VI
Now what manner of persons Justinian and Theodora were and the method by which they ruined the Roman Empire I shall proceed to tell forthwith. [2] When Leon was holding the imperial power in Byzantium, three young farmers, Illyrians by race, Zimarchus, Dityvistus and Justinus from Vederiana, men who at home had to struggle incessantly against conditions of poverty and all its attendant ills, in an effort to better their condition set out to join the army. [3] And they came to Byzantium, walking on foot and themselves carrying cloaks slung over their shoulders, and when they arrived they had in these cloaks nothing more than toasted bread which they had put in at home; and the Emperor enrolled them in the ranks of the soldiers and designated them for the Palace Guard. For they were all men of very fine figure. [4] But at a later time Anastasius, who had succeeded to the royal power, became involved in a war against the Isaurian nation, who had taken up arms against him. [5] And he sent a considerable army against them, commanded by John who is known as the Hunchback. This John had confined Justinus in a prison because of some offence and was on the point of removing him from the world on the following day, and would have done so had not a vivid dream come to him in the meantime and prevented him. [6] For the General declared that in a dream a certain person came to him, a creature of enormous size and in other respects too mighty to resemble a man. [7] And this vision enjoined upon him to release the man whom he had chanced to imprison on that day; and John said that upon arising from sleep he paid no heed to the vision of his dream. [8] But when the next night came on, he seemed once more in sleep to hear the words which he had heard before; yet even so he was unwilling to carry out the order. [9] And a third time the vision stood over him and threatened him with a terrible fate if he should fail to carry out the instructions, and added that when he in later times should become exceedingly angry, he would have need of this man and of his family.
[10] So at the same time it came about that Justinus was saved in this way, and as time went on this Justinus advanced to great power. [11] For the Emperor Anastasius appointed him Commander of the Palace Guards. And when the Emperor departed this life, he himself, because of the power of his office, succeeded to the throne, being already an old man tottering to his grave, who had never learned to tell one letter from another, and was, as the familiar phrase has it, “without the alphabet,” a thing which had never happened before among the Romans. [12] And while it was customary for the Emperor to affix letters in his own hand to all documents containing the orders that issued from him, he was unable either to issue orders himself or intelligently to share in the knowledge of what was being done. [13] But the man who drew the lot to sit as his Counsellor, Proclus by name, who held the office of Quaestor, as it is called, himself used to attend to all matters with independent judgment. [14] But in order that they might have evidence of the Emperor’s hand, those who had this matter in charge devised the following plan. [15] Taking a small strip of prepared wood, they cut into it a sort of pattern of the four letters which mean in the Latin tongue “I have read,” and dipping the pen into ink of the colour which Emperors are wont to use in writing, they would put it into the hand of this Emperor. [16] And placing on the document the strip of wood which I have mentioned and grasping the Emperor’s hand, they moved it and the pen along the pattern of the four letters, causing it to follow all the winding lines cut in the wood, and then went their way, carrying that kind of writing of the Emperor.
[17] Such an Emperor had the Romans in Justinus. And he had a wife named Lupicina who, as being a slave and a barbarian, had been concubine of the man who had previously bought her. And she as well as Justinus attained the throne in the closing years of life.
[18] Now Justinus did not succeed in doing his subjects any harm nor any good either. For he had a very easy-going disposition, being an altogether tongue-tied man and a very boorish fellow. [19] And his nephew Justinian, who was still young, used to administer the entire government and he proved the author of calamities for the Romans — calamities so serious and so manifold that in all the history of the world probably no one previously had ever heard their equal. [20] For he used to proceed with the lightest of hearts to the unjust murder of men and the seizure of other men’s money, and for him it was nothing that countless thousands of men should have been destroyed, though they had given him no grievance. [21] And he took no thought to preserve what was established, but he was always wishing to make innovations in everything, and, to put all in a word, this man was an arch-destroyer of well-established institutions. [22] Now the plague which was described by me in the previous narrative, though it fell upon the entire world, was escaped by no fewer persons than those who chanced to be carried away, either because they were not taken at all by the disease or because they recovered when they had the fortune to be caught. [23] This man, however, not one living person of the entire Roman world had the fortune to escape, but, like any other affliction from Heaven falling upon the whole race, he left not a single soul wholly untouched. [24] For some he killed without any just cause, while others he left in the grip of poverty, making them more wretched than those who had died, so that they implored him to resolve the present misery by a most pitiable death. In some cases, however, he destroyed both property and life. [25] But since it was nothing for him to ruin the Roman Empire alone, he succeeded in subjugating Libya and Italy for no other reason than to be able to destroy the inhabitants of these countries along with those previously under his sway. [26] Indeed, when he had been not yet ten days in power, he slew Amantius, Director of the Palace eunuchs, together with certain others for no cause whatever, charging the man with nothing except that he had spoken some hasty word against John, the Chief Priest of the city. [27] And as a result of this conduct he became the most dreaded man in the world. And he immediately summoned also Vitalian, the usurper, having previously given him a pledge for his safety by sharing with him the Christian sacraments. But a little later, [28] when he was suspected of having given him offence, he executed him in the Palace together with his followers for no just cause, by no means consenting to honour his pledges, terrible as they were.
