BIRTH AND FORTUNES OF THE ELDER JUSTIN: THE ORIGINS OF JUSTINIAN
The function of a government is to administer the affairs of mankind in
accordance with the spirit of the age. Not from the political arena,
but from the laboratory emanates that expansion of knowledge which
surely, though fitfully, changes the aspect and methods of civilization
both in peace and war. An impulse which controls the passions of
millions may originate with some obscure investigator who reveals a
more immediate means to individual or national advantage; and the
executive of government is called on to create legislative facilities
for the utilization of the new discovery. During the modern period
such influences have been continuous and paramount. In the course
of a single century a transformation of the world has been achieved
by fruitful research, greater than in all previously recorded time.
The Georgian era contrasts less strongly with the times of Aristotle
and Cicero than with the present day; and the rapid progress of the
nineteenth century almost throws the age of Johnson and Gibbon into the
shadow of mediaevalism.
Far back in the prehistoric past a bridge was thrown across the chasm
which separates savage from civilized life by the discovery of a
process for the smelting of metallic ore; and the birth of all the arts
may be dated from the time when some primitive race passed from the age
of stone into that of bronze or iron. To the ancient world that first
step in science must have appeared also to be the last; and ages rolled
away during which man learned no more than to employ effectively the
materials thus acquired. If the expectation that diligent research may
be rewarded by some signal increase of knowledge be excluded from the
sphere of human activity, individual aspirations must be restricted
to whatever is social and national; and those desirous of distinction
have no choice but to devote themselves to art or politics. Within
these channels were confined the energies of the people of antiquity;
in some states the leading characteristic was civic adornment; in
others the cultivation of martial efficiency; to rise to despotic
power was the usual ambition of a democratic statesman; to attain to
an imperial position that of a flourishing state. Wars of aggression
were constantly undertaken, and defensive wars uniformly became so
whenever superiority was manifested. Such conflicts in the past have
had no permanent influence on the advancement of mankind; and from time
to time have been equally conducive to the spread of civilization or
barbarism. During the classical period the arts and learning of Athens
were attendant on the success of the Grecian or the Roman arms; in the
Middle Ages the Goth, the Hun, the Saracen, and the Tartar closed in on
the Roman Empire and nullified the work of those enlightened nations.
At the present day the advance of civilization, though independent of
conquest, is often hastened by aggression;[1065] and there seems no
likelihood that it will ever again recede from a territory where it
has once been established. At all times scarcity of the necessaries
of life, real or conventional, tends to initiate a contest; nor is
it possible to foresee an age when, in the absence of a struggle for
existence, the world will subside into a condition of perpetual peace.
In the sixth century, among the Byzantines, the public mind was still
oppressed with a sense of the supreme importance of religion. That
orthodox Christianity must prevail remained the passion of the day; and
in the view of each dissentient sect their creed alone was orthodox.
Hence government became an instrument of hierarchy, politics synonymous
with sectarianism, and the chief business of the state was to eradicate
heresy. Mediaevalism was created by this spirit; in the East the
Emperor became a pope;[1066] in the West the Pope was to become a
sovereign. The conception of being ruled from the steps of an altar was
foreign to the genius of classical antiquity, and Christianity almost
effected a reversal of the political spirit of the ancient world.
In the midsummer of 518 occurred the death of Anastasius,[1067] one
of the few capable and moderate Emperors whom the Byzantines produced.
