Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  [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] καὶ ἄλλοι δὲ νεανίαι πολλοὶ ἐς ταύτην δὴ τὴν ἑταιρίαν ξυνέρρεον οὐδεπώποτε πρότερον περὶ ταῦτα ἐσπουδακότες, ἀλλὰ δυνάμεώς τε καὶ ὕβρεως ἐξουσίᾳ ἐνταῦθα ἠγμένοι.

  [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] οὐ γάρ ἐστιν οὐδὲν μίασμα ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων ὠνομασμένον, ὅπερ οὐχ ἡμαρτήθη τε ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ καὶ τιμωρίας ἐκτὸς ἔμεινε.

  [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] πρῶτον μὲν οὖν σφῶν τοὺς ἀντιστασιώτας διέφθειρον, προϊόντες δὲ καὶ τοὺς οὐδὲν προσκεκρουκότας αὐτοῖς ἔκτεινον.

  [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] πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ χρήμασιν αὐτοὺς ἀναπείσαντες ἀπεδείκνυον τοὺς σφετέρους ἐχθροὺς, οὕσπερ ἐκεῖνοι διεχρῶντο εὐθὺς ὄνομα μὲν Πρασίνων αὐτοῖς ἐπενεγκόντες,

  [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] ἀγνῶτας δὲ σφίσι παντάπασιν ὄντας. καὶ ταῦτα οὐκ ἐν σκότῳ ἔτι οὐδ̓ ἐν παραβύστῳ ἐγένετο, ἀλλ̓ ἐν ἅπασι μὲν τῆς ἡμέρας καιροῖς, ἐν ἑκάστῳ δὲ τῆς πόλεως χώρῳ, ἀνδράσι τοῖς λογιμωτάτοις τῶν πρασσομένων, ἂν οὕτω τύχοι, ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὄντων.

  [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] οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐπικαλύπτειν ἐδέοντο τὰ ἐγκλήματα, ἐπεί τοι αὐτοῖς οὐκ ἐπέκειτο κολάσεως δέος, ἀλλά τις προσῆν καὶ φιλοτιμίας ἀξίωσις, ἰσχύος τε καὶ ἀνδρείας ἐμποιουμένοις ἐπίδειξιν, ὅτι δὴ πληγῇ μιᾷ τῶν τινα παραπεπτωκότων γυμνὸν ἔκτεινον, ἐλπίς τε οὐδενὶ τοῦ ἔτι βιώσεσθαι ἐν τῷ τῆς διαίτης σφαλερῷ ἔμενε.

  [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] πάντες γὰρ ἐγκεῖσθαι σφίσι τὸν θάνατον τῷ περιδεεῖς εἶναι ὑπώπτευον, καὶ οὔτε τόπος τις ὀχυρὸς οὔτε καιρὸς ἐχέγγυός τινι ἐς τὴν σωτηρίαν ἔδοξεν εἶναι, ἐπεὶ κἀν τοῖς τῶν ἱερῶν τιμιωτάτοις κἀν ταῖς πανηγύρεσι λόγῳ οὐδενὶ διεφθείροντο, πίστις τε οὐδεμία πρός τε τῶν φίλων καὶ τῶν ξυγγενῶν ἔτι ἐλέλειπτο. πολλοὶ γὰρ καὶ τῇ τῶν οἰκειοτάτων ἐπιβουλῇ ἔθνησκον.

  [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] Ζήτησις μέντοι οὐδεμία τῶν πεπραγμένων ἐγίνετο. ἀλλὰ τὰ πάθη ἀπροσδόκητα πᾶσιν ἔπιπτε καὶ τοῖς πεπτωκόσιν οὐδεὶς ἤμυνε.

  [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] νόμου δέ τινος ἢ συμβολαίου δύναμίς τις ἐν τῷ βεβαίῳ τῆς τάξεως οὐκέτι ἐλέλειπτο, ἀλλ̓ ἐπὶ τὸ βιαιότερον ἅπαντα τετραμμένα ξυνεταράχθη, τυραννίδι τε ἦν ἡ πολιτεία ἐμφερὴς μάλιστα, οὐ καθεστώσῃ μέντοι γε, ἀλλὰ καθ̓ ἑκάστην τε ἀμειβομένῃ καὶ ἀεὶ ἀρχομένῃ.