VII
Now the populace from of old has been divided into two Factions, as was stated by me in the preceding narrative, and he now adopted one of them, namely the Veneti or “Blues,” of whom, as it happened, he had previously been an enthusiastic supporter, and thus succeeded in throwing everything into confusion and disorder; and thereby he brought the Roman State to its knees. [2] But not all the Blues saw fit to follow the will of this man, but only those who chanced to be militant. [3] And yet even these, as the evil developed, seemed to be the most temperate men in the world; for their sins fell short of their licence to commit them. [4] And of course the militant group of the Greens did not on their part remain quiet, but they too were constantly busy with crimes, as far as came within their power, although they were being punished continually, one at a time. [5] Yet this very fact always led them on to deeds of much greater daring; for men, when they unjustly treated, are wont to become desperate. [6] So at this time, while he kept fanning the flames and manifestly stirring up the Blues, the whole Roman Empire was agitated from top to bottom, as if an earthquake or a deluge had fallen upon it, or as if each and every city had been captured by the enemy. [7] For everything was thrown into confusion in every part and nothing thereafter remained fixed, but both the laws and the orderly form of the government were completely overturned by the confusion that ensued.
[8] In the first place, the mode of dressing the hair was changed to a rather novel style by the Factions; [9] for they did not cut it at all as the other Romans did. For they did not touch the moustache or the beard at all, but they wished always to have the hair of these grow out very long, as the Persians do. [10] But the hair of their heads they cut off in front back to the temples, leaving the part behind to hang down to a very great length in a senseless fashion, just as the Massagetae do. Indeed for this reason they used to call this the “Hunn
ic” fashion.
[11] In the second place, as to fashions in dress, they all insisted on being well clad in fine garments, clothing themselves in raiment too pretentious for their individual rank. [12] For they were enabled to acquire such clothing from stolen funds. And the part of the tunic which covered the arms was gathered by them very closely about the wrist, while from there to each shoulder it billowed out to an incredible breadth. [13] And as often as their arms were waved about, either as they shouted in the theatres and hippodromes, or urged men on to victory in the customary manner, this part of their garments would actually soar aloft, causing the foolish to suppose that their bodies must be so fine and sturdy that they must needs be covered by such garments, not taking into consideration the fact that by the loosely woven and empty garment the meagreness much rather than the sturdiness of their bodies was demonstrated. [14] Also their cloaks and their drawers and especially their shoes, as regards both name and fashion, were classed as “Hunnic.”
[15] Now at first practically all of them carried weapons openly at night, but in the day-time they concealed small two-edged swords along the thigh under their mantle, and they gathered in groups as soon as it became dark and would waylay men of the better classes both in the market-place at large and in the alleys, robbing their victims of their clothing and their girdles and gold brooches and whatever besides they might have in their hands. [16] And some they saw fit to kill as well as to rob, to keep them from carrying word to anyone of what had befallen them. [17] Now these performances outraged everyone and particularly the partisans of the Blue Faction who were not militant, for not even they remained immune. [18] The result of this was that thereafter most men used girdles and brooches of bronze and mantles much inferior to their station, in order that they might not destroyed by their love of beautiful things, and even before the sun had set they would withdraw into their houses and remain out of sight. [19] And as the evil continued and no attention was paid to the offenders by the city Government, the boldness of these men kept steadily rising to a great height. [20] For when wrongdoing is accorded full licence, it naturally goes beyond all bounds, since even such crimes as are punished are usually not completely eradicated; [21] for by nature most men turn readily to sin.
[22] Such were the fortunes of the Blues. And of the partisans of the opposing side, some swung over to their faction through an eagerness to have a hand in committing offences without incurring punishment, while others took to flight and were lost to sight in other lands; many also who were caught there in the city were destroyed by their opponents or were put to death as a punishment by the Government. [23] Many young men also flocked to this association, men who previously had never taken an interest in these affairs, but were now drawn to it by the lure of power and the opportunity for wanton insolence. [24] For there is no unholy act which bears a name among men which was not committed during this period and remained without punishment. [25] Now at first they were destroying their rival partisans, but as time went on they began to slay also those who had given them no offence at all. [26] Many too won them over by bribes and then pointed out their own personal enemies, and these they would destroy immediately, attributing to them the name of Greens, though they were in fact altogether unknown to them. [27] And these things took place no longer in darkness or concealment, but at all hours of the day and in every part of the city, the crimes being committed, it might well be, before the eyes of the most notable men. For the wrongdoers had no need to conceal their crimes, [28] for no dread of punishment lay upon them, nay, there even grew up a sort of zest for competitions among them, since they got up exhibitions of strength and manliness, in which they shewed that with a single blow they could kill any unarmed man who fell in their way, and no man longer dared to hope that he would survive among the perilous circumstances of daily life. [29] For all suspected, because of their great fear, that death was pressing close upon them, and neither did any place seem to be safe nor any time to offer a guarantee of safety to any man, because men were being killed even in the most honoured of the sanctuaries and at the public festivals for no reason, and no confidence remained in either friends or relatives. For many were being killed through the treachery of those most closely akin to them.