Although imbued with a heresy by his mother,[1068] and zealous for
its acceptance,[1069] he refrained from persecution, and declared
that he would not shed a drop of blood to effect the removal of his
ecclesiastical opponents.[1070] All his efforts were conciliatory,
and he would have obliterated disunion in the Church if his influence
could have induced fanaticism to accord in the Henoticon of Zeno.[1071]
He dealt impartially with the Demes, but inclined slightly to one
faction, the Green, in formal compliance with traditional usage in
the Circus.[1072] He relieved oppressive taxation,[1073] restrained
extravagance, and, though practising thrift,[1074] responded liberally
to every genuine application.[1075] His administration was much admired
by those who were free from sectarian prejudice;[1076] and even
the bigoted adherents of the Chalcedonian synod cannot avoid being
eulogistic when recounting some of his measures.[1077]
Within the Byzantine province of Dardania, to the south of modern
Servia, was situated the municipal town of Scupi,[1078] in a plain
almost contained by a mountainous amphitheatre, consisting of the
Scardus chain, and its connections with the greater ranges of Pindus
and Haemus.[1079] Among its dependent villages, lying along the banks
of the Axius or Vardar, the river of the plain, were the hamlets of
Bederiana and Tauresium.[1080] Under Roman rule the language and
manners of Latium became indigenous to this region; and, although
the barbarians in their periodical inroads poured through the passes
of Scardus on the north-west to spread themselves over Thrace and
Macedonia,[1081] the Latinized stock still maintained its ground in the
fifth century.[1082] Throughout the Empire it was a usual practice for
sons of the free peasantry to abandon agricultural penury, and, without
a change of clothing, provided only with a wallet containing a few days
provisions, to betake themselves on foot to the capital, in the hope
of chancing on better fortune.[1083] About the year 470, when Leo the
Thracian occupied the throne, a young herdsman of Bederiana, bearing
the classical name of Justin, resolved on this enterprise, and arrived
at Constantinople with two companions whose lot had been similar to his
own.[1084] There they presented themselves for enlistment in the army,
and, as the three youths were distinguished by a fine physique, they
were gladly accepted, and enrolled among the palace guards.[1085] Two
of them are lost to our view for ever afterwards in the obscurity of
a private soldier’s life,[1086] but Justin, though wholly illiterate,
entered on a successful military career. At the end of a score of
years he reappears under Anastasius, with the rank of a general, and
intrusted with a subordinate command in the Isaurian war.[1087] A
decade later he is again heard of among those who prosecuted the siege
of Amida, which led to its recovery from the Persians;[1088] and before
the death of the Emperor he becomes conspicuous at head-quarters,
with the dignities of a Patrician, a Senator, and of Commander of the
household troops.[1089] While holding this office he was also deputed
to a command at sea, and took an active part in repelling the naval
attack of Vitalian.[1090]
During the vicissitudes of his life in the camp, Justin remained
unmarried and childless, but he became the purchaser of a barbarian
captive, named Lupicina, whom he retained as a concubine, and never
afterwards repudiated.[1091] While, however, he was rising to a
position of importance and affluence, he was not unmindful of those
relatives from whom he had separated at his native place. At Tauresium
dwelt a sister,[1092] the wife of one Sabbatius,[1093] and the
mother of two children, a son and a daughter.[1094] As soon as young
Sabbatius,[1095] for the nephew of Justin bore his father’s name, had
arrived at a suitable age, he was invited to the capital by his uncle,
who became his guardian, and had him educated in a manner befitting
a youth of high rank.[1096] On the completion of his studies, it was
natural that Sabbatius should be claimed for military service, wherein
his guardian’s influence was centred, and he was drafted forthwith into
the ranks of the Candidati or bodyguards of the Emperor.[1097] Finally
Justin legally adopted Sabbatius;[1098] and in token of the fact the
latter assumed the derivative name of Justinian.[1099]
On the death of Anastasius, as at his accession, the Grand Chamberlain
appeared to be master of the situation.[1100] But the chief eunuch of
the day, Amantius, was less influential than his predecessor, Urbicius,
who, with the Empress Ariadne as an ally, had invested the popular
silentiary with the purple; and the means he devised to ensure the
acceptance of his candidate were the actual cause of his rejection.
