THE INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE EMPIRE: INSURRECTION
OF THE CIRCUS FACTIONS IN THE CAPITAL
The keystone of Justinian's administration was his lavish expenditure of
money. Every enterprise that could engage the attention of a monarch
incited him to emulation, and in arms, legislation, civil reform, public
works, and religion, he aspired to equal the achievements of the
greatest princes. Hence the persistent need for a well-filled treasury,
and the constant injunction to the Rectors in the provinces. "Above all
things apply yourselves to gathering in the imposts"; whilst the subject
is urged by the frequent reminder, "Pay up your taxes promptly, our
great undertakings cannot be accomplished without money."[185]
For centuries, as we have already seen,[186] a latent anarchy had
prevailed throughout the Empire, but the evils of such a condition had
always been less apparent under a quiescent administration. Moderation
in the bureaucracy in the capital gave a measure to the proceedings of
its deputies in the provinces, and doubtless had a restraining
influence, at least that of example, over the rural aristocracy who
almost arrogated to themselves a local sovereignity. The considerate,
though firm rule of Anastasius, appears to have reduced to a minimum the
most flagrant abuses, whilst his studied parsimony, which led to the
accumulation of large reserves,[187] must have lessened the severity of
fiscal oppression. The latter advantage was extended into the reign of
Justin, and, while Justinian was dissipating the great funds left by his
uncle's predecessor,[188] his reputation for benignancy was not
imperilled by rapacity in collecting the tributes. Soon after his
accession, however, to undivided power, he found himself without other
resource than the property of his subjects for the supply of his
financial requirements. Then the maintenance of the exchequer assumed
the highest importance in his eyes, and every conceivable device for
swelling the revenue was resorted to, while little or no regard was paid
to the equity of the means employed.[189] As an inevitable result all
the worst features of the Byzantine political system underwent an
exacerbation during the first few years of Justinian's reign. The
species of effectivity demanded by the Emperor induced the rise of the
most unscrupulous persons to high office; a statesman became the
equivalent of an extortioner, and the native venality of the governing
class showed exuberant throughout all its grades. Assured of the
Emperor's favour as long as he could be noted for his zeal in directing
the flow of gold towards the treasury, every servant of the state
grasped at private affluence by means of illicit exactions, or an overt
accessibility to bribes.[190]
As a consequence of his unexpected advent to power, Justinian was
scarcely affected by the prejudices peculiar to monarchs born in the
purple; and hence, disregarding conventionalism, he usually chose the
most direct and practical methods for carrying out his designs. He
was willing on occasion to usurp the functions of any of his
subordinates,[191] and, in the selection of his instruments, he promoted
the most likely candidates to the highest posts without reference to
their rank, seniority, or antecedents. Among his earliest coadjutors in
the capital were two remarkable men, Tribonian, a lawyer, and John of
Cappadocia, a financier, whose activities became the leading feature in
the politics of the age. The former was a native of Pamphylia,[192] and
began his career as an advocate in the praefectural courts of
Constantinople.[193] As Master of the Agentes-in-rebus[194] he attracted
the notice of the Emperor, who soon claimed him as his personal
assessor, and raised him to the quaestorship.[195] Tribonian was a man
of great learning in the law and an assiduous reader, whence he was led
to form a library of legal books such as existed in no other custody at
the time.[196] He was gifted with a remarkable suavity of manner, and
was so artful a flatterer[197] that, although he had not become a
convert to Christianity, and was even said to be an atheist,[198]
Justinian deferred to him as his favourite minister. Tribonian, however,
was beset by the vice of avarice, and, though his forensic erudition was
invaluable to the Imperial council in relation to the subject, he
resorted to it for no other purpose than to make a traffic of justice.
His legal decisions were always at auction, and, under ordinary
circumstances, his interpretation of the law was fitted ingeniously to
meet the requirements of the highest bidder.[199]
The approach to the Imperial tribunal had to be sown with gold before a
suitor could advance within sight of an adjudication on his appeal. To
pass the sentries who were on guard at the portals necessitated the
disbursement of a tangible sum.[200] Then the attention of the
referendary, or attorney who put the case into shape prior to its being
submitted to the court, could not be captured until he had been largely
bribed.[201] Lastly, the Quaestor had to be satisfied pecuniarily in a
ratio adequate to his assessment of the value to the claimant of a
favourable decision. Justinian was initiated early in the artifices by
which legal chicanery could be made to subserve to undue gains, and
became a prime sharer in the profits to be drawn from this mercenary
jactitation of the law.[202] Hence the venality of the Emperor's Court
of Appeal soon incurred obloquy in the capital, and a resentment was
kindled among the citizens against his administration.
Yet the ills inflicted on the community by distorted judgements were
slight and partial in comparison with the financial tyranny of John of
Cappadocia after he had attained to the rank of Praetorian Praefect.
Devoid of literary education, and even inefficient with the pen,[203]
this man began his career in an unimportant clerical post under the
government.[204] While serving in this capacity he came in contact with
Justinian, whose favour he courted with an astuteness popularly supposed
to be the distinguishing mark of natives of his province.[205] Having a
singular aptitude for figures, and being extremely ready with expedients
for solving any knotty question,[206] he won over the Emperor by laying
before him many subtle schemes for amplifying the incidence of the taxes
and proportionately swelling the revenue.[207] These allurements assured
him a speedy promotion to the position of logothete, from which he
ascended with little delay to the dignity of an Illustrious, and soon
made an easy conquest of the praetorian prefecture of the East.[208]
Once in the supreme seat of deputed power he had to justify his
elevation to the Emperor by the signal success of his methods; but he
was no less intent on making his potent office inordinately profitable
to himself.[209] Every fiscal enactment which had ever passed into law
was unearthed from the archives of the Empire, and applied factitiously
to compass the transference of the money of the subject to the coffers
of the state.[210] The discovery of a name sufficed for the creation of
a claim, and demands were issued for an endless succession of duties,
tolls, tallages, censuals, cess, and customs, together with arrearages
and apportionments of unpaid imposts, which foreshadowed the reduction
of every possessor of property to a common level of indigence.[211] All
persons of means were noted by the agents of the fisc, and called on to
pay according to the impression formed as to their resources. No excuses
were accepted, protestations of inability were disbelieved, and, in
order to meet the case of recalcitrant subjects, a torture chamber was
fitted up in a secluded spot of the Praetorium. Here was collected an
assortment of chains, manicles, pedicles, instruments of compression for
the hands and feet, in short, every kind of apparatus which was suitable
for subjecting the members to a state of painful strain or constraint.
To this den defaulters were hurried, and by means of rackings and
suspensions were forced to surrender whatever they possessed unless
actually killed by the severity of the torture.[212] Such was John's
method of procedure at his own headquarters, but for the provinces he
picked out emissaries of approved brutality, and despatched them into
all districts with injunctions to follow his example.[213] Under this
régime the Court of Appeal of the Praetorian Prefect was, of course, as
venal as that of the Emperor and Tribonian; and the formalities of a
trial were almost dispensed with, so that a hasty dispatch of the cases
might facilitate the gathering in of the bribes.[214]
The infamy of the Cappadocian, as an officer of state, was almost
surpassed by his mode of life as a private citizen. He rapidly
accumulated wealth, and at once applied himself to spend it in
gastronomical and libidinous excesses of the most unbridled
description.[215] His first care was to erect a palace of such vastness
and magnificence that, in the hyperbolical language of an official of
the period, it could only be characterized by the epithets which writers
on the wonders of Egypt had applied to the architectural piles reared by
Sesostris and the Pharaohs.[216] In the halls of this resplendent
edifice he passed his time in a continuous round of feasting and
sensuality, only terminating his orgies with the rise of Lucifer, whilst
his attention to business was deferred until the appearance of
Hesperus.[217] Surrounded by a throng of courtesans and debauched
youths, he gorged himself with the most costly delicacies until his
overloaded stomach ejected its contents over the marble pavements or the
persons of those who sat next to him.[218] To glut his appetite the
woods of the Euxine were depopulated of their pheasants, whilst the sea
was raided for luscious fish to such an extent that, according to the
conceit of the same author, the molluscs, expanding their shells to
serve as wings, fled through the air instead of through the water, to
escape the voracious Cappadocian.[219] As for his religion he made no
account of Christianity, but pinned his faith to sorceries and
incantations. If ever he appeared at church he did so in the habiliments
of a pagan priest, and ministered to himself with the mummeries of some
occult cabbalism instead of following the established ritual.[220]
The appointment of John to the office of Praefect of the East took place
early in 530, and before the end of the following year his system
resulted in producing a state of misery and destitution throughout the
Empire unparalleled in any former age. The visitations of his agents
became more dreaded among the rural population than an incursion of
barbarians.[221] Everywhere the adaeratio of the annones[222] was
carried to excess; and, while money was demanded instead of the
contributions in kind as usually accepted, the agricultural produce was
often left to perish on the ground.[223] Injudicious measures of
retrenchment were the principal cause of this evil. By a false economy
the public posts and the military train were in great part suppressed,
with disastrous results. A limited supply of asses was substituted for
the considerable number of horses, camels, and mules formerly
maintained.[224] Hence, while the department of public intelligence and
the commissariat of the army were seriously affected, the farmer also
suffered from the greatly lessened demand for fodder. With the crops
left unexpectedly on their hands, and the means of carriage almost
abolished, the wretched rustics were driven to despair in their efforts
to dispose of their stock. Thus the roads were constantly filled with
straggling bands of women, heavily laden, and often with infants at the
breast, obliged to cover a long route in order to effect a shipment at
the sea-ports; whilst the wayside was littered with the unburied corpses
of those who succumbed under the excessive toil.[225]
Such were the hardships the Byzantine population had to suffer as a
consequence of the obligations imposed on them directly by the Imperial
government, but these were largely aggravated by their being forced to
minister to the private needs and even lustful passions of all those in
power throughout the Empire. Every impost was augmented by an overplus
which went into the pocket of the agent who exacted it or through whose
hands it passed. The Rector of the province, generally an impecunious
aspirant to place and fortune, had paid a large sum to the bureaucracy,
and borrowed it at usury, for the bestowal of his codicil.[226] He
proceeded, therefore, to his local seat of power accompanied by a body
of creditors to whom he had guaranteed the liquidation of their claims
out of the revenue of his vicegerency;[227] and he had, moreover, to
make a provision from the artificially swollen taxes against the time
when he hoped to retire from office into a position of leisured
affluence.[228] When an army passed through a district, not only were
the soldiers quartered on the inhabitants, who for the time being were
expelled from their proper dwellings, but contributions for the support
of the troops were levied under every sort of false pretence, even by
persons who had no authority whatever to collect funds for the
commissariat.[229] To all this was added the constant oppression by the
local magnates of their weaker neighbours, whose lands they seized,
advertising by notices fixed to the ground that they assumed them as
their own property.[230] At the same time the owners were claimed as
serfs, bound for the future in service to an overlord.[231] In the main
these proceedings were quite arbitrary, and differed in no way from
professed brigandage, but as a rule they were conducted under the shadow
of legality by giving them the form of distraints or evictions in
respect of money lent.[232] Attended by a numerous body of armed
retainers the wealthy landowners made a descent on the coveted
homestead, plundered the household, drove off the cattle, and abducted
wives and daughters for the purpose of concubinage.[233] But not in all
cases without resistance being offered; where such attacks were
anticipated, the small farmers prepared for them, and with the aid of
the local peasantry joined battle with the raiders. Thus the provinces
were almost constantly the scene of a miniature warfare.[234] In the
midst of these disorders the Rector held the balance of justice and
inclined the scale towards whoever weighted it with the heaviest bribe.
