them far outdid them, men were
at a loss to understand how their predecessors could have appeared the most
wicked of mankind, since, in comparison with their successors, who had
surpassed them in evil-doing, they might be considered good and honest
men. But the third set and their successors so far outstripped the second in
every kind of villainy, and in their cleverness in inventing new accusations,
that they secured for their predecessors a certain reputation and a good
name. As the misfortunes of the State increased, all learned by experience
that there is no limit to the innate wickedness of man, and that, when it is
supported by the knowledge of precedents, and encouraged by the power in
its hands to torment its victims, no man can tell how far it will extend, but

only the thoughts of the oppressed are capable of estimating it. Such was
the state of affairs in regard to the magistrates.

The hostile armies of the Huns had often reduced to slavery and
plundered the inhabitants of the Empire. The Thracian and Illyrian generals
resolved to attack them on their retreat, but turned back when they were
shown letters from the Emperor forbidding them to attack the barbarians, on
pretence that their help was necessary to the Romans against the Goths and
other enemies of the Empire.

Making use of this opportunity, these barbarians plundered the country
like enemies, and carried away the inhabitants into slavery; and in this
manner these pretended friends and allies of the Romans returned home
with their plunder and a number of prisoners. Frequently, some of the
peasants in those parts, urged on by a longing for their wives and children
who had been carried away into slavery, formed themselves into bands,
marched against the barbarians, slew a number of them, and succeeded in
capturing their horses together with their plunder. This success, however,
proved very unfortunate for them; for agents were sent from Byzantium,
who had no hesitation in beating and wounding them and seizing their
property, until they had restored all the horses that they had taken from the
barbarians.

CHAPTER XXII

After the Emperor and Empress had destroyed John of Cappadocia, they
were desirous of appointing someone else to his office, and agreed to search
for a man even more vicious than he. They looked around to find this
instrument of tyranny, and examined the dispositions of all, in order that
they might the more speedily be able to ruin their subjects. They
temporarily conferred the office upon Theodotus, who, though certainly not
an honourable man, was not sufficiently wicked to satisfy them. They
continued their search in all directions, and at last by accident found a
banker named Peter, a Syrian by birth, surnamed Barsyames. He had long
sat at the copper money-changer's counter, and had amassed large sums by
his disgraceful malpractices. He was exceedingly cunning at thieving obols,
ever deceiving his customers by the quickness of his fingers. He was very
clever at filching without ado what fell into his hands, and, when detected,
he swore that it was the fault of his hands, and made use of most impudent
language in order to conceal his guilt.

This Barsyames, having been enrolled in the praetorian guard, behaved
so outrageously that he approved himself beyond all others to Theodora,
and was selected by her to assist in carrying out those of her nefarious
schemes which required the most inventive genius. For this reason Justinian
and Theodora immediately deprived Theodotus of the dignity bestowed

upon him as the successor of the Cappadocian, and appointed Peter in his
stead, who in every respect acted in accordance with their wishes.

He not only, without the least fear or shame, cheated the soldiers of their
pay, but offered commands and offices for sale to a greater extent than
before. Having thus degraded them, he sold them to persons who were not
ashamed to engage in this unholy traffic, giving express permission to the
purchasers to deal as they pleased with the lives and properties of those who
were subject to their authority; for Barsyames claimed for himself and
granted to anyone who had paid down the price of a province the right of
plundering and ravaging it at pleasure. It was from the chief of the State that
this traffic in lives proceeded, and agreements were entered into for the ruin
of the cities. In the chief courts and in the public market-place the legalised
brigand went round about, who was called "collector" from his duty of
collecting the money paid for the purchase of dignities, which they exacted
from the oppressed, who had no hope of redress. Of all those who were
promoted to his service, although several were men of repute, Barsyames
always preferred such as were of depraved character.

He was not the only offender in this respect; all his predecessors and
successors were equally guilty. The "Master of Offices" did the same,
likewise the officials of the imperial treasury, and those who had the duty of
superintending the Emperor's private and personal estate—in a word, all
who held public appointments in Byzantium and other cities. In fact, from
the time that this tyrant had the management of affairs, either he or his
minister claimed the subsidies suitable to each office, and those who served
their superiors, suffering extreme poverty, were compelled to submit to be
treated as if they were the most worthless slaves.

The greater part of the corn that had been imported to Byzantium was
kept until it rotted; but, although it was not fit for human consumption, he

forced the cities of the East to purchase it in proportion to their importance,
and he demanded payment, not at the price paid even for the best corn, but
at a far higher rate; and the poor people, who had been forced to purchase it
at an outrageously heavy price, were compelled to throw it into the sea or
the drains.

That which was sound and not yet spoilt, of which there was great
abundance in the capital, the Emperor determined to sell to those cities
which were scantily supplied. In this manner he realised twice the amount
that had formerly been obtained by the receivers of the public tribute in the
provinces. The next year the supply of corn was not so abundant, and the
transports did not bring a sufficient quantity to supply the needs of the
capital. Peter, disconcerted at the state of affairs, conceived the idea of
buying up a great quantity of corn from Bithynia, Phrygia and Thrace. The
inhabitants of those provinces were forced to bring it down to the coasts
themselves (a work of great labour), and to convey it at considerable risk to
Byzantium, where they had to be satisfied with an absurdly low price. Their
losses were so considerable, that they would have preferred to have given
the corn gratuitously to the public granaries, and even to have paid twice as
much. This burdensome duty was called Syn=on=e, or provisioning the
capital with corn from the provinces. But, as even then the supply of corn
was not sufficient for the needs of the city, many complaints were made to
the Emperor. At the same time the soldiers, hardly any of whom had as yet
received their pay, assembled and created a great disturbance in the city.
The Emperor appeared greatly irritated against Peter, and resolved to
deprive him of his office, both for the reasons stated and also because it was
reported to him that he had amassed extraordinary wealth, which he kept
hidden away, by robbing the public treasury; and this in fact was the case.
But Theodora opposed her husband's intention, being exceedingly
enamoured of Barsyames, apparently on account of his evil character and
the remarkable cruelty with which he treated his subjects; for, being herself

exceedingly cruel and utterly inhuman, she was anxious that the character
of her agents should be in conformity with her own. It is also said that
Theodora, against her will, had been forced by the enchantments of
Barsyames to become his friend; for this man had devoted great attention to
sorcerers and supernatural beings, admired the Manichaeans, and was not
ashamed openly to profess himself their supporter. Although the Empress
was not ignorant of this, she did not withdraw her favour, but resolved on
this account to show even greater interest and regard for him than before,
for she herself also, from her earliest years, had associated with sorcerers
and magicians, since her character and pursuits inclined her towards them.
She had great faith in their arts, and placed the greatest confidence in them.
It is even said that she did not render Justinian susceptible to her influence
so much by her flatteries as by the irresistible power of evil spirits; for
Justinian was not sufficiently kindly, or just, or persistent in well-doing to
be superior to such secret influence, but was manifestly dominated by a
thirst for blood and riches, and fell an easy prey to those who deceived and
flattered him. In undertakings which needed the greatest attention, he
changed his plans without any reason and showed himself as light as the
dust swept before the wind. Thus none of his kinsmen or friends had the
least confidence in his stability, but, in the execution of his purpose, his
opinion perpetually changed with the greatest rapidity. Being, as I have
said, an easy object of attack for the sorcerers, he in like manner readily fell
a victim to Theodora, who, for this reason, entertained the highest affection
for Peter as one devoted to the study of these arts.