[30] No investigation, however, of the crimes which had been committed took place. But the calamity in all cases fell unexpectedly and no one would try to avenge the fallen. [31] And in no law or contract was there left any effective power resting upon the security of the existing order, but everything was turned to a reign of increasing violence and confusion, and the Government resembled a tyranny, yet not a tyranny that had become established, but one rather that was changing every day and constantly beginning again. [32] And the decisions of the magistrates seemed like those of terrified men whose minds were enslaved through fear of a single man; and those who sat in judgment, in rendering their decisions on the points in dispute, gave their verdicts, not as seemed to them just and lawful, but according as each of the disputants had hostile or friendly relations with the Factions. For should any judge have disregarded the instructions of these men, the penalty of death hung imminently over him.
[33] And many money-lenders were forced through sheer compulsion to restore to their debtors their contracts without having received back any part of their loan, and many persons not at all willingly set their slaves free. [34] And they say that certain women were forced by their own slaves to many acts that were sore against their will. [35] And already the sons of men of high station, having mingled with these lawless youths, were compelling their fathers to do much against their will and in particular to deliver over their money to them. [36] And many unwilling boys were compelled to enter into unholy intercourse with the Factionists, with the full knowledge of their fathers. [37] And women, too, while living with husbands, had to submit to this same treatment. And it is said that one woman, dressed in elegant fashion, was crossing with her husband to some suburb on the opposite mainland; and in the course of this crossing they were met by some of the Factionists, who tore her from her husband with a threat and placed her in their own boat; and as she entered the boat with the young men, she stealthily urged her husband to be of good courage and to fear no harm for her; [38] for, she said, she would not suffer any outrage to her person. And even while her husband looked upon her in great sorrow, she threw herself into the sea and straightway vanished from among men.
[39] Such, then, was the outrageous conduct of the Factionists at this time in Byzantium. Yet these things distressed the victims less than the wrongs committed by Justinian against the State, for in the case of those who have suffered the cruelest treatment at the hands of malefactors, the greatest part of the distress arising from a state of political disorder is removed by the constant expectation of punishment to be exacted by the laws and the Government. [40] For in their confident hope of the future men bear their present ills more lightly and easily, but when treated with violence by the power in control of the State, they naturally grieve over their misfortunes the more and are constantly driven to despair by the fact that punishment is not to be expected. [41] And Justinian offended not alone in that he refused absolutely to champion the cause of the wronged, but also because he did not object at all to making himself the avowed protector of the Factionists; [42] for he kept issuing great sums of money to these youths, and retained many of them about his own person, and some of them he even saw fit to summon to the magistracies and to other stations of honour.
VIII
These things, then, were being enacted both in Byzantium and in every other city. For the evil, like any other malady, beginning there fell like a scourge upon every part of the Roman Empire. [2] But the Emperor Justinus paid not the slightest heed to what was passing, for he, in fact, had no power of perception at all, though he was an eye-witness at all times of what was being done in the hippodromes. [3] For he was extraordinarily simple-minded and exceedingly like a stupid donkey, inclined to follow the man who pulls the rein, hi
s ears waving steadily the while. [4] And Justinian was not only doing the things described but was also throwing everything else into confusion. Indeed, as soon as this man laid hold of the Government of his uncle, he straightway was eager to squander the public funds with complete recklessness, seeing he had become master of them. For he kept squandering very great sums for service to the State on those of the Huns who chanced from time to time to meet him; and as a result of this the land of the Romans came to be exposed to frequent inroads. [6] For when once these barbarians had tasted the wealth of the Romans, they could no longer keep away from the road leading to Byzantium.
[7] He also saw fit to throw much money into certain buildings along the sea, seeking to put constraint upon the incessant surge of the waves. [8] For he kept moving outward from the beach by piling up stones, being determined to compete with the wash of the sea, and, as it were, seeking to rival the strength of the sea by the sheer power of wealth. [9] And he gathered into his hands the private property of every Roman in the whole world, charging some of them with some crime or other which they had not committed, and in the case of others deluding their minds with the idea that they had made him a present. [10] And many who had been convicted of murder and other such crimes handed over to him their entire fortunes and thus escaped paying the penalty for their misdeeds; [11] and others who might, for instance, be urging against their neighbours a claim to certain lands to which they had no right, finding themselves unable, because the law was against them, to secure a judgment against their adversaries by arbitration, simply bestowed this disputed property upon the Emperor and so were free of the business, thus winning for themselves, by a gift which cost them nothing, an acquaintance with this man, and having succeeded by most illegal means in getting the better of their opponents at law.
Delphi Complete Works of Procopius Page 96