Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  [20] And later on he hit upon still another device, one transcending all report. He decided that he would no longer sell, as formerly, those offices which he considered most valuable both in Byzantium and the other cities, but he sought out hired agents and put them in office, instructing them, for a wage of whatever it was, to deliver to him all their plunder. [21] And they, having taken their pay, proceeded to collect and carry off everything from the whole country quite fearlessly, and a hireling authority was thus going the rounds and, in the guise of the office, plundering the subjects. [22] Thus the Emperor, making his calculations with nice exactness, kept putting in power constantly those who were in very truth the vilest rascals in the world, and he always succeeded in tracking down the abominable creatures he wanted. [23] Indeed, when he appointed the first set of rogues to office and the licence of power brought to light their inherent villainy, we were in truth astonished that man’s nature had room for depravity so great. [24] But when those who at some later time succeeded them in office were able to surpass these men by a very wide margin, men wondered among themselves how it was that those who formerly seemed most base were now outdone by their successors to such a degree that they now seemed to have been men of high character in their dealings, and the third group, in turn, overshot the second in every manner of wickedness, and after them still others, by their innovations in crime, caused an honourable name to be attached to their predecessors. [25] And with the long continuance of the evil all men have finally been taught by facts that whereas man’s natural depravity is wont to grow beyond all limits, yet when it is nourished by the instruction of predecessors, and when, through the influence of the licence which complete immunity inspires, it is lured on to wreak foul injuries upon all who fall in its path, then it seems invariably to attain to so great a bulk that not even the imagining of its victims is able to measure it.

  [26] Such was the state of affairs for the Romans, as touching their magistrates. And many a time, when a hostile army of Huns had enslaved and plundered the Roman domain, the generals of Thrace and Illyricum, after purposing to attack the retreating enemy, recoiled when they saw a letter from the Emperor Justinian forbidding them to make the attack upon the barbarians, they being necessary to the Romans as allies against the Goths, it might be, or against some other enemy. [27] As a result of this, these barbarians used to plunder and enslave the Romans in those parts as enemies, and then, taking with them their prisoners and the rest of their plunder, they would retire to their own homes as friends and allies of the Romans. [28] And often some of the farmers of that region, moved by the loss of their children and women, who had been reduced to slavery, gathered in a body, attacked the retreating foe, and succeeded in slaying many of them and in capturing their horses together with all the booty; then, however, they found themselves involved in serious difficulties. [29] For certain men, sent out from Byzantium, saw fit to maul and mutilate their bodies and to impose fines upon them without the least compunction, until they gave up all the horses which they had wrested from the barbarians.

  XXII

  When the Emperor and Theodora had destroyed John the Cappadocian, they wished to appoint someone to his office in his stead, and they made it their common task to find some man of the baser sort, looking about to find such a tool of their tyranny and investigating thoroughly attitude of the candidates, to the end that they might be able still more speedily to ruin their subjects. [2] Now as a temporary measure they put in John’s place in the office Theodotus, a man who, though not of good character, had never proved able to please them completely. [3] After this they went about investigating every possibility. And unexpectedly they found a certain money-changer named Peter, a Syrian by birth, called by the surname of Barsymes. He had years before sat at the table where bronze coins are exchanged and was gaining most shameful returns from this business, contriving his theft of the ha’pennies with great skill and always baffling his customers by the swiftness of his fingers. [4] For he was clever enough to steal freely the possessions of those who fell in with him, and when caught, to give his oath and to cover the sin of his hands by the impudence of his tongue. [5] And when he had been enrolled as a member of the Pretorian Guard, he became so outrageous that he was exceedingly pleasing to Theodora and he gave her readiest assistance in the perplexing details of her wicked enterprises. [6] So they immediately released Theodotus from the office to which he had been appointed after the Cappadocian, and they appointed thereto Peter, who accomplished everything to the liking of them both. [7] For though he deprived the soldiers on active service of all their pay, he was never seen to be moved by either shame or fear, nay, he even offered the offices for sale to a still greater extent than had been done before, and by making them less honourable he used to sell them to men who did not hesitate to carry on this unholy business, giving explicit permission to those who purchased the offices to treat the lives and property of their subjects as they wished. [8] For a bargain was straightway concluded between him and the man who had paid down the price of the office that gave the latter full licence to plunder and pillage. Thus from the capital of the State there issued the traffic in human lives, and there Peter negotiated the contract for the destruction of the cities, [9] while in the highest courts and in the public square of the market-place there paraded a legalized brigand, who described his business as the recouping of the monies put up as the price of office, there being no hope that his misdeeds ever would be punished. [10] And among all those who served this magistracy as subordinates, a numerous and notable company, he always drew to himself the basest men. [11] But herein not he alone was guilty, but rather all who have assumed this office before and since.