The Emperor only succeeded with great difficulty in depriving him of his
office, and, at the pressing entreaty of Theodora, soon afterwards appointed
him chief of the treasury, and deprived John of these functions, although he
had only been invested with them a few months previously. This John was a
native of Palestine, a good and gentle man, who did not even know how to
find out the means of increasing his private fortune, and had never done

injury to a single individual. The more decided the affection of the people
for him, the less he met with the approval of Justinian and his partner, who,
as soon as they found amongst their agents, contrary to expectation, a good
and honourable man, were quite dumbfounded, showed their indignation,
and endeavoured by every possible means to get rid of him with the least
delay. Thus Peter succeeded John as chief of the royal treasury, and was one
of the chief causes of great misery to all the inhabitants of the Empire. He
embezzled the greater part of the fund, which, in accordance with an
ancient custom, was annually distributed by the Emperor to a number of
families by way of assisting them. Part of this public money he sent to the
Emperor, and kept part for himself, whereby he acquired ill-gotten wealth.
Those who were thus deprived of this money lived in a pitiable state. He did
not even coin the same amount of gold as before, but less—a thing which
had never been done before. Such was the manner in which Justinian dealt
with the magistracies.

CHAPTER XXIII

I will now relate how he everywhere ruined the possessors of estates,
although, to show their misery, it would really be sufficient to refer to what
has been said, just before this, concerning the governors dispatched to all
the provinces and cities, for it was they who plundered those who possessed
landed estates, as before related.

It had long been an established custom that the Roman Emperor should,
not only once, but on several occasions, remit to his subjects all the arrears
that were owing to the treasury, so that those who were in difficulties and
had no means of settling these arrears might not be continually pressed, and
that the tax collectors might not have an excuse for vexatiously attempting
to exact money from those liable to tribute, where in many cases it was not
due. Justinian, however, for thirty-two years made no concession of the
kind to his subjects, the result of which was that the poor people were
forced to quit the country without any hope of return. The more honest were
perpetually harassed by these false accusers, who threatened to charge them
with having paid less than the amount at which they were rated. These
unhappy individuals were less afraid of the imposition of new taxes than of
the insupportable weight of the unjust exactions which for many years they
had been compelled to pay, whereupon many of them abandoned their
property to their accusers or to the rise.

The Medes and Saracens had ravaged the greater part of Asia, and the
Huns and Slavs had plundered the whole of Europe. Cities had been razed
to the ground or subjected to severe exactions; the inhabitants had been
carried away into slavery with all they possessed, and every district had
been deserted by its inhabitants in consequence of the daily inroads.
Justinian, however, remitted no tax or impost to any one of them, except in
the case of cities that had been taken by the enemy, and then only for a year,
although, had he granted them exemption for seven years, as the Emperor
Anastasius had done, I do not think that even then he would have done
enough: for Cabades retired after having inflicted but little damage upon the
buildings, but Chosroes, by ravaging the country with fire and sword and
razing all its dwellings to the ground, brought greater calamities upon the
inhabitants. Justinian only granted this absurd remission of tribute to these
people and to others who had several times submitted to an invasion of the
Medes and the continuous depredations of the Huns and Saracen barbarians
in the East, while the Romans, settled in the different parts of Europe, who
had equally suffered by the attacks of the barbarians, found Justinian more
cruel than any of their foreign foes; for, immediately after the enemy
withdrew, the proprietors of estates found themselves overwhelmed with
requisitions for provisions,[13] impositions,[14] and edicts[15] of various
kinds, the meaning of which I will now explain. Those who possessed
landed property were obliged to furnish provisions for the soldiers in
proportion to the amount imposed upon each, and these dues were fixed,
not in consideration of the necessities of the moment, but according to an
authorised imperial assessment; and, if at any time they had not a sufficient
supply upon their lands for the needs of the horses and soldiers, these
unhappy persons were forced to purchase them even at a price far above
their proper value, and to convey them in many cases from a considerable
distance to the place where the troops were encamped, and to distribute
them to the adjutants in what quantity and at what rate the latter pleased, not

at a fair and reasonable price. This import was called "the import of
victualling," which, as it were, cut the sinews of all the landed proprietors;
for they had to pay an annual tribute ten times greater than before, and were
obliged not only to furnish supplies the soldiers, but on several occasions to
convey corn to Byzantium. Barsyames was not the only man who had the
audacity to introduce this cursed exaction, John of Cappadocia had set the
example, and the successors of Barsyames in his office followed it. Such
was the nature of the Syn[=o]n[=e], as it was called.

The "Epibol[=e]" was a kind of unforeseen ruin, which suddenly attacked
the landed proprietors and utterly deprived them of the hope of subsistence;
for, in the case of estates that were deserted and unproductive, the owners or
tenants of which had either died or abandoned their country and hidden
themselves after the misfortunes they had undergone, Justinian did not
hesitate to impose a tax. Such were these "impositions," which were of
frequent occurrence during that time.

A few words will suffice for the impost called "Diagraph[=e]." At this
time especially, the cities were afflicted with heavy losses, the causes and
extent of which I will say nothing about, for it would be an endless tale.
These losses had to be repaired by the landed proprietors in proportion to
the rate at which they were assessed. Their misery, however, did not stop
there, but, although pestilence had attacked the whole world, and,
especially, the Roman Empire; although most of the farmers had fallen
victims, and their properties had become deserted, Justinian did not show
the least clemency towards the owners. He continued to exact the yearly
tribute from them, not only their own proportion, but that of their
neighbours who had died of the plague.[16] Further, they were obliged to
treat the soldiers with the greatest civility, and to allow them to take up their
quarters in their finest and richest apartments, while they themselves all the
time had to content themselves with the poorest and meanest rooms. Such

were the calamities that without intermission befell mankind during the
reign of Justinian and Theodora, for there was no cessation of war or any
other most terrible calamities. Since I have mentioned the word "quarters," I
must not forget to say that at one time there were 70,000 barbarians at
Constantinople, whom house owners were obliged to quarter, being thus
shut out from all enjoyment of their own, and in many other ways
inconvenienced.