Often, in fact, he was himself one of the worst offenders; and in his
capacity as collector of the revenue, or under the pretence of giving
police protection, he plundered and committed outrages in every
direction throughout the country.[235] And in such license he was
usually afforded countenance and example by the logothetes and other
officers, who were superior to him in authority, during their special
visitations as agents of the fisc.[236] These harpies resorted to every
imaginable device for embezzling money, and especially by presenting
long bills to the decurions for public works which were never
executed.[237] They also invented legal pretexts to commit outrages on
the families of the debtors, and wives, virgins, and youths were
regularly debauched by them.[238] In some localities even the collection
of the tributes was regularly opposed and attended with bloodshed.[239]
As for convicted criminals, even they could feel no assurance of having
to suffer only the statutory punishments, but according to the temper of
the judge they had to undergo a penalty, and hands and feet were lopped
off continually, with little or no regard to law or humanity.[240]
All the evils and abuses of the Byzantine system were magnified and
multiplied by the ruthless policy of John, and at Constantinople the
widespread discontent began to show signs of tending to a crisis. Every
class was more or less affected, and the numberless sufferers were
increasingly associated in the capital. Advocates went without
employment, since it was considered useless to protract trials by
pleadings or the examination of witnesses.[241] The shipping interest
was ruined by the imposition of onerous port dues and the establishment
of custom-houses at the approaches to the city, both in the Hellespont
and the Bosphorus.[242] As a result numbers of those engaged in maritime
commerce burnt their vessels, and a shortage of foodstuffs distressed
the inhabitants.[243] At all times the briskness of trade was sapped for
the mercantile class by the privileges granted to the religious orders
and their abuse of the concessions. Not only were there eleven hundred
shops free of excise belonging to St. Sophia,[244] but all other
churches, as well as monasteries, hospitals, poorhouses, and orphan
homes, claimed a like immunity. Nor did the list end even here, for the
three grades of nobles arrogated to themselves an equal right to trade
with remitted taxes.[245]
The Blue Faction were favoured by Justinian and his consort, who
accorded them such indulgence that they considered themselves to be
above the law. Their affiliation to the throne caused them to enjoy
great credit among the ordinary citizens, wherefore they decided to
distinguish themselves objectively by adopting a peculiar uniform. Thus
they discarded the use of the razor and wore full Persian beards,
allowed their back hair to grow long, in imitation of the Huns, and
donned richly embroidered tunics furnished with sleeves which bellied
out in an extraordinary fashion from the wrist up to the shoulder.
Secure of impunity for any excesses they might commit, the more vicious
members carried weapons day and night, ostensibly for the purpose merely
of chastising their sworn enemies, the Green Faction, but in reality
with the intention of robbing and murdering peaceful inhabitants. Under
the pretence of carrying on their historical feud, they assassinated in
the streets, despoiled private houses of their valuables, and even
outraged wives and daughters. Similar enormities on the part of the
Greens were severely dealt with by the magistrates, but they were
terrorized by the dominant Faction into ignoring their misdeeds. Those
who defied the malefactors by acting impartially paid for their
integrity with their lives. The better spirits of the Blue Deme bewailed
the lawlessness of their fellows, and the Emperor made fitful efforts to
repress the disorders, but Theodora resisted any attempt to restrict the
licence of her favourite clan.[246] Numbers of the Greens were driven
from their homes by the ceaseless persecution, and, finding themselves
everywhere in discredit, avenged their wrongs on society in general by
taking to the road and practising brigandage by the most merciless
methods.[247] In a lesser degree every city of the Empire presented a
scene of confusion similar to that which reigned at Constantinople.[248]
Into a capital thus agitated by numberless grievances of its own, a
varied crowd of fugitives from the provinces began to pour, in the
autumn of 531. Their proper abodes had been made uninhabitable for them,
and they fled in terror from the local tyrants to seek redress at the
hands of the autocrator. Peasant farmers with their wives, priests,
monks, and nuns, often accompanied by their lawyers, thronged the city
as they pressed onwards to lay their appeals at the foot of the
throne.[249] They clamoured incessantly in all the public places, so
that to meet the emergency it became necessary to revive a number of
forgotten magistracies, praetors and quaesitors,[250] who might hear
complaints and appease the rising tumult. On all sides the populace
reviled the bureaucracy who had brought about such an impass, and, as
the old year went out, a general feeling prevailed that the existing
order of things must come to an end.[251]
With the opening of January, 532, the season of the Consular Festivals
was at hand, but both in this year and the previous one ardour for
parade had been deadened by political distraction, and the appointment
of a consul was passed over. Preparations were made, however, for a
display in the Circus, and it was hoped that something of the deepening
gloom might be lifted by the diversion thus afforded. But the result
disappointed expectation, and the assembly of the people in the vast
area provided an opportunity for the actively smouldering discontent to
work its way to the surface and to burst into flame. The possibility of
the throne becoming vacant had been brooding in the minds of the
Factions, and, as usual, when confronted with that contingency, there
was a tendency to a temporary accord between the Blues and Greens.[252]
On a Sunday, the eleventh day of the month, Justinian, with the
customary pomp, took his seat in the Cathisma.[253] A protest against
the administration had been previously concerted, and the Greens, as
being frankly discountenanced by the Emperor, were most forward to
evince their hostility. At first a respectful tone was adopted, and the
Autocrator was acclaimed with the usual formulas, "Many years to
Justinian Augustus! May you be victorious!" The Greens then raised a cry
that the people were oppressed, and prayed to be delivered from their
sufferings. A heated dialogue between the throne and the demagogy then
ensued, which ended in bitter recriminations passing from side to side.
On such occasions the Emperor made use of an officer called a _Mandator_
as his mouthpiece, whilst the Demarch acted as spokesman for the Faction
concerned. At the outset one Calopodius was named as the object of
complaint, doubtless the executive officer of the Praefect of the City,
whose brutality in preserving order had awakened the resentment of the
masses: _D._ "I am oppressed; I can bear it no longer, God knows." _M._
"Who is in fault? we know of no one." _D._ "Thrice August, I fear to
name him." _M._ "Of whom do you complain? We have no idea of the person
meant." _D._ "Master of us all, it is Calopodius the centurion." _M._
"Calopodius is not in authority." _D._ "May the lot of Judas be his! God
will pay him out." _M._ "You have come here to insult the magistrates,
not to look on at the games." _D._ "I say, may he suffer like Judas!"
_M._ "Hold your tongue, Jews, Manichaeans, Samaritans!" _D._ "Oh, you
call us Jews and Samaritans! Holy Virgin, be with us!" _M._ "I do, and
bid you all to get baptized in the name of the One."[254] _D._ "Oh,
bring the water; let us be baptized as you say." _M._ "I will have your
heads cut off." _D._ "Oh, we must not speak the truth for fear of losing
our heads. Take no offence, Emperor, I have some right to liberty." _M._
"Rascals, will you risk your lives?" _D._ "Would that Sabbatius had
never been born! Then a son of his would not have been a murderer. Who
killed the wood-seller at the Zeugma?" _M._ "You killed him." _D._ "Who
killed the son of Epagathus?" _M._ "You killed him also, and you say the
Blues did it." So far the Blues had maintained a sullen silence, but at
this suggestion some of them were roused to taunt the Greens. Presently
the latter all trooped out of the Circus, exclaiming, "Goodbye to
justice! We will turn Jews; better to be a Pagan than a Blue." Thus
Justinian and the Blues were left alone at the performance.[255]
In the evening of the same day Justinian determined on an effort to
quell the sedition by making an example of those who had been most
insolent to him in the Hippodrome. Seven persons, drawn from both
factions, were seized by Eudaemon, the Praefect of the city, and led off
to execution. Four were decapitated and the remaining three were hung;
but in the case of two of the latter the rope broke, and the culprits
fell to the ground. At the sight of this moving accident the bystanders
were greatly agitated, and an outcry for pardon arose, whereupon some
monks interposed and carried off the men by boat to the monastery of St.