  [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] τῶν τε ἀρχόντων αἱ γνῶμαι ὥσπερ ἐκπεπληγμέναις ἐῴκεσαν, ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς φόβῳ δεδουλωμένων τὸ φρόνημα, οἵ τε δικάζοντες τὰς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀντιλεγομένων ποιούμενοι γνώσεις τὰς ψήφους ἐδίδοσαν, οὐχ ᾗπερ αὐτοῖς ἐδόκει δίκαιά τε καὶ νόμιμα ἑ̣̣̓ναι, ἀλλ̓ ὥσπερ τῶν διαφερομένων ἑκάστῳ τὰ ἐκ τῶν στασιωτῶν δυσμενῆ τε καὶ φίλα ἐτύγχανεν ὄντα. δικαστῇ γὰρ ὠλιγωρηκότι τῆς ἐκείνων προρρήσεως θάνατος ἡ ζημία ἐπέκειτο.

  [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] Καὶ πολλοὶ μὲν δανεισταὶ τὰ γραμματεῖα τοῖς ὠφληκόσι ξὺν βίᾳ πολλῇ οὐδὲν τοῦ ὀφλήματος κεκομισμένοι ἀπέδοντο, πολλοὶ δὲ οὔτι ἑκούσιοι ἐλευθέρους τοὺς οἰκέτας ἀφῆκαν.

  [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] φασὶ δὲ καὶ γυναῖκάς τινας πολλὰ ὧν οὐκ ἐβούλοντο τοῖς αὐτῶν δούλοις ἀναγκασθῆναι.

  [34] And they say that certain women were forced by their own slaves to many acts that were sore against their will.

  [35] ἤδη δὲ καὶ παῖδες οὐ
κ ἀφανῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτοις δὴ τοῖς νεανίαις ἀναμιχθέντες τοὺς πατέρας ἠνάγκαζον ἄλλα τε πολλὰ οὔτι ἐθελουσίους ποιεῖν καὶ τὰ χρήματα σφίσι προΐεσθαι.

  [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] πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ ἀκούσιοι παῖδες τοῖς στασιώταις ἐς κοίτην ἀνοσίαν οὐκ ἀγνοούντων ἠναγκάσθησαν τῶν πατέρων ἐλθεῖν.

  [36] And many unwilling boys were compelled to enter into unholy intercourse with the Factionists, with the full knowledge of their fathers.

  [37] καὶ γυναιξὶ μέντοι ἀνδράσι ξυνοικούσαις ταὐτὸν τοῦτο ξυνέβη παθεῖν. καὶ λέγεται γυνὴ μία κόσμον περιβεβλημένη πολὺν πλεῖν μὲν ξὺν τῷ ἀνδρὶ ἐπί τι προάστειον τῶν ἐν τῇ ἀντιπέρας ἠπείρῳ, ἐντυχόντων δὲ σφίσιν ἐν τῷ διάπλῳ τούτῳ τῶν στασιωτῶν, καὶ τοῦ μὲν ἀνδρὸς αὐτὴν ξὺν ἀπειλῇ ἀφαιρουμένων, ἐς δὲ ἄκατον τὴν οἰκείαν ἐμβιβασάντων, ἐσελθεῖν μὲν ἐς τὴν ἄκατον ξὺν τοῖς νεανίαις, ἐγκελευσαμένη τῷ ἀνδρὶ λάθρα ἀλλὰ θαρσεῖν τε καὶ μηδὲν ἐπ̓ αὐτῇ δεδιέναι φαῦλον:

  [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] οὐ γάρ τι ξυμβήσεσθαι ἐς τὸ σῶμα αὐτῇ ὑβρισθῆναι: ἔτι δὲ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ξὺν πένθει μεγάλᾳ ἐς αὐτὴν βλέποντος ἐς τε τὴν θάλασσαν καθεῖναι τὸ σῶμα καὶ αὐτίκα μάλα ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀφανισθῆναι.

  [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] Τοιαῦτα μὲν ἦν τὰ τούτοις δὴ τότε τοῖς στασιώταις ἐν Βυζαντίῳ τετολμημένα. ἧσσον δὲ ταῦτα τοὺς παραπεπτωκότας ἠνία ἢ τὰ πρὸς Ἰουστινιανοῦ ἐς τὴν πολιτείαν ἁμαρτηθέντα, ἐπεὶ τοῖς παρὰ τῶν κακούργων πεπονθόσι τὰ χαλεπώτατα μέρος ἀφαιρεῖται τὸ πλεῖστον τῆς δἰ ἀταξίας ἐμβάσης ἀνίας τὸ προσδοκᾶν ἀεὶ τὴν πρὸς τῶν νόμων τε καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς τίσιν.