CHAPTER XXIV

I must not, however, omit to mention the manner in which Justinian treated
the soldiers. He appointed commissioners, called Logothetae,[17] with
directions to squeeze as much money as they could out of them, a twelfth
part of the sum thus obtained being assured to them. The following was
their mode of operation every year. It was an established custom that the
soldiers should not all have the same pay. Those who were young, and had
just joined, received less than those who had undergone hardships in the
field and were already half-way up the list; while the veterans, whose term
of service was all but over, received a more considerable sum, that they
might have sufficient to live upon as private individuals, and, after their
death, might be able to leave a small inheritance by way of consolation to
their families. Thus, in course of time, the soldiers gradually rose in rank,
according as their comrades died or retired from the service, and their pay
from the public funds was regulated in accordance with their seniority. But
these commissioners would not allow the names of those who had died or
fallen in battle to be struck out, or the vacancies to be filled, until a long
interval had elapsed. The result was, that the army was short of men, and
the survivors, after the death of the veterans, were kept in a position far
inferior to their merits, and received less pay than they ought to have done,
while in the meantime the commissioners handed over to Justinian the
money they thus purloined from the soldiers. In addition, they harassed the
soldiers with several other kinds of injustices, by way of recompense for the

dangers they had undergone in the field; they were taunted with the name of
Greeks, as if Greece could never produce a brave soldier; others were
cashiered, as not having been ordered by the Emperor to serve, although
they showed their commissions, the genuineness of which the Logothetae
did not hesitate to call in question; others, again, were disbanded for having
absented themselves a short time from their quarters. Afterwards, some of
the Palace Guards were sent into every part of the Empire to take an exact
inventory of the soldiers who were or were not fit for service. Some were
deprived of their belts, as being useless and too old, and for the future were
obliged to solicit alms from the charitable in the open market-place—a sad
and melancholy spectacle to all beholders. The rest were reduced to such a
state of terror that, in order to avoid similar treatment, they offered large
sums of money to buy themselves out, so that the soldiers, being thus
rendered destitute and in many ways enfeebled, conceived an utter aversion
to the service.

This endangered the authority of the Romans, especially in Italy.
Alexander, who was sent thither as commissioner, unhesitatingly
reproached the soldiers for this. He also exacted large sums of money from
the Italians, under the pretence of punishing them for their negotiations with
Theoderic and the Goths. The soldiers were not the only persons who were
reduced to poverty and privation by the commissioners; but those who had
accompanied the generals in different capacities and had formerly enjoyed a
high reputation, found themselves in great distress, as they had no means of
procuring the ordinary necessaries. Since I am speaking of the soldiers, I
will give a few additional details. Preceding Emperors had, for a very long
time past, carefully posted upon all the frontiers of the Empire a large
military force to protect its boundaries, and particularly, in the Eastern
provinces, in order to repel the inroads of the Persians and Saracens, they
had established garrisons called "frontier troops." Justinian at first treated
these troops with such shameful neglect that their pay was four, or even five

years in arrear; and, when peace was concluded between Rome and Persia,
these unhappy individuals, who expected to enjoy the advantages of peace,
were obliged to make a present to the treasury of the money due to them;
and the Emperor finally disbanded them most unjustly. Thus the frontiers of
the Roman Empire remained ungarrisoned, and the troops had nothing to
subsist upon except the benevolence of the charitable.

There was a certain body of soldiers, about 3,500 in number, called
"Scholares," who had been originally appointed as an imperial palace-
guard, and received a larger pay from the imperial treasury than the rest of
the army. They were first chosen according to merit from the Armenians;
but, from the reign of Zeno, anyone, however cowardly and unwarlike, was
allowed to enter this body. In course of time, even slaves, on payment of a
sum of money, were admitted to their ranks. When Justin succeeded to the
throne, Justinian enrolled a large number on payment of considerable sums
of money. When the list was filled up, he added about 2,000 more who were
called "Supernumeraries," but disbanded them, when he himself came to the
throne, without any reimbursement. In regard to these "Scholares," he
invented the following plan: Whenever it was probable that an expedition
would be despatched to Italy, Libya, or Persia, he ordered them to make
ready to take part in the campaign, although he knew that they were utterly
unfit for war; and they, being afraid of this, surrendered their salaries to the
Emperor. This was a frequent occurrence. When Peter was "Master of
Offices," he daily harassed them with monstrous thefts. This man, although
he was of a mild and by no means overbearing disposition, was the greatest
thief in the world and an absolute slave to sordid avarice. He it was who (as
I have related) contrived the murder of Amalasunta, the daughter of
Theodoric.

There are in the imperial household other officers of much higher rank,
who, having purchased their positions for a larger sum, receive better pay in

proportion. These are called "Domestics" and "Protectors." They have
always been exempt from military service, and are only reckoned members
of the palace on account of their dignity and rank. Some of them are
constantly in Byzantium, while others have long been established in Galatia
or other provinces. Justinian frightened these in the same manner into
abandoning their salaries to him. In conclusion, it was the custom that,
every five years, the Emperor should present each of the soldiers with a
fixed sum in gold. Accordingly, every five years, commissioners were
despatched to all parts of the Empire, to bestow five staters of gold upon
every soldier as a gift from the Emperor. This had long been an established
and inviolable practice. But, from the day that Justinian assumed the
management of affairs, he did nothing of the kind, and showed no intention
of doing so during the thirty-two years of his reign, so that the custom was
almost completely forgotten.

CHAPTER XXV

I will now proceed to mention another mode in which he plundered his
subjects. Those who, at Byzantium, serve the Emperor or magistrates, either
as secretaries, or in a military or any other capacity, are placed last upon the
list of officials. As time goes on, they are gradually promoted to the place of
those who have died or retired, until they reach the highest rank and
supreme dignity. Those who had attained to this honour, in accordance with
an ancient institution, had the right to the enjoyment of a fund of not less
than 100 centenars of gold yearly, so that they might have a comfortable
means of subsistence for their old age, and might be able to assist others as
much as possible; and this was of great influence in bringing about a
successful administration of the affairs of state. But Justinian deprived them
of all their privileges, and did great harm, not only to them, but to many
others besides, for the poverty which attacked them extended to all those
who formerly shared their prosperity. If anyone were to calculate the sums
of which they were thus deprived during these thirty-two years, he would
find that the amount was very considerable. Such was the shameful manner
in which the tyrant treated his soldiers.