Laurence. One of those rescued was a Blue, the other a Green; and the
circumstance caused the union between the factions to be more firmly
cemented. On hearing of the rescue, Eudaemon placed a guard of soldiers
outside the sanctuary, but did not dare to violate it.[256] On the
following Tuesday the spectacle was resumed in the Circus, and, during
the whole time of the exhibition both factions clamoured conjointly to
the Emperor for the release of the prisoners, intermingling cries of
"Long years to the wretched Blues and Greens," with their prayers. But
Justinian remained sternly irresponsive, and the assembly had to
disperse without receiving any indication of Imperial sympathy.[257] The
popular rancour now rose to fever-heat, and the leaders of the Demes
counselled extreme measures. In order that all who were on the side of
the insurgents might have a means of recognizing each other, the device
of a countersign was adopted, and the word _Nika_, that is, "victory,"
was chosen for the purpose, whence the movement was known ever
afterwards as the "Nika revolt."[258] First a rush was made to the
Praetorium of the City Praefect to demand the removal of the guard from
the monastery, but no answer could be obtained. At this moment a slight
concession might have appeased the rage of the multitude, so that the
ferment would have been modified for the time. Obduracy, however,
inflamed their passions beyond measure, the Praetorium was set on fire,
and an irruption was then made towards the Augusteum with the object of
assailing Justinian himself. A number of soldiers encountered on the way
were butchered by the mob,[259] firebrands were hurled into the Chalke,
and soon the external chambers of the palace were all in flames. The
conflagration spread rapidly, the principal buildings in the square
became quickly involved, and during the evening the Baths of Zeuxippus,
the Senate House, and the great church of St. Sophia were reduced to a
heap of smoking ruins.[260]
On the following day the rioters came out early in greatly increased
numbers, and all those who had previously been disaffected to the
government now ranged themselves openly against it. At the same time
people of every class who wished to stand aloof during the rebellion
fled from the city and hid themselves in places of safety on the
opposite continent.[261] The Demarchs convened a meeting in the Forum of
Constantine,[262] where they were joined by a considerable body of
nobles and senators. The ministers were denounced, the deposition of
Justinian was agreed upon, and it was resolved that Probus, one of the
nephews of Anastasius, should be proclaimed as Emperor. With the
multitude surging after them the leaders then proceeded to the house of
that general, which was situated near the harbour of Julian. His
presence and acceptance of the dignity was demanded, whilst, as he was
known to possess a private arsenal, cries arose from the throng that
they should be supplied with arms. Probus, however, was found to have
disappeared, and, on ascertaining the fact, the mob set fire to the
premises and retired.[263] Simultaneously heralds were announcing, on
the part of Justinian, that the games in the Hippodrome were to be
continued; but the populace responded by injecting fire into the arena,
and refused to enter, exclaiming that he merely wished to catch them in
a trap.[264] The leaders were now at a loss what step to take, for
Hypatius and Pompeius, the two other nephews of Anastasius, were not
only believed to be loyal to the Emperor, but were actually on duty as
members of his staff within the palace. The general concourse, however,
did not hesitate as to how to act, but yielded to their lust for
revenge, and rushed off shouting, "Down with Tribonian, John of
Cappadocia, and Eudaemon," determined to seek them out and lynch them as
soon as they could be found.[265]
The Emperor now became anxious as detailed information came in as to the
havoc already wrought in the capital, and he began to realize the extent
of the defection. The wild uproar, harping incessantly on a special
note, reached his ears, and he sent an officer to ascertain what the
people were vociferating.[266] As soon as an answer was brought to him
he decided to yield, hoping that conciliation would induce an immediate
calm. The three obnoxious officials were displaced from their posts, and
others, popular for their well-known integrity, were appointed in their
stead. Effective measures were taken to announce the change publicly,
but the concession failed to appease the tumult.[267] The provisional
government of the insurgents felt that they had gone too far to retreat
with safety, whilst their secret emissaries had already been at work
endeavouring to entice Hypatius from the palace with the promise of his
elevation to the purple.
During the next three days the devastation of the metropolis continued,
and Constantinople assumed the aspect of a city taken by the enemy.[268]
The only hope for the government now lay in its being able to suppress
the revolt by force, but the Byzantine soldiery showed signs of
disaffection, and it was recognized that even the Excubitors, of whom
Justinian himself had held the command, could not be trusted.[269]
Within the precincts of the Palace there was, however, a considerable
body of barbarian mercenaries, as well as several of the Imperial
generals who remained loyal and were ready to act against the
rioters.[270] On the Thursday Belisarius issued forth with a body of
Goths and Herules, and a fierce battle ensued around the Milium and in
the adjoining streets.[271] The rebels defended themselves furiously,
and, while the men fought below, women, posted in the upper chambers of
the houses, hurled stones and tiles through the windows on the heads of
their military antagonists. Numbers of these Amazons were among the
slain.[272] At a certain hour of the day an attempt was made to restore
order by priestly intervention, and a train of ecclesiastics, presenting
the sacred books and holy images to the eyes of the combatants,
descended into the scene of the conflict. The Byzantines might have been
influenced, but the barbarians took no account of their presence, and
the strife raged without abatement.[273] The civil war in the streets
was continued for the two succeeding days,[274] ineffectively on the
part of the authorities, while the confidence of the insurgents
increased. The work of incendiarism went on, and now on both sides, for
the soldiers tried to dislodge those who assailed them from the
domiciles and public edifices by firing the buildings.[275] The wind
often assisted the conflagration by sweeping the flames along.[276]
Among the architectural monuments consumed during this period of the
sedition were the Octagon,[277] the church of St. Irene,[278] the
Hospital of Sampson with its infirm inmates,[279] the House of Lamps
with its rich wares,[280] the Palace of Lausus with its irreplaceable
art treasures,[281] and the porticos ranging between the Augusteum and
the Pavement.[282]
In the meantime Justinian and the Imperial party within the Palace began
to despair of their fortunes. The Excubitors and the other corps of
domestics did not break into open mutiny, but their faces appeared
lowering and indifferent, and it was evident that their sympathies were
veering steadily in the direction of the rebels. That the insurgents
were intent on replacing him with Hypatius was well known to the
Emperor, and he became apprehensive lest at any moment his own guards
might consummate their wishes by the seizure of his person and the
proclamation of his rival.[283] He summoned the nephews of Anastasius to
his presence, and urged them to leave the palace in order to safeguard
their own households. They protested that it was their duty to stand by
their sovereign in such a crisis, but he suspected their loyalty and
insisted peremptorily on their departure. They obeyed with reluctance,
and quitted the Court on the Saturday evening.[284] At the same time
Justinian, anticipating that a successful assault might be made on the
Palace, heaped all his most precious possessions into a swift galley,
which lay in the Imperial harbour, and held himself in readiness for a
precipitate flight to the Thracian town of Heraclea.[285]
Early on Sunday morning the Emperor resolved on making a final effort to
win back the allegiance of his subjects. By assuming an attitude of
contrition, and proving his sincerity by a promise of universal amnesty,
he might yet be able to save his throne. Holding the Gospels in his
hand, he proceeded at dawn to the Hippodrome, and established himself in
the regal seat. A proclamation was made, and the people, now confident
in their own strength, came flocking in on all sides, attracted by the
belief that something unusual was about to take place. Justinian
advanced, and protending the sacred volume, adjured the assemblage: "By
the might of this hallowed Word I condone everything that has happened.
None of you shall be arrested; only be pacified. My sins have brought
about this impass; no blame attaches to you. On me the guilt for not
answering your appeal for mercy." Murmurs of approval were heard for a
moment, but a general hooting quickly drowned them, and loud cries of
"Ass, thou liest!" were repeated by a myriad of voices.[286] Finally the
tumult resolved itself into persistent calls for Hypatius. The Emperor
persevered no further, but retired in silence to the Palace.
The news spread rapidly that the disinherited princes were at liberty,
and the revolutionaries immediately thronged to their residence.
Hypatius was demanded, and in despite of the outcry of his wife, who
foreboded disaster, was forced along to the Forum of Constantine. There
the usual forms of a coronation were enacted; he was hoisted on a shield
and crowned with a golden necklace. Exulting in this achievement, a wave
of excitement swept over the crowd, and all clamoured that the new
Emperor should be borne in triumph to the Circus and installed in the
Cathisma, whilst a determined effort was being made for the capture of
the Palace. A senator named Origen protested warmly against this move as
being too rash and hasty. "Have patience for the present," said he, "let
us fortify ourselves in another palace, of which there are several in
the city. Whilst his resources are being frittered away, Justinian will
be tired out and fly of his own accord; or at some opportune moment we
shall be able to take him without risk." His prudent counsel was,
however, cried down; Hypatius was hurried along reluctantly, and
compelled to usurp the Imperial seat, whilst the people thronged the
arena and acclaimed him with reckless enthusiasm.[287] But he
contemplated his sudden rise with dismay, and felt profoundly insecure
in his new position. Taking his opportunity, he privately despatched a
Candidate to assure Justinian that he was involuntarily acting a part,
and was only too anxious to repudiate the unwelcome honours thrust upon
him. In a short time his messenger returned with a joyous air; as he
strove to enter the Palace, the chief physician had accosted him: "Where
are you going," said he, "there is no one within, the Emperor has taken
his departure." "Master," exclaimed the Candidate, "God wishes you to
reign; Justinian has fled and the Palace is empty." At this announcement
Hypatius resigned himself with some confidence to his fortune.[288] The
populace went on applauding him tumultuously, whilst they were loud in
their vituperation of Justinian and Theodora.[289]
The report that Justinian had virtually abdicated by abandoning his post
was false, but the author of it may have supposed that he was speaking
an imminent truth, as that event seemed on the point of being realized.
Hesitating to commit himself to the irrevocable step, the Emperor paused
to throw a last glance at the situation. He initiated a debate, but his
advisers were despondent, and their opinions half-hearted and divergent.
Of all those concerned Theodora felt most deeply the ignominy of flight,
and, unable to restrain her indignation at their halting resolution,
burst into a passionate remonstrance. She deprecated the assurance of a
woman in presuming to address a body of men, and pleaded the exigences
of the moment as her excuse. "Even at this adverse crisis," said she, "I
think the alternative of flight is out of the question. Though he may be
permitted to live in safety as an exile, the master of an empire should
not survive the loss of his dignity. As for myself, may I never live to
see the day when this purple mantle shall fall from me, and people no
longer salute me as Empress. I hold no sentiment so dear as that old
saying, 'Royalty is a fine thing to be buried in.'"[290]
By this bold speech Theodora infused her own intrepid spirit into the
Imperial party. No longer wavering in their counsels, they resolved to
assume the offensive, and thought only of how to strike with most effect
at the usurper and the rebels who supported him. The barbarian
mercenaries congregated in the Palace still amounted to three or four
thousand men, and several reliable officers were at hand to lead them.