He decided to bribe the palace guards to proclaim his favourite,
Count Theocritus, and placed a large sum of money in the hands of
Justin for that purpose; but the procedure only served to render
those soldiers conscious of their power to elect an emperor, and they
immediately acclaimed their own commandant as the fittest occupant
of the throne.[1101] The venerable Justin, for he was now long past
three score, did not decline; the Senate bowed to the nomination of
the guards, and the former herdsman took his place in line with the
successors of Augustus.[1102]
The Emperor Justin was a rude soldier, devoid of administrative
capacity except in relation to military affairs, and so illiterate
that he could only append his sign-manual to a document by passing his
pen through the openings in a plate perforated so as to indicate the
first four letters of his name.[1103] After his coronation he married
Lupicina; and the populace, while accepting her as his consort, renamed
her Euphemia.[1104] On his accession Justin promoted his nephew to the
rank of Patrician[1105] and Nobilissimus;[1106] and Justinian became
so closely associated with his uncle that he was generally regarded
as the predominant partner in ruling the state.[1107] But the Emperor
was jealous of his authority, and when the Senate petitioned that the
younger man should be formally recognized as his colleague, he grasped
his robe and answered, “Be on your guard against any young man having
the right to wear this garment.”[1108] Owing to the suddenness of their
elevation both princes were ignorant of the routine of government,
a circumstance which rendered the position of Proclus, the Quaestor
or private adviser of the crown, peculiarly influential during this
reign.[1109]
The first act of Justin, who adhered to the orthodox creed, was to
reverse the temporizing religious policy of Anastasius; and he at
once prepared an edict to render the Council of Chalcedon compulsory
in all the churches. Amantius, Theocritus, and their party saw in
this measure an opportunity of disputing the unforeseen succession,
the overthrow of which they were eager to accomplish. A conspiracy
was hastily organized, and the malcontents assembled in one of the
principal churches, where they entered on a public denunciation of
the new dynasty. The movement, however, was ill supported, and Justin
with military promptness seized the chiefs of the opposition, executed
several, including the eunuch and his satellite, and banished the
others to some distant part.[1110] The edict was then issued and a
ruthless persecution instituted against all recalcitrants throughout
the Asiatic provinces, where ecclesiastics of every grade professing
the monophysite heresy were put to death in great numbers.[1111] At
the same time the Emperor recalled those extremists whom Anastasius
had been unable to mollify and restored them to their former or to
similar appointments.[1112] One danger still remained which might at
any moment subvert the newly erected throne; the powerful Vitalian
was at large, apparently, if not in reality, master of the forces in
Thrace and Illyria. Emissaries were therefore dispatched to him with an
invitation to reside at Constantinople as the chief military supporter
of the government.[1113] He accepted the proposals, stipulating that
an assurance of good faith should previously be given with religious
formalities. The parties met in the church of St. Euphemia, at
Chalcedon,[1114] and there Justin, Justinian, and Vitalian pledged
themselves to each other with solemn oaths while they partook of the
Christian sacraments.[1115] The rebel general was, however, too weighty
a personage to subside into the position of a tame subordinate, and
his masterful presence threatened to nullify the authority of the
Emperor and his nephew.[1116] His ascendancy was endured for more than
a twelvemonth, and the consulship of 520 was conceded to him. But while
he celebrated the games in the Hippodrome popular enthusiasm in his
favour rose to a dangerous height.[1117] The Court became alarmed, and
a hasty resolution was arrived at to do away with him. In the interval
of the display he repaired to the palace with two of his lieutenants
to be entertained at a collation, and on entering the banqueting hall
they were attacked by a company of Justinian’s satellites,[1118]
and Vitalian fell pierced with a multitude of wounds.[1119] Shortly
afterwards Justinian succeeded to his place and was created a Master of
Soldiers, with the virtual rank of commander-in-chief of the Imperial
forces.[1120] The next year he was raised to the consulship[1121] and,
in order to consolidate his popularity, he determined to signalize the
occasion by those lavish festivities which were recorded from time to
time among the wonders of the age. But times had changed since the
Roman public might be edified or disgraced by those spectacles in which
human and animal combatants fought to the death, in mimic land and sea
warfare or hunting encounters, to the number of many thousands; and
the chronicler, in referring to a half-hundred of lions and pards,
evolutions of mail-clad horses, and an increased largess of scattered
coin, in addition to the usual races, bear-baiting, and theatrical
shows, thinks he indicates sufficiently how far the Consul of the day
surpassed the ordinary expectations of the Byzantine populace.[1122]
Having finally won over the capital by these gratifications, Justinian
in his military capacity departed on a tour for the inspection of
garrisons and fortresses throughout the East.[1123] During this period
he made the palace of Hormisdas his official residence.[1124]
The reign of Justin was uneventful politically, the age of the
Autocrator and his incapacity for state affairs precluding the
initiation of any reforms of importance; whilst, although the
foreign relations of the Empire were often in a state of tension,