I will now relate how he behaved towards merchants, mariners, artisans,
shopkeepers and others. There are two narrow straits on either side of
Byzantium, the one in the Hellespont, between Sestos and Abydos, the
other at the mouth of the Euxine Sea, close to the chapel of the Holy

Mother. In the strait upon the Hellespont, there was no public custom-
house, but an officer was sent by the Emperor to Abydos, to see that no ship
loaded with arms should pass on the way to Byzantium without the
Emperor's leave, and also that no person should put out to sea from
Byzantium without letters of licence signed by the proper official, no ship
being allowed to leave the city without the permission of the secretaries of
the Master of Offices. The amount which the praetor exacted from the
shipmasters under the name of toll was so insignificant that it was
disregarded. A praetor was also sent to the other strait, who received his
salary regularly from the Emperor, and whose duties were the same—to
take care that no one transported to the barbarians on the Euxine any wares,
the export of which to hostile countries was forbidden; but he was not
allowed to exact any duties from these navigators. But, from the day that
Justinian succeeded to the government of affairs, he established a custom-
house on both straits, and sent thither two officials to collect the dues at a
fixed salary, who were ordered to get in as much money as they could.
These officials, who desired nothing better than to show their devotion to
him, extorted duty upon all kinds of merchandise. In regard to the port of
Byzantium, he made the following arrangement:—He put it in charge of
one of his confidants, a Syrian by birth, named Addeus, whom he ordered to
exact duty from all vessels which put in there. This Addeus would not allow
those ships which had been any length of time in the harbour to leave it,
until the masters had paid a sum of money to free them, or else he
compelled them to take on board a freight for Libya or Italy. Some, resolved
not to take in a return cargo or to remain at sea any longer, burned their
ships and thus escaped all anxiety, to their great rejoicing. But all those who
were obliged to continue their profession in order to live, for the future
demanded three times the usual amount from merchants for the hire of the
ships, and thus the merchants had no means of covering their losses except
by requiring a higher price from purchasers; and thus, by every possible

contrivance, the Romans were reduced to the danger of starvation. Such
was the general state of affairs. I must not, however, omit to state the
manner in which the rulers dealt with the small coinage. The money-
changers had formerly been accustomed to give 210 obols (called Pholes)
for a single gold stater. Justinian and Theodora, for their own private gain,
ordered that only 180 obols should be given for the stater, and by this
means deprived the public of a sixth part of each piece of gold. Having
established "monopolies" upon most wares, they incessantly harassed
would-be purchasers. The only thing left free from duty was clothes, but, in
regard to these also, the imperial pair contrived to extort money. Silken
garments had for a long time been made in Berytus and Tyre, cities of
Phoenicia. The merchants and workmen connected with the trade had been
settled there from very early times, and from thence the business had spread
throughout the world. During the reign of Justinian, those who lived in
Byzantium and other cities raised the price of their silks, on the plea that at
the present time they were dearer in Persia, and that the import tithes were
higher. The Emperor pretended to be exceedingly indignant at this, and
subsequently published an edict forbidding a pound of silk to be sold for
more than eight gold pieces; anyone who disobeyed the edict was to be
punished by the confiscation of his property. This measure appeared
altogether impracticable and absurd. For it was not possible for the
merchants, who had bought their wares at a much higher price, to sell it to
customers at a lower rate. They accordingly resolved to give up this
business, and secretly and without delay disposed of their remaining wares
to certain well-known persons, who took delight in wasting their money
upon such adornments, and to whom it had become in a manner an absolute
necessity. Theodora heard of this from certain persons who whispered it
confidentially, and, without taking the trouble to verify the report, she
immediately deprived these persons of their wares, and, in addition,
inflicted upon them a fine of a centenar of gold. At the present time, the

imperial treasurer is charged with the superintendence of this trade. When
Peter Barsyames held the office, they soon allowed him all manner of
licence in carrying out his nefarious practices. He demanded that all the rest
should carefully observe the law, and compelled those who were engaged in
the silk factories to work for himself alone. Without taking any trouble to
conceal it, he sold an ounce of any ordinary coloured silk in the public
market-place for six pieces of gold, but if it was of the royal dye, called
Holovere, he asked more than four-and-twenty for it. In this manner he
procured vast sums of money for the Emperor, and even larger sums, which
he kept privately for himself; and this practice, begun by him, continued.
The grand treasurer is at this moment avowedly the only silk merchant and
sole controller of the market. All those who formerly carried on this
business, either in Byzantium or any other city, workers on sea or land, felt
the loss severely. Nearly the whole population of the cities which existed by
such manufactories were reduced to begging. Artisans and mechanics were
forced to struggle against hunger, and many of them, quitting their country,
fled to Persia. None but the chief treasurer was allowed to have anything to
do with that branch of industry, and, while he handed over part of his gains
to the Emperor, he kept the greater part for himself, and thus grew wealthy
at the expense of the unfortunate public.

CHAPTER XXVI

I must now relate how he robbed Byzantium and other cities of their
ornaments. In the first place he resolved to humiliate the lawyers. He
deprived them of all the fees, which, after they had finished their case, were
considerable, and enriched them and increased their distinction. He ordered
that litigants should come to an agreement upon oath, which brought the
lawyers into contempt and insignificance. After he had seized the estates of
the Senators and other families reputed wealthy, in Byzantium and
throughout the Empire, the profession had little to do, for the citizens no
longer possessed property worth disputing about. Thus, of the numerous
and famous orators who once composed this order there remained only a
few, who were everywhere despised and lived in the greatest poverty,
finding that their profession brought them nothing but insult. He also
caused physicians and professors of the liberal arts to be deprived of the
necessaries of life. He cut off from them all the supplies which former
emperors had attached to these professions, and which were paid out of the
State funds. Further, he had no scruple about transferring to the public funds
all the revenues which the inhabitants of the cities had devoted either to
public purposes or for providing entertainments. From that time no attention
was paid to physicians or professors; no one ventured to trouble himself
about the public buildings; there were no public lights in the cities, or any
enjoyments for the inhabitants; the performances in the theatres and
hippodromes and the combats of wild beasts, in which Theodora had been

bred and brought up, were entirely discontinued. He afterwards suppressed
public exhibitions in Byzantium, to save the usual State contribution, to the
ruin of an almost countless multitude who found their means of support in
these entertainments. Their life, both in public and private, became sad and
dejected and utterly joyless, as if some misfortune had fallen upon them
from Heaven. Nothing was spoken of in conversation at home, in the
streets, or in the churches, except misfortune and suffering. Such was the
state of the cities.

I have still something important to mention. Every year two consuls were
appointed—one at Rome, the other at Byzantium. Whoever was advanced
to that dignity was expected to expend more than twenty centenars of gold
upon the public. This sum was to a small extent furnished by the consuls
themselves, while the greater part was due to the liberality of the Emperor.
This money was distributed amongst those whom I have mentioned, above
all to the most necessitous, and principally to those employed upon the
stage, which materially increased the comfort of the citizens. But, since the
accession of Justinian, the elections never took place at the proper time;
sometimes one consul remained in office for several years, and at last
people never even dreamed of a fresh appointment. This reduced all to the
greatest distress; since the Emperor no longer granted the usual assistance
to his subjects, and at the same time deprived them of what they had by
every means in his power.