These troops were divided into two brigades and placed under the command
of Belisarius and Mundus the Goth respectively.[291] At the same time
Narses, the Chief Eunuch, opened negotiations with the Blue Faction, and
by extensive bribery succeeded in detaching a large number of them from
their associates. Some dissension in the Hippodrome resulted, voices
were raised in favour of Justinian, and Hypatius was no longer the
object of unalloyed enthusiasm.[292] And now Belisarius, supported by
his colleague, determined to make a direct onslaught on the Cathisma,
which was crowded with the improvised guards of the newly constituted
emperor.[293] He essayed to pass by the Cochlea, but found the way
blocked by the Excubitors, who had adopted a neutral attitude, and
decided to be deaf to all orders as long as the fortunes of the rival
parties hung in the balance. Seeing that any effort in that direction
would be futile, he abandoned the scheme and, somewhat disheartened,
returned to consult Justinian. A different plan of attack was then
concerted with Mundus. Both generals made their way out with some
difficulty over the ruins of the Chalke, and drew up their men in a
compact body in the Augusteum. Marching around from thence they
inspected all the inlets of the Circus, but saw that those on the north
were held in force by the armed adherents of Hypatius. On arriving at
the sphendone, however, Belisarius noticed that the way lay open into
the arena, where the unarmed mob were collected in a dense throng. With
a sudden impulse he called his men to arms and rushed on the crowd with
vengeful determination. A remorseless massacre followed, and was
continued as long as the barbarians found any living being within their
reach. As for Mundus, the moment he perceived how Belisarius had become
engaged, he swept rapidly round the southern circuit of the Hippodrome
and made a similar irruption through the opposite entry, that called the
Gate of the Dead. The doomed people, thus caught between the two
brigades of infuriated troops, were cut off from all chance of escape;
and, when at length the slaughter ceased, it was computed that at least
thirty-five thousand citizens had been slain in this military
execution.[294]
At the sight of the massacre consternation seized on the immediate
partisans of Hypatius, and their confident union was completely
dissolved. All felt that the cause of the upstart emperor was lost, and
thought only of falling off from his perilous proximity in order to
ensure their individual safety. A corresponding sense of assurance
quickly spread among the inmates of the Palace as soon as they became
aware that the rebels massed in the Hippodrome were undergoing
extermination. Justus and Boraides, two young relatives of
Justinian,[295] seeing their opportunity, placed themselves at the head
of a small body of faithful guards and made an impetuous rush to the
Cathisma. No one daring to withstand them, they ascended at once, seized
on Hypatius and his brother, and hurried them before the Emperor. They
were submitted to a brief examination, during which Hypatius maintained
a dignified attitude, and asserted his consistent loyalty, asseverating
that they had merely acted under popular compulsion. On the other hand,
Pompeius, a man less experienced in affairs, broke down utterly, and
abjectly bewailed his misfortune. Justinian remanded them in custody,
and consulted with his ministers as to their fate.[296] He suggested
clemency, but the Empress intervened with her usual vehemence, and
insisted on the infliction of the death penalty.[297] She bore down all
opposition, and next morning they were handed over to the soldiery, who
executed them and threw their bodies into the sea. Their property was
confiscated to the state, as well as that of the other men of rank who
had associated themselves to the Nika, but after a short time a partial
restitution was made to their families.[298] That Justinian, though
often severe, and even reckless in punishments, was not vindictive, is
shown by an incident which occurred in connection with Probus, who just
escaped being involved in the insurrection. A few years previously he
was accused of treasonable utterances against the Emperor, whereupon a
court of inquiry was held, at which the charge was brought home to him.
The finding of the judges was delivered in writing to Justinian, but he,
tearing up the document in the presence of the delinquent, said,
"Probus, I forgive you; pray to God that he may do likewise."[299] Some
years after the riot, John, a son of the unfortunate Pompeius, was in
favour at Court, and married into the Imperial family.[300]
By the fortuitous suppression of the Nika revolt the despotism of
Justinian was established on a foundation unassailable by any popular
commotion. A few thousands of barbarian mercenaries maintained in the
heart of New Rome had sufficed to coerce the democracy in the capital,
and to stifle the indignation of the whole Empire against a shameless
and rapacious tyranny. Justinian's first care was to proclaim his
victory over the usurpers and the rabble who supported them
throughout the provinces,[301] and then to restore the bureaucracy to
its former efficiency for fiscal exaction.[302] The ministers nominated
under compulsion of the vulgar outcry were soon displaced, and Tribonian
and John returned to their seats at the heads of their respective
departments, where they reverted to their old methods of statecraft and
extortion.[303] The infamous Cappadocian resumed his sway over the
Emperor and the Empire, and during the next decade almost all public
Acts were headed with the superscription, "To John, the Most Glorious
Praefect of the Sacred Praetorium of the Orient, ex-Consul and
Patrician."[304]
Theodora, on her side, to express her sense of assured supremacy, made a
triumphal progress through the country to the hot-baths of Pythia,[305]
in Bithynia. A crowd of patricians, illustrious officials, eunuchs, and
officers of rank attended her, constituting a retinue amounting in all
to over four thousand persons. At every halting place she made
munificent donations to the public institutions of the vicinity; and
churches, monasteries, and hospitals benefited largely by her
ostentatious liberality.[306]
We should certainly do Justinian less than justice if we asserted that
his regard for the welfare of his subjects was limited to a desire that
no one should plunder them but himself. That statement, however, might
not be an unfair definition of his objective attitude towards them.
Three years after the rebellion he began the issue of a series of
enactments intended to work a complete administrative reform throughout
the Empire. He had in the meantime waged a successful war in the West,
and for the moment the treasury was redundant with the rich spoils. His
scheme of reform was doubtless influenced by this fact, and he
legislated in the temporary belief that for the future the national
burdens might be lightened.[307] His measures were directed to three
principal requirements, viz., (1) to fortify the authority of his local
vicegerents; (2) to elevate their ethical motives by abolishing
venality; and (3) to invigorate the collection of the taxes.
1. In order to achieve the first of these objects he began to reverse,
in great part, the provincial policy elaborated by Diocletian and
Constantine.[308] In a number of provinces he dispensed with the dual
control, and united both civil and military power in the hands of the
Rector.[309] Enhanced rank naturally followed this increase of
authority, and thus the former Clarissimus rose to be a Spectabilis,
whilst, at the same time, he was granted the emoluments of both
offices.[310] A loftier official title was also necessitated by these
changes, and hence a simple Praeses or Judex became a Moderator,
Praetor, or Count, and in three instances was elevated to the almost
regal dignity of a Proconsul.[311] In some of these cases, however, the
promotion of the Rector was due chiefly to the extension of his
authority over a wider area. Some of the smaller provinces lying
adjacent were annexed to each other, and received a single governor,
especially those which had been previously known as "First" and "Second"
of the same name.[312] In general the power of those Rectors who did not
take over the military command was augmented by granting them an
official guard sufficient to render them incontestably superior to such
of the local magnates as had previously terrorized the district by the
multitude of their armed retainers.[313] As the ordinary judge, the
Rector's position was also improved by opening his tribunal to lawsuits
in which greater pecuniary interests were at stake.[314] Some control
was also conferred on them over agents of the fiscs, whom they were
enjoined to restrain from collection of funds for public works, unless
they presented an imperial commission for doing so.[315] Justinian
further directed his vicegerents as to the official pageantry by which
they were properly distinguished, and urged them not to be lax in the
matter of public display. They were reminded of their right to wear a
purple robe of a certain form and hue, to sit in a silver chariot and to
be preceded in their progresses by an officer bearing the axe and
fasces.[316] The Emperor himself was, indeed, unusually prone to
ostentation, and when instituting these reforms he showed no little
pride by enacting that all the newly created dignities should be denoted
by the epithet "Justinian."[317]
Another sweeping change made by Justinian at this time increased the
importance of the individual Rectors by limiting their subservience to
intermediary authorities, and placing them in more direct dependence on
the bureaucracy of the capital. He abolished the division of the Empire
into dioceses, and the six groups of provinces which had hitherto obeyed
an administrator in chief ceased to be regarded officially as being thus
connected. The title of Vicar became obsolete, and the four vicegerents
who had borne it were resolved into simple Rectors of their residential
provinces.[318] The magnificent Count of the East was detached from his
great array of provinces, and restricted to the governorship of
Syria,[319] still an enviable charge, since he reckoned Antioch as his
capital; and the Augustal Praefect resigned the control of all Egypt for
that of Alexandria and the adjacent country.[320]
2. The foregoing reconstruction was neither difficult to conceive nor
inapplicable in practice, but when Justinian determined to quell the
greed for illicit gains among his subordinates he struck at the most
vital part of Byzantine officialism. With no halting judgement he began
by directing the lethal weapon against his own breast, and decreed that
in future no candidate should be permitted to secure an appointment as
Rector by purchasing the interest of any of his great officers of state
or their dependents.[321] Henceforward the Rector, having won his
commission simply by proving his fitness for office, would proceed to
his government unhampered by debt, and no longer compelled to despoil
the tributaries in order to liquidate his heavy obligations. With
paternal benignancy he would mete out strict justice, and administer his
charge with "pure hands,"[322] eschewing sordid gains, and content with
the stipend allotted to him by the state.[323] He would show no mercy to
homicides, adulterers, or abductors of virgins; would sternly suppress
brigandage, and never quail before the most potent and wealthy
delinquent in his province.[324] Titles affixed to a neighbour's land,
when found, were forthwith to be detracted and broken over the head of
the offender, whether agent or principal.[325] Before his departure from
the capital he was obliged to attest his allegiance to the Emperor and
Empress by a solemn oath, swearing at the same time that he had not
obtained his post by bribery, and that his conduct should be in every
way exemplary towards the subjects committed to his care.[326] On
arriving at his seat of government he was enjoined to convene the clergy
and laity, and read to them the Imperial ordinances under which he had
accepted office, a copy of the same to be posted also in every district
under his jurisdiction.[327]
Justinian did not, however, confine himself to exhortation and verbal
obligations to ensure the observance of his precepts, but he also had
recourse to material precautions against the Rector's deviating from the
path of rectitude. In the first place local supervision of his actions
was provided for in three different quarters. Primarily the bishops were
authorized to receive complaints against the Rector, and even to test
their validity by sitting on the bench with him to hear causes in which
his ruling had been impugned.[328] A mandate was also addressed to the
Defenders of the Cities, whose office had fallen into disrepute,
reviving and extending their powers and animating their energies.[329]
The Rector was deprived of the right of dismissing them from their
posts, and they were directed to report him at headquarters if he
presumed to interfere with their functions.[330] Lastly the Emperor gave
full force to the old injunction of Zeno that a retiring governor should
remain for fifty days within his province, exposing himself to the
accusations of all who should deem themselves aggrieved by his
improbity.[331]
Nor did Justinian dispense with a system of rewards and punishments to
encourage the upright, or to deter the faithless Rector. Having won
golden opinions from his official superiors, the former should expect to
retain his position for a longer period and subsequently to be promoted
to a higher charge with authority over a greater population.[332] On the
other hand, confiscation and exile, stripes and torture, were to be
inflicted on the transgressor as the penalty of his misdeeds.[333]
Still further to safeguard the welfare of his subjects the Emperor
enacted comprehensive measures to facilitate the administration of
justice. In the provinces the legal status of the Defenders of the
Cities was raised, and the inhabitants were directed to bring all minor
cases before them instead of crowding to the Rector's court from the
outlying districts.[334] At the same time courts of appeal were
multiplied by conferring on the Spectabiles intermediate jurisdiction
between the Rectors of lesser rank, the Clarissimi, and the illustrious
functionaries of the capital.[335] Thus the overwhelming influx of the
provincials into the Imperial city, to lay their grievances before the
supreme courts, was materially diminished. Similarly at Constantinople
the activity of the puisne judges was much increased, and they were
required to sit in the Royal Basilica "morning, noon, and evening" to
determine lawsuits of lesser import.[336] A permanent Quaesitor was also
appointed to deal specially with the throng of immigrants, to ascertain
the propriety of their appeals and direct them to the proper courts; or,
should it appear that they had come on a futile errand, to relegate them
back to their provinces with letters commending them to the notice of
the Rector.[337]
With a view to the repression of crime and the moral depuration of the
capital Justinian also took some active measures, in which Theodora
co-operated with him as far as the feminine element was concerned. Under
the title of "Praetor of the People" the office of Praefect of the
Watch, formerly an important post in the Roman municipality, was
restored, and a posse of soldiers and firemen was placed at his
disposition.[338] To this praetor, who might be a noble of illustrious
rank, was assigned the duty of organizing a patrol of the streets day
and night for the protection of life and property. At this time the
traffic in prostitution had grown to enormous dimensions, and the
country was overrun by panders who bought young maidens from poor
parents for a small sum in order to devote them to public debauchery.