  [12] And a similar abuse was practised also in the office of the Magister, as he is called, and among the Palace officials who are wont to attend to the service that has to do with the treasures and with the funds known as privata and the administration of the patrimonium, and, broadly speaking, in all the regular offices established not only in Byzantium but also in the other cities. [13] For since the time when this tyrant took charge of affairs, in each office the revenues which belonged to the minor officials were regularly claimed, without just reason, sometimes by Justinian himself, and sometimes by the man who held the office; and the men who served under their orders, being extremely poor, throughout this whole period were compelled to work under most servile conditions.

  [14] Now at one time a very great quantity of grain had been transported to Byzantium, but after the largest part of this had rotted already, he himself consigned it in proportionate quantities to each several city of the East, though it was not suitable to be eaten by man; and he consigned it, not at the price at which the finest grain is wont to be sold, but at a much higher price, and it was necessary for the purchasers, after spending very great sums of money to meet the very oppressive prices, to throw the grain into the sea or a sewer. [15] And since a huge supply of sound grain which had not yet rotted also lay in storage there, he decided to sell off this too to the very large number of the cities which were in some need of grain. [16] For in this way he made double the money which the Treasury had previously paid to the tributary states for this same grain. [17] But the next year, when the crop of the grains was no longer bountiful to the same degree, the grain-fleet arrived in Byzantium with less than was needed, and Peter, being at a loss because of this situation, decided to buy from the farm-lands of Bithynia and Phrygia and Thrace a great supply of grain. [18] And the inhabitants of these regions were compelled to transport with great labour the cargoes to the sea and to convey them to Byzantium at great peril, and to receive from him the small amounts which passed for prices; and the loss for them mounted up to such a figure that they were glad to be permitted to present the grain to a government warehouse and to deposit a further payment for the privilege. [19] This is the burden which they are accustomed to call “requisition.” But when even thus the supply of grain in Byzantium had not become sufficient to meet the need, many ma
de bitter complaints of the situation to the Emperor. [20] And at the same time pretty nearly all the men in military service, seeing that they had not received their usual pay, gave themselves over to tumults and disturbances throughout the city. [21] So the Emperor seemed at last to be vexed with the man and wished to relieve him of his office both on account of these facts which have been mentioned and also because he had heard that a prodigious amount of money had been hidden away by him, which, as it chanced, he had filched from the Government. And this was true. [22] But Theodora would not permit her husband to act; for she had an extraordinary affection for Barsymes on account of his depravity, as it seems to me, and because he was exceedingly efficient in bringing ruin upon the citizens. [23] For she herself was a very ruthless person and completely filled with inhuman cruelty, and she required that her minions should conform as closely as possible to herself in character. [24] But they say that she was put under a spell by Peter and shewed him favour against her will. [25] For this Barsymes had shewn an exceptional interest in sorcerers and in the evil spirits, and he had a great admiration for the Manichaeans, as they are called, and never hesitated to stand forth openly as their champion. [26] And yet, even when the Empress heard of these reports, she did not abate her good-will towards the man, but she saw fit to both protect and cherish him even more on this account. [27] For she too from childhood on had consorted with magicians and sorcerers, her habits of life seeming to lead her in this direction, and throughout her life she retained her faith in such things and always based her confidence upon them. [28] And it is also said that the way she made Justinian tractable was not so much by cajoling him as by applying to him the compulsion of the evil spirits. [29] For this man was not so right-minded or just a person or so steadfast in virtue as to be at any time superior to attempts upon him of the kind just mentioned, but, on the contrary, while conspicuously susceptible to the appeal of bloodshed and money, yet he found it easy enough to yield to those who tried to cozen and flatter him. [30] But even in those matters in which he took particular interest he used to reverse his position for no real reason and he had become absolutely like a cloud of dust in instability. [31] For this reason none of his relatives, and none of his acquaintances in general, ever based any confident hope on him, but, on the contrary, he had become subject to constant shiftings of his opinion as regards what he was to do. [32] Thus, being easily accessible to the sorcerers, as has been said, he very readily became tractable in the hands of Theodora also; and chiefly for this reason the Empress loved Peter exceedingly as being an expert in such matters. [33] So the Emperor removed him only with difficulty from the office which he previously held, but at the insistence of Theodora he not long afterwards appointed him Master of the Treasuries, dismissing from this office John, who chanced to have assumed it only a few months earlier. [34] Now this man was a native of Palestine, and a very gentle and good person, who neither was skilled in opening ways to wrongful gain nor ever had maltreated any man in the world. [35] In fact, the whole populace loved him with extraordinary devotion. And just for this reason he did not satisfy Justinian and his spouse at all, for as soon as they unexpectedly discovered among their subordinates any man of high character, losing their heads and being vexed to the utmost, they eagerly sought by any and every means to push him out of the way at the earliest possible moment.