I think I have given a sufficient account of the manner in which this
destroyer swallowed up the property of the members of the Senate and
deprived them all of their substance, whether publicly or privately. I also
think that I have said enough concerning the fraudulent accusations which
he made use of, in order to get possession of the property of other families
which were reputed to be wealthy. Lastly, I have described the wrongs he
inflicted upon the soldiers and servants of those in authority and the militia

in the palace; upon countrymen, the possessors and proprietors of estates,
and professors of the arts and sciences; upon merchants, shipmasters and
sailors; mechanics, artisans, and retail dealers; those who gained their
livelihood by performing upon the stage; in a word, upon all who were
affected by the misery of these. I must now speak of his treatment of the
poor, the lower classes, the indigent, and the sick and infirm. I will then go
on to speak of his treatment of the priests.

At first, as has been said, he got all the shops into his own hands, and
having established monopolies of all the most necessary articles of life,
exacted from his subjects more than three times their value. But if I were to
enter into the details of all these monopolies, I should never finish my
narrative, for they are innumerable.

He imposed a perpetual and most severe tax upon bread, which the
artisans, the poor, and infirm were compelled to purchase. He demanded
from this commodity a revenue of three centenars of gold every year, and
those poor wretches were obliged to support themselves upon bread full of
dust, for the Emperor did not blush to carry his avarice to this extent.
Seizing upon this as an excuse, the superintendents of the markets, eager to
fill their own pockets, in a short time acquired great wealth, and, in spite of
the cheapness of food, reduced the poor to a state of artificial and
unexpected famine; for they were not allowed to import corn from any
other parts, but were obliged to eat bread purchased in the city.

One of the city aqueducts had broken, and a considerable portion of the
water destined for the use of the inhabitants was lost. Justinian, however,
took no notice of it, being unwilling to incur any expense for repairs,
although a great crowd continually thronged round the fountains, and all the
baths had been shut. Nevertheless, he expended vast sums without any
reason or sense upon buildings on the seashore, and also built everywhere

throughout the suburbs, as if the palaces, in which their predecessors had
always been content to live, were no longer suitable for himself and
Theodora; so that it was not merely parsimony, but a desire for the
destruction of human life, that prevented him from repairing the aqueduct,
for no one, from most ancient times, had ever shown himself more eager
than Justinian to amass wealth, and at the same time to spend it in a most
wasteful and extravagant manner. Thus this Emperor struck at the poorest
and most miserable of his subjects through two most necessary articles of
food—bread and water, by making the one difficult to procure, and the
other too dear for them to buy.

It was not only the poor of Byzantium, however, that he harassed in this
manner, but, as I will presently mention, the inhabitants of several other
cities. When Theodoric had made himself master of Italy, in order to
preserve some trace of the old constitution, he permitted the praetorian
guards to remain in the palace and continued their daily allowance. These
soldiers were very numerous. There were the Silentiarii, the Domestici, and
the Scholares, about whom there was nothing military except the name, and
their salary was hardly sufficient to live upon. Theodoric also ordered that
their children and descendants should have the reversion of this. To the
poor, who lived near the church of Peter the Apostle, he distributed every
year 3,000 bushels of corn out of the public stores. All continued to receive
these donations until the arrival of Alexander Forficula[18] in Italy. He
resolved to deprive them of it immediately; and, when the Emperor was
informed of this, he approved of his conduct, and treated Alexander with
still greater honour. During his journey, Alexander treated the Greeks in the
following manner:—The peasants of the district near the pass of
Thermopylae had long manned the fortress, and, each in turn, mounted
guard over the wall which blocks the pass, whenever there seemed any
likelihood of an invasion of the barbarians. But Alexander, on his arrival,
pretended that it was to the interest of the Peloponnesians not to leave the

protection of the pass to the peasants. He established a garrison of about
2,000 soldiers, who were not paid out of the public funds, but by each of the
cities in Greece. On this pretext, he transferred to the public treasury all the
revenues of these towns which were intended for public purposes or to
cover the expenses of shows and entertainments. He pretended that it was to
be employed for the support of the soldiers, and in consequence, from that
time, no public buildings or other objects of utility were erected or
promoted either in Athens or throughout Greece. Justinian, however,
hastened to give his sanction to all the acts of Forficula.

We must now speak of the poor of Alexandria. Amongst the lawyers of
that city was one Hephaestus, who, having been appointed governor,
suppressed popular disturbances by the terror he inspired, but at the same
time reduced the citizens to the greatest distress. He immediately
established a monopoly of all wares, which he forbade other merchants to
sell. He reserved everything for himself alone, sold everything himself, and
fixed the price by the capricious exercise of his authority. Consequently, the
city was in the greatest distress from want of provisions; the poor no longer
had a sufficient supply of what was formerly sold at a low rate, and
especially felt the difficulty of obtaining bread; for the governor alone
bought up all the corn that came from Egypt, and did not allow anyone else
to purchase even so much as a bushel; and in this manner, he taxed the
loaves and put upon them what price he pleased. By this means he amassed
an enormous fortune, and was likewise careful to satisfy the greed of the
Emperor. So great was the terror inspired by Hephaestus, that the people of
Alexandria endured their ill-treatment in silence; and the Emperor, out of
gratitude for the money which flowed into his exchequer from that quarter,
conceived a great affection for Hephaestus. The latter, in order to secure in
a still greater degree the favour of the Emperor, carried out the following
plan. When Diocletian became Emperor of the Romans, he ordered a yearly
distribution of corn to be made to the necessitous poor of Alexandria; and

the people, settling its distribution amongst themselves, transmitted the
right to their descendants. Hephaestus deprived the necessitous of
2,000,000 bushels yearly, and deposited it in the imperial granaries,
declaring, in his despatch to the Emperor, that this grant of corn had
previously been made in a manner that was neither just nor in conformity
with the interests of the state. The Emperor approved of his conduct and
became more attached to him than ever. The Alexandrians, whose hopes of
existence depended upon this distribution, felt the cruelty bitterly, especially
at the time of their distress.

CHAPTER XXVII

The evil deeds of Justinian were so numerous, that time would fail me if I
were to attempt to relate them all. It will therefore be sufficient, if I select
some of those which will exhibit his whole character to posterity, and which
clearly show his dissimulation, his neglect of God, the priesthood, the laws,
and the people which showed itself devoted to him. He was utterly without
shame; he had no care for the interests or advantage of the state, and did not
trouble himself about excusing his misdeeds, or, in fact, about anything else
but how he might plunder and appropriate the wealth of the whole world.

To begin with, he appointed Paul bishop of Alexandria, at the time when
Rhodon, a Phoenician by birth, was governor of the city. He ordered him to
show the greatest deference to the bishop, and to execute all his
instructions; for by this means he hoped to prevail upon the chief persons of
the city to support the council of Chalcedon. There was also a certain
Arsenius, a native of Palestine, who had made himself most necessary to
the Empress, and, in consequence of her favour and the great wealth he had
amassed, had attained the rank of a senator, although he was a man of most
abandoned character. He belonged to the Samaritan sect, but, in order to
preserve his authority, he assumed the name of Christian. His father and
brother, who lived in Scythopolis, relying upon his authority and following
his advice, bitterly persecuted the Christians in that city. Whereupon the
citizens rose up against them, and put them to death most cruelly, which

afterwards proved the cause of much misery to the inhabitants of Palestine.
On that occasion neither Justinian nor the Empress inflicted any punishment
upon Arsenius, although he was the principal cause of all those troubles.
They contented themselves with forbidding him to appear at court, in order
to satisfy the continued complaints that were preferred against him by the
Christians.