Girls in their tenth year and upwards were enticed by promises of fine
clothes and ornaments to become inmates of proprietary brothels, and
were even paraded about the streets as decoys for the dissolute. The
newly appointed praetors now received a mandate from the Emperor to
suppress these vile habitations and to drive those who maintained them
from the city.[339] The Empress herself had been for some time engaged
in the work of reclaiming these unfortunates, whom she redeemed from
their owners by paying a stipulated price in each case.[340] A disused
palace on the Bosphorus was converted into a Magdalen asylum, which she
called "the Penitentiary"; and here a considerable number of former
courtesans were immured in the hope of their moral reformation. Some
scandal, however, was occasioned by the conduct of several of those
rescued, who, driven to despair by the monotony of their new life,
preferred to throw themselves from the windows at night into the water
to enduring the unaccustomed restraint; but we may assume the
comparative rarity of this untoward result.[341] Justinian also
pronounced very sternly against paederasty, and even made a public
example of certain bishops who were convicted of that offence.[342] He
further forbade the making of eunuchs within the Empire, threatening
confiscation, exile, and retaliative castration against those who
infringed his prohibition.[343] Consistently he ordained that eunuchs of
servile condition should for the reason alone of their defect become
free men.[344]
3. In the midst of his most earnest efforts at reform Justinian never
failed to impress on all concerned that with himself and his Imperial
partner the rights of the crown and the maintenance of the revenue were
of paramount importance.[345] At the head of their codicils the Rectors
were admonished to make it their study above all things to expedite the
fiscal exactions; whilst the tributaries were warned that no matter how
vehemently their governor had enforced payment of the imposts, no cause
of action was granted to them against him.[346] On the contrary, they
were to conduct him with all deference from the province at the end of
his term, and, should they presume to molest him during his fifty days
of postponed departure on that account, they would be subjected to
penalties of exceptional severity.[347] The Emperor deplores the
diminution of Roman territory which has resulted from the inactivity of
former rulers, and calls attention to his own energy and prowess by
which the repair of their errors has been begun.[348] Military
operations, however, are expensive, and hostile incursions can only be
repelled if people respond freely to the demands of the tax
collectors.[349] Justinian asserts that he disdains to imitate the
example of his predecessors who sold the offices of the state, thus
depriving themselves of the right to expostulate with unjust
administrators who embezzled the national funds.[350] But a new era has
now dawned, government with _pure hands_ is assured for the future, and
liability will be limited strictly to the legitimate imposts. Therefore
let all alike sing hymns of praise to God and the Saviour for the
passing of these new laws.[351]
Justinian, notwithstanding his professions, was mainly influenced by the
hope of pecuniary gain when he essayed to reverse the administrative
system of his predecessors. He calculated that the rooted abuses which
they had tolerated for centuries were a cause that only one third,
possibly, indeed, not more than a fourth, of the taxes collected found
their way to the Imperial treasury.[352] Hence his ministry of the
interior soon resolved itself into a mere organization for the invention
of legislation which would conduce to the raising of money.[353] The
devices which suggested themselves from time to time as financial
expedients were multifarious and of the most unrelated character. Some
of these have been already alluded to,[354] but a few others which were
productive of more signal changes require particular notice. Roman
Armenia was joined to the less important region of that name on the west
of the Euphrates and reduced to the level of an ordinary province, with
a Proconsul for its principal Rector.[355] Consequently taxes were
imposed, and the inhabitants found themselves racked for payments which
they had previously escaped.[356] In the time of Justin, Justinian added
four troops to the Scholars of the Palace, and received from each new
member a premium for his position in the force. Soon after his accession
he disbanded them as a measure of retrenchment, but retained the
purchase money. Subsequently he made a practice of ordering these carpet
soldiers for active service, with the understanding that they would buy
themselves off the dreaded prospect by surrendering a quota of their
pay.[357] Every opportunity was taken to consolidate trade monopolies to
the advantage of the government;[358] and this was especially the case
with respect to silk. Justinian pretended to be indignant when a rise of
price was operated by the deficient supply, and decreed that the maximum
retail cost should be eight solidi (£4 10s.) the pound.[359]
Confiscation was the penalty for contravening this regulation, but the
traffic was still carried on in secret. Here Theodora found an opening
for the exercise of her talents, and through private channels succeeded
in discovering the merchants who were implicated. Thereupon a fine of
100 lb. of gold (£4,000) was imposed on each of them.[360] Soon the
factories at Tyre and Berytus, the headquarters of the commerce, began
to languish, the operatives were thrown out of work, and ultimately the
Praetorian Praefect possessed himself of the whole manufacture.
Exorbitant prices were then fixed which yielded an immense profit to the
Imperial exchequer, but numberless persons were ruined during the
process of transfer.[361] Like results obtained in relation to the corn
supply of Egypt through manœuvres at Alexandria, by which the Praefect
of the City was constituted the sole purveyor of that commodity. A
scarceness and dearness of bread was the natural consequence of this
innovation.[362] Another fiscal move, far-reaching in its effects, was
the diversion of the separate revenues of the municipalities[363] into
the hands of the Emperor. The local curiae being no longer permitted to
deal with them, public works were neglected and the inhabitants ceased
to be entertained by the popular spectacles.[364] A blight seemed to
fall on the Empire, says the contemporary historian, and people had no
resource but the discussion of present calamities and the expression of
their fears for the future.[365] Related to this policy was the formal
abolition of the Consulship with its attendant train of festivities
which enlivened the opening of each year. During the space of a decade
the office had only been filled in a desultory manner, but the last
Consul was actually seen in 541, and soon afterwards that link between
the Byzantines and the glories of the old Republic was severed by a
definite Act.[366] To tamper with the currency has always been an
inviting procedure with needy princes, and Justinian did not resist
having recourse to this artifice. By giving a fictitious value to copper
he managed to rake in the gold coinage at about five-sixths of its
actual worth.[367] Such are the chief methods by which in this reign the
revenue was inflated beyond its normal proportions, and, to complete the
list, reference may be made to ill-advised economies effected by the
suppression of pay and pensions usually granted by a state and to
forfeitures of private property constantly decreed on slight
pretexts.[368]
If Justinian's studied scheme of reform could have been applied
successfully in practice, it is possible that fiscal oppression might
have been banished from the Empire. But the Autocrator at Constantinople
was scarcely more than a suzerain in the provinces, and his fiat was but
slightly regarded by those who occupied any position of power in
districts remote from the capital.[369] Doubtless his technical
enactments as to the rank and territorial jurisdiction of diverse
Rectors were received as indisputable, but at the same time they marked
the limits of his power to work a change in methods of local rule which
had been practised for centuries. Once invested with authority, the
provincial governor departed to tread in the footsteps of his
predecessors, while the same futile prohibitions continued to issue
periodically from the mouth of the Emperor, secluded in his distant
Court.[370] Before the lapse of a twelvemonth Justinian resigned himself
to ignoring his own self-denying ordinance, and a candidate for office
was noted only in relation to his ability to pay at the moment, and the
magnitude of his promises for the future.[371] His repeated
denunciations of the venality of his vicegerents represented no more
than his formal recognition of the lamentations which continually
reached his tribunal, or his exasperation at a prospective loss of
revenue from the flagrant excesses of some reckless extortioner.[372] He
was also extremely parsimonious in remitting arrears of taxation, even
in districts which had suffered from hostile invasions or other
calamities. Thus numbers of the small landowners were allowed to
languish under the apprehension that at any moment their whole property
might be seized in order to wipe out their liabilities.[373]
A river of wealth flowed through the Byzantine exchequer at the bidding
of the Emperor. The sources were exhausted, and the reservoir was
discharged under the influence of the same will. The people, who formed
the well-head, suffered untold miseries in contributing under compulsion
to the supply, but they possessed no control over the ultimate
distribution of the stream. These activities have now been sufficiently
considered on the one side; it remains for us to turn our attention to
the other. During the twenty years which followed the Nika rebellion the
reign of Justinian was distinguished by a series of magnificent
achievements both at home and abroad; great works were accomplished
within the Empire; beyond its borders aggressive wars were waged and a
moiety of the Western Empire was restored to the dominion of the East.
But the background of this brilliant scene was always of the same gloomy
tint, such as has been described in the present chapter, and these
splendid successes were obtained at the cost, but not to the advantage
of the Greek nation in general. While Justinian went on adding
magniloquent epithets to his name indicative of conquest and triumph
over alien races in the West,[374] his immediate subjects continued to
be afflicted by the harshness and rapacity of the administration, as
well as by the tyranny of the local aristocracy. Concomitantly the
barbarians in Europe and the Persians in Asia sapped the vitals of the
Empire and impoverished or enslaved its inhabitants. Victory and
acquisition abroad by the aid of mercenary troops were nullified by
defeat and exhaustion at home; and the extended Empire which Justinian
handed down to his successors was inferior in political vigour and
sociological prosperity to the smaller dominions which he had inherited
from Anastasius.
[185] Nov. viii, 8, 10; xvii, 1; xxx, 11, etc.
[186] See p. 198 _et seq._
[187] See p. 162.
[188] Jn. Lydus (De Magistr., iii, 51) confirms the statement of
Procopius (Anecd., 19) that the immense savings of Anastasius were
dissipated during the reign of Justin. He supplies a reason, viz., that
the Emperor and his nephew were averse to bearing hardly on their
subjects. There seems, however to have been a sinking fund kept up under
the name of Anastasius, which continued to exist as a small reserve; Jn.