  [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] ἐν γὰρ τῷ πρὸς τὰ μέλλοντα εὐέλπιδες εἶναι ῥᾷόν τε καὶ ἀπονώτερον τὰ παρόντα σφίσι φέρουσιν ἄνθρωποι, βιαζόμενοι δὲ πρὸς τῆς τῇ πολιτείᾳ ἐφεστώσης ἀρχῆς τοῖς τε ξυμπεσοῦσιν ἔτι μᾶλλον, ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς, περιαλγοῦσι καὶ ἐς τὴν ἀπόγνωσιν τῷ ἀπροσδοκήτῳ τῆς τιμωρίας ἐς ἀεὶ τρέπονται.

  [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] ἡμάρτανε δὲ οὐχ ὅτι μόνον προσποιεῖσθαι τοὺς κακουμένους ἥκιστα ἤθελεν, ἀλλ̓ ὅτι προστάτης τῶν στασιωτῶν ἐκ τοῦ ἐμφανοῦς καθίστασθαι οὐδαμῆ ἀπηξίου:

  [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] χρήματά τε γὰρ μεγάλα τοῖς νεανίαις τούτοις προΐετο, καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν ἀμφ̓ αὑτὸν εἶχε, τινὰς δὲ αὐτῶν ἔς τε τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀξιώματα καλεῖν ἐδικαίου.

  [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

  Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἔν τε Βυζαντίῳ ἐπράττετο καὶ πόλει ἑκάστῃ. ὥσπερ γὰρ ἄλλο τι νόσημα ἐνθένδε ἀρξάμενον τὸ κακὸν πανταχῆ ἐπέσκηψε τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς.

  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] βασιλεῖ δὲ τῶν πρασσομένων ἥκιστα ἔμελεν, ἐπεὶ οὐδέ τις αἴσθησις τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐγένετο, καίπερ αὐτόπτῃ τῶν δρωμένων ἐν τοῖς ἱπποδρομίοις ἀεὶ γινομένῳ.

  [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] ἠλίθιός τε γὰρ ὑπερφυῶς ἦν καὶ νωθεῖ ὄνῳ ἐμφερὴς μάλιστα καὶ οἷος τῷ τὸν χαλινὸν ἕλκοντι ἕπεσθαι, συχνά οἱ σειομένων τῶν ὤτων.

  [3] For he was extraordinarily simple-minded and exceedingly like a stupid donkey, inclined to follow the man who pulls the rein, his ears waving steadily the while.

  [4] Ἰουστινιανὸς ταῦτά τε ἔπρασσε καὶ ξύμπαντα τἄλλα ἐκύκα. ὅσπερ ἐπειδὴ τάχιστα ἐπελάβετο τῆς τοῦ θείου ἀρχῆς, χρήματα μὲν τὰ δημόσια εὐθὺς καταναλοῦν κόσμῳ οὐδενὶ ἐν σπουδῇ εἶχεν ἅτε αὐτῶν κύριος γεγονώς.

  [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.

  [5] Οὔννων γὰρ τοῖς ἀεὶ προστυγχάνουσι πλεῖστα ἐπὶ τῇ πολιτείᾳ προΐετο: ἐξ οὗ δὴ ἐφόδοις ἀποκεῖσθαι συχναῖς ξυνέβαινε

  [5] 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] Ῥωμαίων τὴν γῆν. ἀπογευσάμεν�
�ι γὰρ οἱ βάρβαροι οὗτοι Ῥωμαίων πλούτου μεθίεσθαι οὐκέτι ἠνείχοντο τῆς ἐνταῦθα φερούσης ὁδοῦ.

  [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] Πολλὰ δὲ ῥίπτειν καὶ ἐς θαλαττίους οἰκοδομίας τινὰς ἠξίου, βιαζόμενος τὸ τῶν κυμάτων ἐς ἀεὶ ῥόθιον.

  [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] ἐκ γὰρ τῆς ἠιόνος ταῖς τῶν λίθων ἐπιβολαῖς ἐπίπροσθεν ᾔει φιλονείκως ταῖς ἐκ τοῦ πόντου ἐπιρροαῖς ἔχων καὶ καθάπερ ἐξουσίᾳ πλού του πρὸς τὴν τῆς θαλάσσης ἀντιφιλοτιμούμενος δύναμιν.

  [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] τάς τε τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἰδίας ἑκάστων οὐσίας ἐκ πάσης γῆς ἐς αὐτὸν ἤγειρε, τοῖς μὲν ὅ τι δὴ ἔγκλημα οὐχ ἁμαρτηθὲν ἐπικαλέσας, τῶν δὲ καὶ τὴν γνώμην ἅτε αὐτὸν δεδωρημένων τερατευσάμενος.

  [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.