This Arsenius, thinking to gratify the Emperor, set out with Paul to
Alexandria to assist him generally, and, above all, to do his utmost to aid
him in securing the favour of the inhabitants; for, during the time of his
exclusion from the palace, he affirmed that he had made himself thoroughly
acquainted with all the doctrines of Christianity. This displeased Theodora,
who pretended to hold a different opinion to the Emperor in religious
matters, as I have already stated.

When they arrived at Alexandria, Paul delivered over the deacon Psoes to
the governor to be put to death, asserting that he was the only obstacle in
the way of the realisation of the Emperor's desires. The governor, urged on
by despatches from the Emperor, which frequently arrived and were
couched in pressing terms, ordered Psoes to be flogged, and he died under
the torture. When the news of this reached the Emperor, at the earnest
entreaty of Theodora, he expressed great indignation against Paul, Rhodon,
and Arsenius, as if he had forgotten the orders he himself had given them.
He appointed Liberius, a Roman patrician, governor of Alexandria, and sent
some priests of high repute to investigate the matter. Amongst them was
Pelagius, archdeacon of Rome, who was commissioned by Pope Vigilius to
act as his agent. Paul, being convicted of murder, was deprived of his
bishopric; Rhodon, who had fled to Byzantium, was executed by order of
Justinian, and his estate confiscated, although he produced thirteen
despatches, in which the Emperor expressly ordered and insisted that he
should in everything act in accordance with Paul's orders, and never oppose

him, that he might have liberty to act as he pleased in matters of religion.
Arsenius was crucified by Liberius, in accordance with instructions from
Theodora; his estate was confiscated by the Emperor, although he had no
cause of complaint against him except his intimacy with Paul. Whether in
this he acted justly or not, I cannot say; but I will afterwards state the reason
why I have mentioned this affair.

Some time afterwards Paul went to Byzantium, and, by the offer of seven
centenars of gold, endeavoured to persuade the Emperor to reinstate him in
his office, of which he said he had been unjustly deprived. Justinian
received the money affably, treated him with respect, and promised to
reinstate him as soon as possible, although another at present held the
office, as if he did not know that he himself had put to death two of his best
friends and supporters, and confiscated their estates. The Emperor exerted
all his efforts in this direction, and there did not appear to be the least doubt
that Paul would be reinstated. But Vigilius, who at the time was in
Byzantium, resolved not to submit to the Emperor's orders in this matter,
and declared that it was impossible for him to annul by his own decision a
sentence which Pelagius had given in his name. So that, in everything,
Justinian's only object was to get money by any means whatsoever.

The following is a similar case. There was a Samaritan by birth, a native
of Palestine, who, having been compelled by the law to change his religion,
had become a Christian and taken the name of Faustinus. This Faustinus
became a member of the senate and governor of Palestine; and when his
time of office had expired, on his return to Byzantium he was accused by
certain priests of favouring the religion and customs of the Samaritans and
of having been guilty of great cruelties towards the Christians in Palestine.
Justinian appeared to be very angry and expressed his indignation that,
during his reign, anyone should have the audacity to insult the name of
Christian. The members of the senate met to examine into the matter, and,

at the instance of the Emperor, Faustinus was banished. But Justinian,
having received large presents of money from him, immediately annulled
the sentence. Faustinus, restored to his former authority and the confidence
of the Emperor, was appointed steward of the imperial domains in Palestine
and Phoenicia, and was allowed to act in every respect exactly as he
pleased. These few instances are sufficient to show how Justinian protected
the Christian ordinances.

CHAPTER XXVIII

I must now briefly relate how he unhesitatingly abolished the laws when
money was in question. There was in Emesa a man named Priscus, who was
an expert forger and very clever in his art. The church of Emesa, many
years before, had been instituted sole heir to the property of one of the most
distinguished inhabitants named Mammianus, a patrician of noble birth and
of great wealth. During the reign of Justinian, Priscus made a list of all the
families of the town, taking care to notice which were wealthy and able to
disburse large sums. He carefully hunted up the names of their ancestors,
and, having found some old documents in their handwriting, forged a
number of acknowledgments, in which they confessed that they were
largely indebted to Mammianus in sums of money which had been left with
them by him as a deposit. The amount of these forged acknowledgments
was no less than a hundred centenars of gold. He also imitated in a
marvellous manner the handwriting of a public notary, a man of
conspicuous honesty and virtue, who during the lifetime of Mammianus
used to draw up all their documents for the citizens, sealing them with his
own hand, and delivered these forged documents to those who managed the
ecclesiastical affairs of Emesa, on condition that he should receive part of
the money which might be obtained in this manner.

But, since there was a law which limited all legal processes to a period of
thirty years, except in cases of mortgage and certain others, in which the

prescription extended to forty years, they resolved to go to Byzantium and,
offering a large sum of money to the Emperor, to beg him to assist them in
their project of ruining their fellow-citizens.

The Emperor accepted the money, and immediately published a decree
which ordained that affairs relating to the Church should not be restricted to
the ordinary prescription, but that anything might be recovered, if claimed
within a hundred years: which regulation was to be observed not only in
Emesa, but throughout the whole of the Roman Empire. In order to see that
the new rule was put into execution, he sent Longinus to Emesa, a man of
great vigour and bodily strength, who was afterwards made praefect of
Byzantium. Those who had the management of the affairs of the church of
Emesa, acting upon the forged documents, sued some of the citizens for two
centenars of gold, which they were condemned to pay, being unable to raise
any objection, by reason of the length of time elapsed and their ignorance of
the facts. All the inhabitants, and especially the principal citizens, were in
great distress and highly incensed against their accusers. When ruin already
threatened the majority of the citizens, Providence came to their assistance
in a most unexpected manner. Longinus ordered Priscus, the contriver of
this detestable invention, to bring him all the acknowledgments; and, when
he showed himself unwilling to do so, he dealt him a violent blow in the
face. Priscus, unable to resist the blow dealt by a man of such bodily
strength, fell backwards upon the ground, trembling and affrighted.
Believing that Longinus had discovered the whole affair, he confessed; and,
the whole trick being thus brought to light, the suits were stopped.