Ephes. (Smith, Oxford, 1860), p. 358.
[189] "He spared no expense, still less did he spare the property of his
subjects"; Zonaras, xiv, 6.
[190] "Justinian was insatiable in his lust after gold, and coveted his
subjects' property to such an extent that he sold them all in a body to
his officials and tax-collectors"; Evagrius, iv, 30; cf. Procopius,
Anecd., 21 _et passim_.
[191] Procopius, Anecd., 14.
[192] Procopius, De Bel. Pers., i, 24.
[193] Suidas, _sb. nom._ Two separate notices, apparently of the same
Tribonian, but there is some discrepancy.
[194] De Nov. Cod. Fac. (528), and De Confirm. (529).
[195] Cod., I, xvii, 1; Procopius, _loc. cit._
[196] Cod., I, xvii (Tanta and Dedit nobis, 17), or Pand., _praef._
[197] He affected to live in apprehension that Justinian would be
suddenly snatched up to heaven on account of his more than mortal
virtue, like Elijah said the Christians, like Romulus thought the
Pagans; Procopius, Anecd., 13; Hesychius, De Vir. Illust., 67; Suidas,
_loc. cit._
[198] Hesychius and Suidas, _loc. cit._ The statement is doubted, but
Hesychius was a contemporary.
[199] Procopius, De Bel. Pers., i, 25; Anecd., 20; Suidas, _loc. cit._
[200] Procopius, Anecd., 14.
[201] _Ibid._
[202] Procopius, Anecd., 14. A referendary named Leon is said to have
first opened his eyes as to the feasibility of selling his decisions and
to have leagued with him for that purpose. Tribonian seems to have made
his chicanery profitable to himself alone.
[203] Procopius, De Bel. Pers., i, 24.
[204] Jn. Lydus, De Magistr., iii, 57.
[205] _Ibid._
[206] Procopius, De Bel. Pers., i, 24.
[207] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 57.
[208] _Ibid._ He quotes a current epigram to the effect that
"Cappadocians were always bad, worse in office, worst in love of money,
and worse than worst if mounted in a grand official chariot." The
Praetorian Praefect wore a purple robe which only differed from that of
the Emperor by being cut short at the knees. His office was adorned with
a golden inkstand, weighing a hundred pounds; _Ibid._, ii, 13, 14.
[209] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, iii, 62; Procopius, _loc. cit._
[210] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 66-69; cf. Procopius, Evagrius, and
Zonaras, _loc. cit._ Owing to his ignorance of Latin he worked for the
abolition of that language in governmental documents. Under Theodosius
II, one Cyrus, an Egyptian, being similarly ignorant, attempted the
same, but lost the praefecture by it. There was an oracle that fortune
would desert the Romans should they forget their native tongue; Jn.
Lydus, _loc. cit._, ii, 12; iii, 42.
[211] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 70.
[212] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 57. Lydus says that he himself saw an old
man of his acquaintance, who was suspected of having a private hoard,
hung up by the hands with stiff ropes until he expired.
[213] _Ibid._, 58. As an instance Lydus describes the conduct of another
Cappadocian, nicknamed Maxilloplumacius ("Puffy-Cheeks"), from his
peculiar aspect, who raided Asia for the fisc. He began at Philadelphia,
the native town of Lydus, where he established himself in great state,
and indulged himself in unbounded luxury, licentiousness, and cruelty.
One Petronius, a man of rank and culture in the town, being possessed of
some handsome jewels as heirlooms, was ordered to deliver them up. On
his refusal he was loaded with chains, beaten with rods, and shut up in
a stable. The Philadelphians were deeply grieved and the Bishop was
moved to intercede on his behalf. Bible in hand, at the head of several
of his inferior clergy, he appeared before the tyrant, but was at once
assailed with foul and abusive language. He retired in dismay, but
Petronius, at last reduced to despair, promised everything, and, on
being let out, took his jewels and other valuables to the Praetorium,
where he threw them in a heap in the vestibule. In another case an old
soldier was racked for twenty solidi which he could not pay, but,
anxious to be released at any cost, finally asserted that he had them in
concealment. Being accompanied to his dwelling, and allowed to search
apart, after some delay he was found to have hanged himself. The body
was then kicked into the street, and the wretched premises gutted by the
apparitors.
[214] _Ibid._, 66, 67.
[215] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 62. Procopius, De Bel. Pers., i, 24.
[216] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, ii, 21.
[217] _Ibid._, iii, 64; but according to Procopius (_loc. cit._) he
spent the early part of the day in pillaging the citizens, and then
flung himself into dissipation. Different periods of his career may be
indicated. At first he would be more brisk in making his public
appearances.
[218] Both Procopius and Lydus notice this addiction to surfeiting.
[219] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 62.
[220] Procopius, De Bel. Pers., i, 25.
[221] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 70.
[222] See p. 160.
[223] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 69.
[224] _Ibid._, 61; Procopius, Anecd., 30. According to the latter the
direct route to Persia was not tampered with. The celerity of some of
the couriers by these posts was remarkable. Of one Palladius Theodosius
II used to say that the area of the Empire seemed to be contracted to a
small space, he came and went so rapidly between distant frontiers. His
time from CP. to the Persian border was three days, about 230 miles a
day; Socrates, vii, 19.
[225] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 70.
[226] Nov. viii, _praef._, 11, etc.
[227] "All can see that he who buys his office for gold, and that money
borrowed at usury, must be beset by many whom he is obliged to satisfy
from his province so that he may be liberated from debt," _Ibid._ "They
(the Rectors) had to be rapacious and have but one thought, to satisfy
creditors following them and threatening them on all sides. Thus our
subjects have been sold," etc.; Nov. xxviii, 4.
[228] "He must also think of putting by something for the future when no
longer in office"; Nov. viii, _praef._
[229] Nov. cxxx; cf. cxxviii; Procopius, Anecd., 23, 30; Jn. Lydus,
_loc. cit._, 61.
[230] Cod., II, xiv, xv, xvi; Nov. xvii, 15, etc.
[231] Cod., XI, liii; Nov. xvii, 13, 14, etc.; see p. 202.
[232] Nov. xxxii; xxxiii; xxxiv. "On account of the avarice of creditors
who abuse the poverty of the times (535) and acquire the allotments of
the unfortunate peasants, retaining all their property in return for a
little sustenance, we enacted," etc. This (Nov. xxxiii) is addressed to
the Praetorian Praefect of Illyricum, an official seldom heard of, who
seems to have been almost destitute of political influence as compared
with his potent colleague of the East.
[233] "We are almost ashamed to refer to the conduct of these. Men of
great possessions, with what insolence they range the country; how they
are served by guards, so that an intolerable crowd of men follow them;
how daringly they pillage everybody, among whom are many priests, but
mostly women," etc.; Nov. xxx, 5. "What can be more trying than the
driving off of oxen, horses, and cattle in general, or even (to speak of
small matters) of domestic fowl ... whence a multitude appeals to us
here (CP.) daily; men, women, hustled from their homes, in beggary,
sometimes to die here"; Nov. lxix, 1; cf. Edict viii.
[234] Nov. xvii, 2; lxxxv, _passim_; Edict viii, _praef._, etc.
[235] The conduct of Rectors is often described in detail. "They dismiss
many culprits, selling to them their offences: very many innocent people
they condemn in order to benefit obnoxious persons, and not only in
money actions, but in criminal cases"; Nov. viii, _praef._ "We hear how
unjustly the provincial judges act for the sake of lucre, declining
their duties as to wills, attestation of facts, marriages, settlements,
and even burials" (without bribes); Nov. cxxxiv, 3. "He abstained from
no sort of actual depredation, plundered towns and returned to this
happy city loaded with gold, leaving the region in the utmost poverty";
Edict xii. Also by giving a licence to agents: "They are not to despatch
'pursuers of brigands' or 'inhibitors of disorder,' rather to be called
thieves and rioters who, using the occasion as a cloak, are guilty of
the worst excesses"; Nov. viii, 12. "As to _curators_ and _tractators_,
we abolish the very names, looking back to the injuries they have
inflicted in the past on the wretched tributaries"; Nov. xxx, 2. Another
expedient was to plant deputies (_vicarii_, _loci servatores_,
+topotêrêtai+) in every part of his province, to whom the Rector
delegated his full powers, thus becoming a hundred-handed Briareus to
rack the provincials; Nov. viii, 4; xvii, 10; cxxxiv, 1; Salvian,
writing in the West, _c._ 450, complains that the Rector commits himself
every crime which he sits to punish as a judge; and, what he thinks even
worse, continues in the same courses after he has retired into the
position of a rich and powerful private citizen; De Gubernat. Dei, vii,
21. For the benefit of readers not familiar with the Corpus Juris
Civilis I may mention that in referring to "Novels" I am quoting
Justinian's own words, or at least the Acts composed under his eye. Much
of their text is clearly direct from his pen. But owing to the verbosity
of the original I am sometimes obliged to condense.
[236] See pp. 158 _et seq._, 198 _et seq._
[237] Nov. xxiv, 3; xxv, 4; xxvi, 4. They are enumerated as "repairs, of
walls, roads, statues, bridges, harbours, and aqueducts; clearing of
public sites, demolition of buildings improperly located, and laying out
of gardens."
[238] Jn. Lydus (_loc. cit._, 58) describes the doings of
Maxilloplumacius in this respect also, comparing him to Phalaris for
cruelty, to Busiris as a slayer of guests, and to Sardanapalus for
luxury and licentiousness. The institution of slavery and the absence of
a Habeas Corpus under a despotic government opened the door to most of
this infamy.
[239] Nov. xxiv, 1. This applies to Pisidia, where the natives are
characterized as being peculiarly bloodthirsty and rebellious.
[240] Nov. cxxxiv, 13. He points out that mutilation of the feet, by
interfering with locomotion, is a much severer penalty than removing the
hands and forbids it (against Constantine, who ordained it in the case
of fugitive slaves; Cod. VI, i, 3).
[241] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 66.
[242] Procopius, Anecd., 25.
[243] _Ibid._
[244] Nov. xliii.
[245] _Ibid._
[246] Procopius (Anecd., 7, 10) is the authority for all these details.
In every essential point he is corroborated by Evagrius, iv, 32.