  [36] It was in this way, at any rate, that Peter succeeded this John and took charge of the imperial treasuries, and he once more became the chief cause of great calamities for all. [37] For he cut off the greater part of the payment which it had been ordained from of old should be given by the Emperor each year to many in the guise of a “consolation,” and he himself, meanwhile, by improper means, grew rich on the public money and kept handing over a portion of it to the Emperor. [38] And those who had been stripped of their money sat about in great sorrow, since he saw fit also to issue the gold coinage, not at its usual value, but reducing its value materially, a thing which had never been done before.

  [39] Such were the dealings of the Emperor in the matter of the magistrates. And I shall next proceed to tell how, in each division of the Empire, he ruined those who owned the lands. [40] Now it was sufficient for our purpose, in mentioning a short time ago the magistrates sent out to all the cities, to note also the sufferings of the common people. For the owners of land were the first whom these magistrates oppressed and plundered; but even so all the remainder of the story shall be told.

  XXIII

  First of all, though it had been customary from ancient times that each successive Emperor should make, not once, but many times, a donation to all their subjects of the arrears of their debts to the Treasury, in order, on the one hand, to prevent the destitute and those who had no means of paying these arrears from being strangled regularly, and, on the other hand, to avoid providing the tax-gatherers with pretexts in case they should try to denounce those who, though subject to the tax, owed nothing in arrears, this man, for a period of thirty-two years, has done nothing of the kind for his subjects. [2] And for this reason it was necessary for the destitute to go away and in no case to return again. [3] And the denouncers kept harassing the more respectable farmers by holding over them the threat of an accusation, alleging that they had for a long time been paying their tax at a lower rate than that imposed upon their district. [4] For the poor wretches had to fear not only the new payment of the tax, but also the possibility that they might be weighed down by the burden of taxes for so great a number of years for which they owed nothing. [5] In any case, many men actually handed over their property either to the blackmailers or to the Treasury and went their ways. [6] Furthermore, though the Medes and Saracens had plundered the greater part of the land of Asia, and the Huns and Sclaveni and Antae the whole of Europe, and some of the cities had been levelled to the ground, and others had been stripped of their wealth in very thorough fashion through levied contributions, and though they had enslaved the population with all their property, making each region destitute of inhabitants by their daily inroads, yet he remitted the tax to no man, with the single exception that captured cities had one year’s exemption only. [7] And yet if he had seen fit, as did the Emperor Anastasius, to remit to captured cities all their taxes for seven years, I think that even thus he would not have been doing all he should have in view of the fact that, although Cabades had gone his way without doing the least damage to the buildings, yet Chosroes had not only fired every structure and razed it to the ground, but had also inflicted greater sufferings upon his victims. [8] And now to these men to whom he remitted this ridiculously small portion of the tribute, as to all the others likewise — men who had often supported the attacks of the Median army, and though Huns and Saracens had continuously ravaged the lands of the East, and though not less terribly the barbarians in Europe were also wreaking such destruction every day and unceasingly — to these men, I say, this Emperor shewed himself from the first more savage than all the barbarians together. [9] For through “buying on requisition” and what are called “imposts” and “pro-rated assessments,” the owners of the land were immediately, once the enemy had withdrawn, reduced to ruin. [10] Now what these terms are and what they mean I shall proceed to explain.