Justinian, not content with subverting the laws of the Roman Empire
every day, exerted himself in like manner to do away with those of the
Jews; for, if Easter came sooner in their calendar than in that of the
Christians, he did not allow them to celebrate the Passover on their own
proper day or to make their offerings to God, or to perform any of their

usual solemnities. The magistrates even inflicted heavy fines upon several
of them, upon information that they had eaten the paschal lamb during that
time, as if it were an infraction of the laws of the state. Although I could
mention countless acts of this nature committed by Justinian, I will not do
so, for I must draw my narrative to a close. What I have said will be
sufficient to indicate the character of the man.

CHAPTER XXIX

I will, however, mention two instances of his falsehood and hypocrisy.

After having deprived Liberius (of whom I have spoken above) of his
office, he put in his place John, an Egyptian by birth, surnamed Laxarion.
When Pelagius, who was a particular friend of Liberius, heard of this, he
inquired of Justinian whether what he had heard was true. The Emperor
immediately denied it, and protested that he had done nothing of the kind.
He then gave Pelagius a letter in which Liberius was ordered to hold fast to
his government and by no means to give it up, and added that he had no
present intention of removing Liberius. At that time there resided in
Byzantium an uncle of John named Eudaemon, a man of consular rank and
great wealth, who had the management of the imperial estates. Having been
informed of what had taken place, he also inquired of the Emperor whether
his nephew was assured in his government. Justinian, saying nothing about
his letter to Liberius, sent John positive orders to hold fast to his
government, since his views were still the same concerning it. Trusting to
this, John ordered Liberius to quit the governor's palace, as having been
deprived of his office. Liberius refused, placing equal reliance in the
Emperor's despatch. John, having armed his followers, marched against
Liberius, who defended himself with his guards. An engagement took place,
in which several were slain, and amongst them John, the new governor.

At the earnest entreaty of Eudaemon, Liberius was immediately
summoned to Byzantium. The matter was investigated before the senate,
and Liberius was acquitted, as being only guilty of justifiable homicide in
self-defence. Justinian, however, did not let him escape, until he had forced
him to give him a considerable sum of money privately. Such was the great
respect Justinian showed for the truth, and such was the faithfulness with
which he kept his promises. I will here permit myself a brief digression,
which may not be irrelevant. This Eudaemon died shortly afterwards,
leaving behind him a large number of relatives, but no will, either written or
verbal. About the same time, the chief eunuch of the court, named
Euphratas, also died intestate; he left behind him a nephew, who would
naturally have succeeded to his property, which was considerable. The
Emperor took possession of both fortunes, appointing himself sole heir, not
even leaving so much as a three-obol piece to the legal inheritors. Such was
the respect Justinian showed for the laws and the kinsmen of his intimate
friends. In the same manner, without having the least claim to it, he seized
the fortune of Irenaeus, who had died some time before.

Another event which took place about this time I cannot omit. There
lived at Ascalon a man named Anatolius, the most distinguished member of
the senate. His daughter, his only child and heiress, was married to a citizen
of Caesarea, named Mamilianus, a man of distinguished family. There was
an ancient statute which provided that, whenever a senator died without
male issue, the fourth part of his estate should go to the senate of the town,
and the rest to the heirs-at-law. On this occasion Justinian gave a striking
proof of his character. He had recently made a law which reversed this,—
that, when a senator died without male issue, the fourth part only should go
to the heirs, the three other parts being divided between the senate and the
public treasury, although it had never happened before that the estate of any
senator had been shared between the public treasury and the Emperor.

Anatolius died while this law was in force. His daughter was preparing to
divide her inheritance with the public treasury and the senate of the town in
accordance with the law, when she received letters from the senate of
Ascalon and from the Emperor himself, in which they resigned all claim to
the money, as if they had received their due. Afterwards Mamilianus (the
son-in-law of Anatolius) died, leaving one daughter, the legal heiress to his
estate. The daughter soon afterwards died, during her mother's lifetime,
after having been married to a person of distinction, by whom, however, she
had no issue, either male or female. Justinian then immediately seized the
whole estate, giving utterance to the strange opinion, that it would be a
monstrous thing that the daughter of Anatolius, in her old age, should be
enriched by the property of both her husband and father. However, to keep
her from want, he ordered that she should receive a stater of gold a day, as
long as she lived; and, in the decree whereby he deprived her of all her
property, he declared that he bestowed this stater upon her for the sake of
religion, seeing that he was always in the habit of acting with piety and
virtue.

I will now show that he cared nothing even for the Blue faction, which
showed itself devoted to him, when it was a question of money. There was
amongst the Cilicians a certain Malthanes, the son-in-law of that Leo who
had held the office of "Referendary," whom Justinian commissioned to put
down seditious movements in the country. On this pretext, Malthanes
treated most of the inhabitants with great cruelty. He robbed them of their
wealth, sent part to the Emperor, and claimed the rest for himself. Some
endured their grievances in silence; but the inhabitants of Tarsus who
belonged to the Blue faction, confident of the protection of the Empress,
assembled in the market-place and abused Malthanes, who at the time was
not present. When he heard of it, he immediately set out with a body of
soldiers, reached Tarsus by night, sent his soldiers into the houses at
daybreak, and ordered them to put the inhabitants to death. The Blues,

imagining that it was an attack from a foreign foe, defended themselves as
best they could. During the dark, amongst other misfortunes, Damianus, a
member of the senate and president of the Blues in Tarsus, was slain by an
arrow.

When the news reached Byzantium, the Blues assembled in the streets
with loud murmurs of indignation, and bitterly complained to the Emperor
of the affair, uttering the most violent threats against Leo and Malthanes.
The Emperor pretended to be as enraged as they were, and immediately
ordered an inquiry to be made into the conduct of the latter. But Leo, by the
present of a considerable sum of money, appeased him, so that the process
was stopped, and the Emperor ceased to show favour to the Blues. Although
the affair remained uninvestigated, the Emperor received Malthanes, who
came to Byzantium to pay his respects, with great kindness and treated him
with honour. But, as he was leaving the Emperor's presence, the Blues, who
had been on the watch, attacked him in the palace, and would certainly have
slain him, had not some of their own party, bribed by Leo, prevented them.
Who would not consider that state to be in a most pitiable condition, in
which the sovereign allows himself to be bribed to leave charges
uninvestigated, and in which malcontents venture without hesitation to
attack one of the magistrates within the precincts of the palace, and to lay
violent hands upon him? However, no punishment was inflicted either upon
Malthanes or his assailants, which is a sufficient proof of the character of
Justinian.