[247] Evagrius, _loc. cit._
[248] Both Procopius (Anecd., 17) and Evagrius (_loc. cit._) mention the
case of Callinicus, governor of Cilicia, who was impaled for vindicating
the law by the execution of two murderers of the Blue Faction. Procopius
(Anecd., 29) also recounts an _émeute_ at Tarsus, in which the Blues
were the principals. In both these cases the part of violent vengeance
was played by Theodora. Evagrius lies under the suspicion of having read
the Anecdotes of Procopius. If so, the fact that he makes no protest
against the picture there given of the Empress proves his belief in its
truth. In a parallel case he strongly defends Constantine against the
strictures of Zosimus; iii, 40, 41. Zonaras also seems to be influenced
by the work. Indeed it is difficult to see how he could have avoided
knowing it since it was familiar to "Suidas" before his time.
[249] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 70; cf. Nov. xxiv, 2; xxv, 3; xxx, 9;
cxxviii, _praef._; cxlv, _praef._ Most fully in Nov. lxxx, _e.g._, "We
find that the provinces are being gradually despoiled of their
inhabitants; our great city here is populous with crowds of diverse men,
chiefly farmers who have left their townships and lands." Also specified
as men, women, clerics, monks, nuns, and advocates of outlying places.
[250] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 70; cf. ii, 29, 30; Nov. xiii, lxxx.
[251] Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._, 70; Zonaras, xiv, 6.
[252] See p. 303.
[253] By a comparison of Jn. Malala (xviii, p. 473) and Theophanes (an.
6,024), the fact of the day being a Sunday can be determined.
[254] This taunt evidently means, "You are not fit to be Christians;
abandon the Trinity and join the infidel monotheists."
[255] This dialogue exists only in Theophanes (an. _cit._), but is
alluded to in Chron. Paschal.; an. 532. I have only sampled it, as,
beyond the animosity shown on each side, there is little pregnancy in
it, and the whole would be merely tedious to the ordinary reader. It has
often been translated at length, by Isambert, Hodgkin, Bury, Diehl, etc.
[256] Malala and Theophanes, _loc. cit._ According to the latter they
were strung up a second time, and again fell.
[257] Jn. Malala, p. 474.
[258] Procopius, De Bel. Pers., i, 24; Malala, _loc. cit._, etc.
[259] Theophanes, _loc. cit._
[260] Malala and Theophanes. _loc. cit._; cf. Procopius and Chron.
Paschal., _loc. cit._
[261] Procopius, _loc. cit._
[262] _Ibid._
[263] Chron. Paschal, and Theophanes, _loc. cit._
[264] Jn. Malala, _loc. cit._; Zonaras, xiv, 6.
[265] Procopius, Malala, and Chron. Paschal., _loc. cit._
[266] Chron. Paschal., _loc. cit._
[267] Procopius, Malala, and Chron. Paschal., _loc. cit._ The new
Praetorian Praefect was named Phocas, whose excellent character is
eulogized by Procopius (Anecd., 21), and especially by Jn. Lydus, De
Magistr., iii, 72.
[268] Procopius, _loc. cit._
[269] _Ibid._; Chron. Paschal., _loc. cit._
[270] Procopius, _loc. cit._, etc. About 3,000 barbarian soldiers,
according to Theophanes, _loc. cit._
[271] Jn. Malala, p. 475; Zonaras, _loc. cit._
[272] Chron. Paschal. and Zonaras, _loc. cit._
[273] Zonaras, _loc. cit._
[274] Chron. Paschal., _loc. cit._
[275] Chron. Paschal. and Zonaras, _loc. cit._
[276] Chron. Paschal., _loc. cit._
[277] _Ibid._; Theophanes, _loc. cit._; see p. 58. This building was
burnt by the military.
[278] _Ibid._; see p. 56.
[279] Chron. Pascal., _loc. cit._; see p. 56.
[280] Cedrenus, i, p. 648; see p. 58. He and Zonaras repeat, of course,
for the most part what has been said by earlier writers.
[281] Theophanes, _loc. cit._; see p. 68.
[282] Procopius, _loc. cit._, etc.; see p. 68.
[283] Marcellinus Comes (an. 532) dwells on this aspect of the
insurrection. In his view it was all a conspiracy of the three brothers,
who had bribed the seditious elements of the populace; they were
dissimulating within the Palace, etc. Jn. Lydus (_loc. cit._) alone
shows how the revolt originated from the congested malcontents in the
capital, but Zonaras gives an inkling (_loc. cit._). M. C. was long
associated with Justinian as the officer (_cancellarius_) of his legal
court (Cassiodorus, De Inst. Div. Lit., 17) and his account was probably
inspired by the Emperor as most politic.
[284] Procopius, _loc. cit._ Most probably, but according to Chron.
Paschal. (_loc. cit._) it was the next morning.
[285] Theophanes, _loc. cit._; Procopius (_loc. cit._) more vaguely.
[286] Chron. Paschal., _loc. cit._; with less detail by Malala, p. 475.
[287] The coronation, etc., of Hypatius is told most circumstantially by
Procopius (_loc. cit._), but some further details are to be found in the
briefer accounts of the later chronographists.
[288] Chron. Paschal., _loc. cit._
[289] _Ibid._; Theophanes, _loc. cit._
[290] The eximious conduct of Theodora on this occasion is known to us
through Procopius only (_loc. cit._), but nevertheless I accept it
frankly, and do not attempt to argue its improbability; cf. M. Ducas, p.
495 ("+kalon entaphion ê tyrannis+"; Isocrates, Archidamus, 44;
"+Basileia+"; Procopius).
[291] Procopius, _loc. cit._
[292] Jn. Malala, p. 476; Chron. Paschal., _loc. cit._, etc. Procopius
seems to know nothing of the part played by Narses, although he was
possibly in the Palace with Belisarius all the time.
[293] Two hundred and fifty of the Greens, armed and mailed; Chron.
Paschal. and Theophanes, _loc. cit._
[294] Procopius, _loc. cit._; some of the others make it more.
[295] Procopius, _loc. cit._ Generally assumed to be nephews of
Justinian _ex fratre ignoto_. Procopius alone seems to know of the
assistance they rendered, or the exact details of the attack in general.
[296] Jn. Malala, _loc. cit._, etc. They are represented as pleading,
"Master, we designedly massed your enemies into the Hippodrome," to
which Justinian replies, "You did well, but why not before the city was
consumed by fire?" As all the damage was done while they were still in
personal attendance on him, this taunt seems illogical.
[297] Zacharia Myt. (ix, 14) is the only one to mention Theodora's
implacability. "She became enraged and swore by God and him (J.)," etc.
[298] Procopius, _loc. cit._, etc. According to Chron. Paschal., the
body of Hypatius was thrown up again, and Justinian ordered it to be
buried under an epitaph, "Here lies the Emperor of the Wolves" (see
Ducange on +Louppa+). In my account of the Nika I have followed Bury's
chronology; Journ. of Hellen. Studies, 1897. The sources are sometimes
in direct conflict, and have to be reconciled by collating them
attentively.
[299] Jn. Malala, xviii, p. 438.
[300] Procopius, De Bel. Goth., iii, 31.
[301] Jn. Malala, p. 477; Chron. Paschal., _loc. cit._
[302] Procopius, De Bel. Pers., i, 25.
[303] Tribonian oscillated between various posts. Now he came back as
Master of the Offices (Cod., I, xvii, 2), but in 535 we again find him
as Quaestor; Nov. xvii. In 545 he appears as Praefect of the City; Edict
ix (heading queried).
[304] Nov., etc., _passim_.
[305] Procopius, De Aedif., v, 3.
[306] Theophanes, an. 6,025, but Malala puts it in 528 (p. 441).
[307] He was in a very exalted frame of mind at this time, _e.g._, "We
have to thank God ... for having vouchsafed to us so many advantages and
so great, beyond what He ever granted to our predecessors"; Nov. xxviii,
4; cf. Cod., I, xvii, 2, etc.
[308] See p. 132.
[309] He gives as his reason that the military Dukes and the civil
governors were always quarrelling; Nov. xxiv, i; xxvi, _praef._ Thirteen
Dukes are named in the Notitia, but under this change nine Rectors
appear as officers of both sword and gown; Nov. viii; xxiv-xxviii; xxx;
xxxi; xli; l; cf. Nov. xx.
[310] Nov. xxiv, 1; xxv, 1, etc.
[311] The new Proconsuls took their titles from Cappadocia, Armenia, and
Palestine; Nov. xxx; xxxi; ciii. As Spectabiles, however, their
precedence was only nominal, the Praetors, etc., being also of that
grade.
[312] Cappadocia I, II; Nov. xxx. Palestine I, II; Nov. ciii. Libya I;
II; Edict xiii, 19, 22, etc. Helenopontus to Pontus Polemoniacus, Nov.
xxviii. (Here we get some geographical information as to the limits of
the Empire on the N.E. J. remarks that Pityus and Sebastopolis are
rather military outposts than towns proper.) Paphlagonia to Honorias;
Nov. xxix. A peculiar enactment, apparently without precedent, was the
creation of a "Praefect of the Islands" with civil and military command
over five scattered provinces of both continents, viz., Scythia, Mysia,
Caria, the Cyclades, and Cyprus; Nov. xli; l; see the remarks of Jn.
Lydus on this appointment; _op. cit._, ii, 28. There seems also to have
been a junction of Dardania and part of Macedonia; Nov. xi; cxxxi. For
all we know the provinces may have been dealt with _seriatim_ from first
to last. Numberless Acts have been lost, as exemplified by the rescript
of Anastasius discovered in the Cyrenaica, 1827, and that of Justin and
Justinian in Pisidia, 1889, the former annotated by Zachariä (Sitz-Ber.
d. Berlin. Akad., 1879, p. 134), and the latter by Diehl (École d'Ath.,
Bull. de Corr. Hel., 1893, p. 501.) It will be perceived that in these
new arrangements there is something of a return to the regional
dispositions of the early Empire; and, in fact, Justinian expresses
himself in that sense more than once in these Acts (see p. 132).
[313] Paphlagonia; Nov. xxix. Arabia; Nov. cii. Palestine; Nov. ciii.
Later Arabia was renamed Palestine III; Procopius, De Aedif., v, 8.
[314] 500 solidi (£280) was now the usual maximum; Nov. xxiv, 5, etc.
But the proconsul of Palestine could decide as high as 10 lb. of gold
(£400); Nov. ciii, 1.
[315] Nov. xxiv, 3; xxv, 4, etc.
[316] Nov. xxiv, 3; ciii, 1, etc. Probably they were so intent on
embezzlement that they did not trouble about the externals of office.
[317] As "Proconsul Justinianus Cappadociae"; Nov. xxx, 5.
[318] The Vicar of Asia became Count of Phrygia Pacatiana; V. of Pontus,
Count of Galatia I; Nov. viii, 2, 3; V. of Thrace, Praetor of Thrace;
Nov. xxvi. The Vicar of Macedonia is not accounted for; perhaps his
office was in abeyance owing to barbarian inroads.