no considerable hostilities were undertaken.[1125] At home official
activity was chiefly engrossed with the planning of police precautions
for the repression of sedition. During three or four years all the
chief cities were agitated by the turbulence of the Blue faction,
which sought to suppress their rivals of the Green by stoning,
assassination, and wrecking of their dwellings. At length, in 523, the
rioters were subdued by the appointment of special Praefects, whose
severity of character did not shrink from making the culprits pay the
extreme penalty of the law.[1126] With its neighbours of the East
and West the Empire might have existed at this period on terms of
perfect amity but for the disturbing influence of religion. Incensed
at Justin’s oppressive treatment of the Arians, Theodoric, the Gothic
king, declared that he would exterminate the Catholics in Italy[1127]
if freedom of belief were not granted to his co-religionists; and
he compelled Pope John I to lead an embassy to Constantinople with
the object of pleading the cause of those heretics at the Byzantine
court. John, the first of his line to visit New Rome, was received
with enthusiasm by the orthodox Emperor;[1128] but, if the head of
the Western Church urged his appeal with sincerity, Justin at least
proved obdurate, and no concession to the Arians could be extorted
from his bigotry. The Pope returned to Ravenna, the regal seat of the
barbarian king, to expiate his abortive mission by being incarcerated
for the last few months of his life; and the death of Theodoric shortly
afterwards, before he had time to execute his threats, saved Italy from
becoming the scene of brutal reprisals.[1129]
The interspace between the Caspian Sea and the Euxine, the modern
Transcaucasia, was inhabited by semi-savage races, over whom Rome
and Persia preferred almost equal claims to suzerainty. A perpetual
source of friction between the two powers in this region arose from
the necessity of guarding the Caspian Gates,[1130] now the Pass of
Darial,[1131] a practicable gorge through the Caucasus, often traversed
by the Scythian hordes when carrying their devastations to the south.
Alexander is said to have blocked the entry with an iron barrier,[1132]
and subsequently the pass was kept by the Romans until the Sassanian
dynasty became predominant in those parts. The utility to both nations,
however, of maintaining the defence, caused the Persians, after the
collapse of Julian’s expedition, to demand that the Romans should share
the expense.[1133] Theodosius I bought off the claims, but by the time
of Anastasius a Hunnish king, in friendly league with that emperor, had
obtained possession of the forts.[1134] On his death they passed to
the Persians, with the consent of Anastasius, who engaged vaguely to
contribute annually.[1135] Justin tried to evade this payment, but the
Persian monarch declined to be put off, and, as often as the Emperor
fell into arrears, proceeded to recover the amount by distraint.[1136]
His chosen bailiff, whenever he put in an execution, was a ferocious
sheik of the Saracens, named Alamundar,[1137] who raided Syria up
to the walls of Antioch, massacring the population indiscriminately,
and holding captives of substance against their being replevied by
the Romans.[1138] On one occasion he burst into the city of Emesa,
and finding there four hundred virgins congregated in a church, he
sacrificed them all on the same day to Al Uzzâ, the Arabian Venus.[1139]
In two states of the Caucasian region, both under kingly rule,
Christianity had gained a footing about the time of Constantine.[1140]
Lazica, previously Colchis, the subject of heroic legends, and now
Mingrelia, occupied the coast of the Black Sea north and south of
the river Phasis. On its eastern border, watered by the Cyrus, lay
Iberia, at present known as Georgia.[1141] In 522 the young king of
the Lazi, alarmed lest the Persian religion should be forced on him,
fled to Constantinople, and prayed for Christian baptism under the
immediate countenance of the Emperor. Justin assented, and not only
sustained him at the sacred font, but afterwards united him to a Roman
wife, the daughter of one of the patricians of his court. Before his
departure Tzathus was formally invested with ornaments and robes of
state, expressly designed to denote the closeness of his relationship
to Justin and to Rome.[1142] A letter of remonstrance against
surreptitiously tampering with the allegiance of Persian subjects soon
resulted from these proceedings; but Justin denied their political
significance, and dwelt with fanatical insistence on the exigences of
the faith, and the urgency of resisting heathen error.[1143] The throne
of Persia was still occupied by Cavades,[1144] and that monarch now
began to think seriously of going to war with Rome. On reviewing his
resources he decided to enlist the Hunnish tribes, who dwelt beyond
the Caucasus, as allies against the Empire. One of the most powerful
chiefs agreed to his proposals, and met him by prearrangement with a
large following of his nation, but during the conference messengers
arrived who protested that a short time previously the Hun had been
induced by a large subsidy to pledge his support to the Byzantines. “We
are at peace,” said Justin, “and should not allow ourselves to be duped
by these dogs.” In reply to an amicable inquiry the barbarian boasted
shamelessly of the circumstance, whereupon Cavades, convinced of his
treachery, at once ordered him to be cut down by his guards. Forthwith
a night attack was secretly planned against his forces, who, without
becoming aware of the author of the calamity, were dispersed and
slain to the number of many thousands.[1145] More friendly counsels
now began to prevail with the Persian, as it occurred to him that he
might compose his differences with the Emperor to his own advantage.