  [11] The owners of property are compelled to provision the Roman army in proportion to the tax levied upon each owner, the deliveries being made, not where the season of the year at which the requisition is to be filled permits, but where the officials find it possible and have determined, and in making these requisitions no enquiry is made to see whether the farmers happen to have the required provisions on their land. [12] Thus it comes about that these wretched men are compelled to import provisions for both soldiers and horses, buying them all at very much higher prices than they are to receive, and that, too, in a market which, if it so happens, may be at a great distance from their farms, and then to haul back these provisions to the place where the army chances to be, and they must measure out these supplies to the Quartermasters of the arm
y, not in the way accepted by all the world, but just as the Quartermasters wish. [13] And this is the thing which is called “buying on requisition,” and the result of it has been that all the owners of farms have been bled to death. [14] For by this process they are compelled to pay their annual tax not less than tenfold, seeing that it has often fallen to their lot, not only to furnish supplies directly to the army, as stated, but also, on top of what they have suffered that way, to transport grain to Byzantium; for not alone Barsymes, as he was called, has dared to perpetrate this outrage, but even before him the Cappadocian, and later on those who succeeded Barsymes in the dignity of this office.

  [15] Such in a general way was “buying on requisition.” But the term “impost” is used to describe a kind of unforeseen ruination that falls suddenly upon the owners of land and destroys root and branch their hope of a livelihood. [16] For this is a tax on lands that have become abandoned or unproductive, the owners and farmers of which have already had the misfortune either to perish altogether or, abandoning their ancestral estates, to be now living in wretchedness because of the woes imposed upon them by reason of these imposts; and they do not hesitate to impose it upon any who have not yet been ruined altogether.

  [17] Such is the meaning of the term “impost,” a term which with good reason gained its widest currency during the period in question. But as for the “pro-rated assessments” — to dispose of the subject in the fewest possible words — the matter is about as follows. [18] That the cities should be subjected to many damaging exactions at all times and particularly during this period was inevitable; as to the motives that led to their imposition and the manner of their application, I forbear to discuss them on this occasion, lest my treatise become interminable. [19] These assessments were paid by the owners of the lands, each paying an assessed sum in proportion to the tax regularly levied upon him. [20] But trouble did not stop here; on the contrary, when the plague came, seizing in its grip the whole civilized world and especially the Roman Empire, and wiping out most of the farmers, and when for this reason the lands, as one might expect, had become deserted, the Emperor shewed no mercy to the owners of these lands. [21] For he never relaxed his exaction of the annual tax, not merely as he imposed it upon each separate person, but also exacting the share which fell to his deceased neighbours. [22] And in addition they also had to stand all the other exactions which I mentioned a moment ago as always falling upon those who were cursed with the ownership of farms, and over and above all these things, they had to house the soldiers, in the best and most expensive of their rooms and to wait upon them, while they themselves throughout this whole time lived in the meanest and the most dilapidated of their outhouses.