CHAPTER XXX

His regulations as to the public "posts" and "spies" will show how much he
cared for the interests of the state. The earlier Emperors, in order to gain the
most speedy information concerning the movements of the enemy in each
territory, seditions or unforeseen accidents in individual towns, and the
actions of the governors and other officials in all parts of the Empire, and
also in order that those who conveyed the yearly tribute might do so without
danger or delay, had established a rapid service of public couriers according
to the following system:—As a day's journey for an active man, they settled
eight stages, sometimes fewer, but never less than five. There were forty
horses in each stage and a number of grooms in proportion. The couriers
who were intrusted with this duty, by making use of relays of excellent
horses, frequently covered as much ground in one day by this means as they
would otherwise have covered in ten, when carrying out the above
commissions. In addition, the landed proprietors in each country, especially
those whose estates were in the interior, reaped great benefit from these
posts; for, by selling their surplus corn and fruit every year to the state for
the support of the horses and grooms, they gained considerable revenue. By
this means the state received, without interruption, the tribute due from
each, and, in turn, reimbursed those who furnished it, and thus everything
was to the advantage of the state. Such was the old system. But Justinian,
having commenced by suppressing the post between Chalcedon and
Dakibiza, compelled the couriers to carry all despatches from Byzantium to

Helenopolis by sea. They unwillingly obeyed; for, being obliged to embark
upon small skiffs, such as were generally used for crossing the strait, they
ran great risk of being shipwrecked, if they met with stormy weather. For,
since great speed was enjoined upon them, they were unable to wait for a
favourable opportunity for putting out to sea, when the weather was calm. It
is true that he maintained the primitive system on the road to Persia, but for
the rest of the East, as far as Egypt, he reduced the number of posts to one,
for a day's journey, and substituted a few asses for the horses, so that the
report of what was taking place in each district only reached Byzantium
with difficulty and long after the events had occurred, when it was too late
to apply any remedy; and, on the other hand, the owners of estates found no
benefit from their products, which were either spoilt or lay idle.

The spies were organized in the following manner:—A number of men
used to be supported at the state's expense, whose business it was to visit
hostile countries, especially the court of Persia, on pretence of business or
some other excuse, and to observe accurately what was going on; and by
this means, on their return, they were able to report to the Emperors all the
secret plans of their enemies, and the former, being warned in advance, took
precautions and were never surprised. This system had long been in vogue
amongst the Medes. Chosroes, by giving larger salaries to his spies, none of
whom were born Romans, reaped great benefit from this precaution.
Justinian, having discontinued this practice, lost considerable territory,
especially the country of the Lazes, which was taken by the enemy, since
the Romans had no information where the King and his army were. The
state also formerly kept a large number of camels, which carried the
baggage on the occasion of an expedition into an hostile country. By this
means the peasants were relieved from the necessity of carrying burdens,
and the soldiers were well supplied with necessaries. Justinian, however,
did away with nearly all the camels, so that, when the army is marching
against an enemy, everything is in an unsatisfactory condition. Such was the

care he took of the most important state institutions. It will not be out of
place to mention one of his ridiculous acts. There was at Caesarea a lawyer
named Evangelius, a person of distinction, who, by the favour of fortune,
had amassed great riches and considerable landed estates. He afterwards
purchased, for three centenars of gold, a village on the coast named
Porphyreon. When Justinian heard of this, he immediately took it from him,
only returning him a small portion of the price he had paid for it, at the
same time declaring that it was unseemly that such a village should belong
to Evangelius the lawyer. But enough of this. It remains to speak of certain
innovations introduced by Justinian and Theodora. Formerly, when the
senate had audience of the Emperor, it paid him homage in the following
manner:—Every patrician kissed him on the right breast, and the Emperor,
having kissed him on the head, dismissed him; all the rest bent the right
knee before the Emperor and retired. As for the Empress, it was not
customary to do homage to her. But those who were admitted to the
presence of this royal pair, even those of patrician rank, were obliged to
prostrate themselves upon their face, with hands and feet stretched out; and,
after having kissed both his feet, they rose up and withdrew. Nor did
Theodora refuse this honour. She received the ambassadors of the Persians
and other barbarian nations and (a thing which had never been done before)
bestowed magnificent presents upon them, as if she had been absolute
mistress of the Empire. Formerly, those who associated with the Emperor
called him Imperator and the Empress Imperatrix, and the other officials
according to their rank. But if anyone addressed either Justinian or
Theodora without the addition of the title Sovereign Lord or Sovereign
Lady, or without calling himself their slave, he was looked upon as ignorant
and insolent in his language, and, as if he had committed a very grave
offence and insulted those whom it least became him, he was dismissed.
Formerly, only a few were granted admission to the palace, and that with
difficulty; but, from the time of the accession of Justinian and Theodora, the

magistrates and all other persons were continually in the palace. The reason
was, that formerly the magistrates freely administered justice and laws
independently, and executed the customary sentences at their own
residences, and the subjects, seeing and hearing that no injustice would be
done to them, had little reason to trouble the Emperor. But this pair, taking
control of all business to themselves in order that they might ruin their
subjects, forced them to humiliate themselves before them in a most servile
manner. Thus the courts of justice were empty nearly every day, and hardly
a person was to be seen in them, while in the palace there were crowds of
men pushing and abusing one another, all endeavouring to be foremost in
showing their servility. Those who were on the most intimate terms with the
Imperial pair remained the whole day and a great part of the night, without
food or sleep, until they were worn out, and this apparent good fortune was
their only reward. Others, who were free from all these cares and anxieties,
were puzzled to think what had become of the wealth and treasures of the
Empire. Some declared that it had all fallen into the hands of the barbarians,
while others asserted that the Emperor kept it locked up in secret hiding-
places of his own. When Justinian—whether he be man or devil—shall
have departed this life, those who are then living will be able to learn the
truth.

NOTES

[1: By Mr. Hodgkin, "Italy and her Invaders," vol. iii., p. 638.]

[2: The best modern authorities are agreed that he was really the author.]

[3: Or, rather, three, the fourth being only a kind of supplement.]

[4: As internal evidence in favour of the identity of the author of the
"Secret History," and the "Wars" and "Buildings," the few following points,

amongst many, may be noticed. The reference in the preface to the "History
of the Wars," that the author was born at Caesarea, is more closely defined
by the statement in the "Secret History" that he was from Caesarea in
Palestine; in both works an account of the relations of Justinian to the
Church is promised, but the promise is not fulfilled. The "Secret History"
refers to the extravagant "building" mania of the Emperor. In all three
works we meet with a constant recurrence of the same ideas, the same
outspoken language, greatly embittered in the "Secret History," the same
fanatical pragmatism, the same association of luck, destiny, and divinity, of
guilt and expiation, the same superstition in the forms of demonology,
belief in dreams and miracles, and lastly the same commonplaces,
expressions, and isolated words.]

[5: "Decline and Fall," chap. xl.]

[6: The Ædificia, or "Buildings," of Justinian.]

[7: The article on Procopius in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" (9th
edition) by Professor Bryce should also be consulted.]

[8: Spearmen, lancers.]

[9: Shield-bearers.]

[10: Or "Count," Master of the royal stables.]

[11: Pumpkin.]

[12: Private secretaries.]

[13: Syn[=o]n[=e].]

[14: Epibol[=e].]

[15: Diagraph[=e].]

[16: Here the text is corrupt.]

[17: Chancellors, or, Commissioners.]

[18: Shears, scissors.]

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