He was extremely anxious to secure the succession to his favourite son
Chosroes,[1146] to the exclusion of his two elder brothers. There was
reason to fear, however, that on his decease, by the intervention of
the Court or the populace, one of the senior princes might be raised
to the throne. Cavades, therefore, proposed to Justin that he should
adopt Chosroes, considering that no party would have the temerity to
dispute the tiara with a ward of the Empire. Justin and Justinian were
elated at the prospect of exercising a controlling influence in Persian
affairs, but the Quaestor Proclus quickly intervened, and by specious
arguments, led them to see the matter in a totally different light.
The adoption of the Sassanian prince, he urged with heat, would convey
to him a title to inherit the crown of the Empire, Justinian might be
ousted from the succession, and Justin would live in dread of being the
last of the Roman emperors.[1147] An evasive course was resolved on,
and a commission was dispatched to meet the Persian delegates in the
vicinity of Nisibis. Chosroes himself advanced to the Tigris in the
expectation of being escorted to Constantinople by the Roman envoys.
The representatives of the two nations met without cordiality, and
the Persians, contrary to their instructions, began by taunting the
Byzantines with having usurped their rights in Lazica. The Romans
then announced that the Emperor could not adopt a foreigner with legal
formalities, but only by an act of arms, such as was customary among
barbarians. The suggestion was taken as a deliberate insult by the
Persians; the colloquy came to an end abruptly, and Chosroes returned
to his father, vowing vengeance against the Romans.[1148]
It was now evident that war at no distant date could scarcely be
averted, but a further embroilment with respect to religion provoked
overt hostilities, which rendered a positive conflict inevitable.
Having experienced that defection to Rome was a natural sequence of
Christianity being promulgated in his dependencies, Cavades determined
to enforce Magism among the Iberians. But, at the first intimation,
the king of that people made an earnest appeal to Justin, and prepared
to take up arms in defence of his faith. The Emperor responded by
sending two of his generals,[1149] provided with a large sum of money,
to levy auxiliaries for the Iberians, among the Huns who inhabited the
northern shores of the Euxine.[1150] Such was the practical overture
to a war with Persia, which was to last for several years, without any
appreciable gain to either side. During the reign of Justin, however,
hostilities were carried on in a desultory manner, and no battle of
any magnitude was fought. Military detachments were told off to ravage
Persian territory to the north, in the vicinity of the frontier. They
were opposed by similar bands of the enemy, and from time to time
indecisive skirmishes took place. As to Iberia, that country was
abandoned for the time being, the forces raised being insufficient
to withstand the Persian host, and the king with all the native
magnates retreated into Lazica by a narrow pass, called the Iberian
Gates, which was then fortified by a Byzantine garrison.[1151] During
these operations the first mention occurs of some names which became
associated later on with the most notable events in the annals of the
age. An advance into Persarmenia was conducted by two young officers,
specially deputed by Justinian, named Sittas and Belisarius. After
the lapse of a few months (in 527) the latter was transferred to a
more important command at Daras. There, among the civil members of his
staff, he received the future historian Procopius as his legal adviser
or assessor.[1152] About the same time occurred the death of Justin,
whose reign lasted for nine years and a few weeks.
