Everything was done at the wrong time, and nothing that was
established was allowed to continue. To prevent my narrative being
interminable, I will merely mention a few instances, and pass over the
remainder in silence. In the first place, Justinian neither possessed
in himself the appearance of Imperial dignity, nor demanded that it
should be respected by others, but imitated the barbarians in
language, appearance, and ideas. When he had to issue an Imperial
decree, he did not intrust it to the Quaestor in the usual way, but
for the most part delivered it himself by word of mouth, although he
spoke his own language like a foreigner; or else he left it in the
hands of one of those by whom he was surrounded, so that those who had
been injured by such resolutions did not know to whom to apply. Those
who were called A Secretis,[12] and had from very ancient times
fulfilled the duty of writing the secret dispatches of the Emperor,
were no longer allowed to retain their privileges; for he himself
wrote them nearly all, even the sentences of the municipal
magistrates, no one throughout the Roman world being permitted to
administer justice with a free hand. He took everything upon himself
with unreasoning arrogance, and so managed cases that were to be
decided, that, after he had heard one of the litigants, he immediately
pronounced his verdict and obliged them to submit to it, acting in
accordance with no law or principle of justice, but being evidently
overpowered by shameful greed. For the Emperor was not ashamed to take
bribes, since his avarice had deprived him of all feelings of shame.
It frequently happened that the decrees of the Senate and the edicts
of the Emperor were opposed to each other; for the Senate was as it
were but an empty shadow, without the power of giving its vote or of
keeping up its dignity; it was assembled merely for form's sake and in
order to keep up an ancient custom, for none of its members were
allowed to utter a single word. But the Emperor and his consort took
upon themselves the consideration of questions that were to be
discussed, and whatever resolutions they came to between themselves
prevailed. If he whose cause had been victorious had any doubt as to
the legality of his success, all he had to do was to make a present of
gold to the Emperor, who immediately promulgated a law contrary to all
those formerly in force. If, again, anyone else desired the revival of
the law that had been repealed, the autocrat did not disdain to revoke
the existing order of things and to reestablish it. There was nothing
stable in his authority, but the balance of justice inclined to one
side or the other, according to the weight of gold in either scale. In
the market-place there were buildings under the management of palace
officials, where traffic was carried on, not only in judicial, but
also in legislative decisions. The officers called "Referendars" (or
mediators) found it difficult to present the requests of petitioners
to the Emperor, and still more difficult to bring before the council
in the usual manner the answer proper to be made to each of them; but,
gathering together from all quarters worthless and false testimony,
they deceived Justinian, who was naturally a fit subject for
deception, by fallacious reports and misleading statements. Then,
immediately going out to the contending parties, without acquainting
them with the conversation that had taken place, they extorted from
them as much money as they required, without anyone venturing to
oppose them.
Even the soldiers of the Praetorian guard, whose duty it was to attend
the judges in the court of the palace, forced from them whatsoever
judgments they pleased. All, so to speak, abandoned their own sphere
of duty, and followed the paths that pleased them, however difficult
or untrodden they had previously been. Everything was out of gear;
offices were degraded, not even their names being preserved. In a
word, the Empire resembled a queen over boys at play. But I must pass
over the rest, as I hinted at the commencement of this work.
I will now say something about the man who first taught the Emperor to
traffic in the administration of justice. His name was Leo; he was a
native of Cilicia, and passionately eager to enrich himself. He was
the most utterly shameless of flatterers, and most apt in ingratiating
himself with the ignorant, and with the Emperor, whose folly he made
use of in order to ruin his subjects. It was this Leo who first
persuaded Justinian to barter justice for money. When this man had
once discovered these means of plunder, he never stopped. The evil
spread and reached such a height that, if anyone desired to come off
victorious in an unjust cause against an honest man, he immediately
repaired to Leo, and, promising to give half of his claim to be
divided between the latter and the Emperor, left the palace, having
already gained his cause, contrary to all principles of right and
justice. In this manner Leo acquired a vast fortune, and a great
quantity of land, and became the chief cause of the ruin of the State.
There was no longer any security in contracts, in law, in oaths, in
written documents, in any penalty agreed upon, or in any other
security, unless money had been previously given to Leo and the
Emperor. Nor was even this method certain, for Justinian would accept
bribes from both parties; and, after having drained the pockets of
both of those who had put confidence in him, he was not ashamed to
cheat one or other of them (no matter which), for, in his eyes, there
was nothing disgraceful in playing a double part, provided only that
it turned out profitable for him.
Such a man was Justinian.