[319] Nov. viii, 5.
[320] Edict xiii, _praef. et seq._
[321] Nov. viii, _praef._, 17.
[322] _Ibid._; Nov. xxiv, 1; xxv, 2, etc. His favourite and frequent
expression.
[323] Nov. viii, 8; xvii, 1; xxv, 2, etc. The salaries allotted seem to
be very small, _e.g._, Praetor of Pisidia, sol. 300 (£165), Count of
Isauria, sol. 200 (£115), but the Moderator of Helenopontus gets sol.
725 (£410), the Proconsul of Cappadocia, 20 lb. of gold (£800), and for
Palestine, the same.
[324] Nov. xvii, 5; xxiv, 1: xxv, 2.
[325] Nov. xxviii, 5; xxix, 4; xxx, 8, etc. Loss of the hands might also
be inflicted.
[326] Nov. viii, 7, _Jusjur._
[327] Nov. xvii, 16.
[328] Nov. viii, Ed.; lxxxvi, 2, 3, 4; cf. cxxviii, 16, 17, etc.
[329] Nov. xv.
[330] _Ibid._, 1, 5, etc.
[331] Nov. viii, 9; xcv; cxxviii, 23; see p. 202.
[332] Nov. xxviii, 7; xxx, 10.
[333] Nov. viii, 7; xxx, 9. The Defenders of the Cities are similarly
cautioned; Nov. viii, 7, Edict 1.
[334] Nov. xv, 3, 6; lxxxvi, 7. The limit of his court was 300 solidi
(£165). Generally the Bishops also had judicial functions, and like the
rest are threatened, as not being always above suspicion; _Ibid._, 6.
The clerics were instructed to resort to them in the first instance, and
only afterwards to the civil judges if the question proved to be beyond
their legal acquirements; Nov. lxxxiii; cf. lxxix.
[335] Nov. xxiii.
[336] Nov. lxxxii. A dozen of these _pedanei judices_ are mentioned by
name. In the capital they were mostly nobles, and of all ranks.
[337] Nov. lxxx. If they were proved to be idle or unemployed persons,
work was to be found for them in the state factories, cripples and the
aged excepted; _Ibid._, 6.
[338] Nov. xiii; cf. Procopius, Anecd., 20; Jn. Lydus, De Magistr., ii,
30. Twenty soldiers and thirty _matricarii_ (firemen?) were allotted to
him. As we have seen (p. 81), there was from the first a regional band
of the kind; but perhaps this new body was general and supervisional.
[339] Nov. xiv.
[340] Jn. Malala, xviii, p. 40; "five pieces of money," not aurei, but
apparently coins of small value.
[341] Procopius, Anecd., 17; De Aedif., 1, 9.
[342] Nov. lxxvii; cxli; Procopius, Anecd., 16, 20, etc. They were
subjected to amputation of the offending member and exhibited publicly
in their mutilated condition; Jn. Malala, p. 430. Isaiah of Rhodes and
Alexander of Diospolis are mentioned as Bishops thus treated. "Il leur
fit couper les reins, qu'il fit exposer à un poteau.... Un héraut
criait," etc. Michael Melit. (Langlois), p. 193. J. was remonstrated
with on the cruelty of the procedure, whereupon he replied, "If they had
committed sacrilege, would you not have cut off their hands?" Zonaras,
xiv, 7.
[343] Nov. cxlii.
[344] _Ibid._
[345] Nov. xxviii, 4; xxix, 5; xxx, 6, 11.
[346] Nov. viii, 8, 10; xxviii, 5.
[347] Nov. viii, 10.
[348] Nov., xxv, 11; cf. Cod., I, xvii, 2, etc.
[349] Nov. viii, 10.
[350] _Ibid._, 11.
[351] _Ibid._
[352] Nov. viii, _praef._ This is his first great Reform Act, to which
the rest are expletory. He opens by celebrating his public spirit and
philanthropy. "Day and night alike we devote to lucubrations and
cogitations respecting whatever may be of utility to our subjects, so
that they may be able to live peacefully and free from all anxiety,"
etc. But he soon begins to let the cat out of the bag—"We find that many
causes of injustice have crept in whereby our subjects are reduced to
indigence, so that they cannot pay the proper tributes.... Protected
from the oppression of the governors, they will thrive, and hence the
state and treasury will overflow, having rich taxpayers at its
disposal," etc.
[353] Procopius, Anecd., _passim_; Jn. Lydus, De Magistr., iii, 57-70;
Zonaras, xiv, 6.
[354] See pp. 198, 444 _et seq._
[355] Nov., xxxi. Even the tract known as Armenia Minor, on the
proximate bank of the river, which had long been an integral part of the
Empire, was ruled by "Satraps" in an almost kingly fashion, and a
semi-regal costume was permitted to them. Four were abolished by Zeno on
account of disaffection (Procopius, De Aedif., iii, 1), and the very
name was now rejected by Justinian as being "un-Roman."
[356] Procopius, De Bel. Pers., ii, 3.
[357] Procopius, Anecd., 24.
[358] _Ibid._, 20.
[359] Procopius, Anecd., 25.
[360] _Ibid._
[361] _Ibid._ The rise in price was so great (nearly forty to one) as to
be almost incomprehensible, but the manuscript was corrupt, and has been
emended on conjecture by Alemannus. It appears, however, that the value
of ordinary silk returned to what it was under Aurelian (see p. 133, its
weight in gold), while the Imperial purple (_holovera_; cf. Cod. Theod.,
X, xxi; Cod., XI, ix) was rated at four times that amount.
[362] Procopius, Anecd., 26. The _panis gradilis_ (see p. 81) was now
abolished at Alexandria.
[363] See p. 147.
[364] Procopius, Anecd., 26.
[365] _Ibid._
[366] _Ibid._ The text of the decree has not come down to us, but
Basilius was the last Consul, and subsequently official documents are
dated as "An. I, II, etc., _post Basil_." Yet only five years before
Justinian drew up elaborate rules for the observance of the consular
season: Nov. cv. Beginning from Jan. 1, he apportioned to each day of
the week its quantum of processions with scattered largess, horse races,
hunts with dogs in the amphitheatre, boxing and wrestling, man and beast
fights, and theatrical displays in which the loose feminine element
predominated.
[367] Procopius, Anecd., 25. He enacted that only 180 pence (follis,
about 5-4_d._) should now be given for the solidus, instead of 210, as
formerly. See p. 122.
[368] Procopius, Anecd., 19-22. A particular impost called the "aerikon"
(windfall) worked by the Praetorian Praefect, produced 3,000 pounds of
gold (£120,000) annually. It seems to have been an income tax levied on
governmental employees. _Ibid._, 21. The _epibole_ (waste land tax; see
p. 151; Cod. Theod., XIII, xi, 12; Cod., XI, lviii; Nov. clxv, etc.) was
pushed to the most oppressive extreme in this reign. _Ibid._, 23. One
special instance of the subterfuges resorted to for confiscating private
property may be cited. A lady of Ascalon, married, inherited
considerable wealth from her father, and subsequently as a widow, by the
death of her only child, became heiress of her husband's property.
Forthwith Justinian seized on the whole estate, declaring it iniquitous
that the old lady, as she had now become, should be enriched by both
father and husband. He, however, granted her a pension of one solidus a
day, explaining that he did so "for the sake of piety, and because it is
my custom to act in a holy and pious manner." _Ibid._, 29. Other
examples in same chapter.
[369] Speaking of Egypt, he remarks that "matters have been so
confounded down there that what is enacted in the province cannot be
known here [CP.]"; Edict xiii, _praef._
[370] In 548 he re-established the Vicar of Pontus on account of the
ineradicable disorders. His jurisdiction included all the northern
region of Asia Minor from the coast opposite CP. to the borders of
Armenia. His task is, as usual, to restrain every sort of outrage on
women and property, the culprits being men of all ranks, "priests,
magistrates, nobles, and plebeians."—Edict viii. Command of the army is
given him for the purpose. In 545, and even twenty years later, the
injunction as to the fifty days' delay is still being launched at the
Rectors; Nov. cxxviii, 23; clxi, 1. In 556 an all-round diatribe
denounces the time-honoured malpractices of local rulers, the bishops
even being included in the prohibitions; Nov. cxxxiv. Imperial decrees
were generally accompanied by a threat that a fine of 10 pounds of gold
(£400) and dismissal would be inflicted on the official to whom they
were addressed, if he neglected to publish and give them full force;
Nov. x, etc.
[371] Procopius, Anecd., 21.
[372] That Justinian and his consort were held in general detestation
during the greater part of their reign by a majority of their subjects,
who vented "curses, not loud, but deep" against them, appears to be
indicated clearly by the expressions of Procopius. "Wherefore I, and
most of my acquaintances, did not consider them to be human beings, but
pernicious demons, such as the poets call vampires," etc.; Anecd., 12.
"His mother is said to have told her friends that he was not the son of
Sabbatius, nor of any man, but that before her pregnancy a species of
demon came to her"; _Ibid._ "That he was not a man, but a demon in human
form, any one could prove by the magnitude of the ills which he brought
on the human race"; _Ibid._, 18. Jn. Lydus, however, always represents
Justinian as being "good and kind," "long-suffering," etc., and as quite
ignorant of the doings of John, who bullied his subordinates so that
none of them would have dared to breathe a word against him; De
Magistr., iii, 57, 69, etc. Lydus was a clerk in the civil service, who
rose to be the head of a department, but he complains that he never
received his pay; _Ibid._, 66, 67, etc.
[373] Procopius, Anecd., 23. He made no concessions whatever, according
to our author, writing in 550. His first, and apparently his only,
remission of arrears was, in fact, not made till 553; Nov. cxlvii.
Malala (p. 437) records that in 528 he abolished some tax, a subsidy to
the Gothic _foederati_. The defaulting tax-payer was put on a level with
the homicide, and denied the right of sanctuary in a church; Nov. xvii,
7. To the Rectors he says, "You must see that exaction of the public
tributes be decently effected, even in the Temples ... the ecclesiastics
will aid you," etc.
[374] His fullest style is: "Imperator Caesar Flavius Justinianus,
Alemannicus, Gothicus, Francicus, Germanicus, Lazicus, Alanicus,
Vandalicus, Africanus, pius, felix, gloriosus, victor ac triumphator,
nunquam non colendus Augustus"; Nov. xliii; cf. Chron. Paschal., an.
552, etc. If he could have added "Persicus" in the beginning of his
reign, it would have been worth all the rest.