If the sea of politics remained comparatively unruffled in Justin’s
time, nature made amends for the lack of excitement by showing
herself physically in her most active mode. His reign opened with the
appearance of a remarkable comet, the most dreaded portent of impending
disaster.[1153] Nor were the forebodings belied, as the provinces on
both continents were afflicted progressively with violent earthquakes,
intensified by volcanic phenomena.[1154] In Europe, Dyrrachium, the
birthplace of Anastasius, recently adorned by him at great cost, was
overthrown; and Corinth shortly after experienced a similar fate. In
Asia, Anazarbus, the capital of Cilicia, suffered; the central half
of Pompeiopolis sunk into the earth;[1155] and Edessa was ruined by a
flood of the river Scirtus.[1156] The withdrawal of large sums from
the Imperial treasury was entailed by the restoration of these cities.
This series of calamities culminated in the almost total destruction
of Antioch, where the seismological disturbances persisted for more
than a year, the eighth of Justin’s reign, and upwards of a quarter
of a million of the inhabitants perished.[1157] The ground was rifted
in all directions with great gaps which ejected flames; the houses
caught fire or collapsed with their occupants into the yawning chasms;
and a hill of considerable size, overhanging the city, was shattered
with such violence that the streets and buildings in that quarter lay
buried beneath a uniform surface formed by the debris.[1158] The
preliminary shocks were generally disregarded, and the climax, which
occurred during the dinner hour,[1159] was so sudden and widespread,
that the bulk of the population was overwhelmed before they had a
chance to escape. Then only the residue of the citizens made a rush
for the open country, carrying with them whatever valuables they could
seize on in their hasty flight. As soon, however, as they had arrived
at a safe distance, they found themselves beset by bands of rustics,
who had gathered together from every side in order to plunder the
fugitives. Conspicuous among the despoilers was a certain Thomas, a man
with the rank of a silentiary, and wealthy enough to keep a private
guard. Posting himself daily in a convenient position, he directed his
retainers in the operation of stripping systematically all who came in
their way. It is satisfactory to learn from the contemporary historian
that all these wretches were soon overtaken by a miserable death, as
the penalty of their inhumanity; but as we are assured that, without
legal intervention, their retribution emanated from an indignant
providence, which had impelled, or, at least, lain dormant during the
catastrophe, we must conclude that the Nemesis was desiderated rather
than real. The assertion, however, need not be questioned that the
said Thomas died suddenly, to the great joy of the survivors, on the
fourth day of his nefarious enterprise. Great consolation was also
derived from the preternatural appearance of a cross in the clouds;
and all burst into tears and supplications at this signal proof of
the compassion felt for them by a beneficent Deity. In two or three
weeks after the crisis, nature assumed her wonted quiescence, and the
deserted city began to be re-peopled by the returning inhabitants. The
work of restoration at once commenced; and it is recorded that many
persons were then rescued by being dug out of the ruins, under which
they had been buried; among them numbers of women, who in the meantime
had passed safely through the pangs of childbirth.[1160] As soon as
the news of the downfall of Antioch was carried to Constantinople,
the capital was thrown into a state of consternation, and all public
festivities for the season of Whitsuntide, which was at hand, were
renounced. The Emperor, discarding all regal pomp, debased himself
in sackcloth and ashes,[1161] and led a suppliant procession of the
Senate, wearing mourning garments, to the church of St. John at the
Hebdomon. Commissioners were immediately dispatched with ample funds
for reparation, and the ruined city again became visible on the face
of the earth with a rapidity which, in the words of a writer of the
period, gave the impression that it had reappeared suddenly out of the
infernal regions.[1162] But the earthquakes continued and ultimately,
as a safeguard against further visitations of the kind, Antioch was
demised to the special care of the Deity by being renamed Theopolis, or
the City of God.[1163]
The desultory war with Persia was maintained all the time under the
chief command of Licelarius, a Thracian. But that general, while
pushing hostilities over the border into the vicinity of Nisibis,
managed so unskilfully that his whole forces were seized with a panic
and fled back to Roman territory without ever having sighted an enemy.
As an immediate result Licelarius was disgraced and Belisarius promoted
to fill his place. The youth, as he must be called, fulfilled the
expectations he inspired and thenceforward entered on that career of
achievement which was to render him the military hero of his age.
On the 1st of April, 527, Justin formally associated his nephew to
the throne, with the rank of Augustus. He lived exactly four months
afterwards,[1164] and on the 1st of August in the same year the sole
reign of Justinian began.[1165]