Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  [14] For a throng of spies kept reporting to her what was said and done both in the market-place and in the homes of the people.

  [15] ἡνίκα τοίνυν τοῦ παραπεπτωκότος τὴν κόλασιν ἐκφέρεσθαι οὐδαμῆ ἤθελεν, ἐποίει τάδε.

  [15] When, therefore, she did not wish the offender’s punishment to be published abroad, she used to take the following course.

  [16] τὸν ἄνθρωπον μετακαλεσαμένη, ἤν τις τῶν λογίμων ἐτύγχανεν ὢν, μόνη τε αὐτὴ τῶν ὑπουργούντων τινὶ παραδοῦσα μόνῳ ἐπήγγελλεν εἰς τὰς ἐσχατιὰς αὐτὸν μετακομίσαι τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς.

  [16] She would summon the man, if he chanced to be one of the notables, and secretly would put him in the charge of one of her ministers and command him secretly to convey the man to the uttermost parts of the Roman Empire.

  [17] καὶ ὃς ἀωρὶ τῶν νυκτῶν κατακεκαλυμμένον αὐτὸν καὶ δεθέντα εἰς τὴν ναῦν ἐμβιβάσας καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ γεγονὼς, οὗ οἱ πρὸς τῆς γυναικὸς ἐπετέτακτο, ἐνταῦθα παρεδίδου λαθραιότερον τῷ ἐς ταύτην τὴν ὑπουργίαν ἱκανῶς ἔχοντι, φυλάσσειν τε ὡς ἀσφαλέστατα ἐπιστείλας τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ ἀπειπὼν μηδενὶ φράζειν, ἕως ἂν ἢ τὸν ταλαίπωρον ἡ βασιλὶς οἰκτίζηται ἢ χρόνον πολὺν τῇ ἐνταῦθα κακοπαθείᾳ δυσθανατήσας τε καὶ καταμαρανθεὶς τελευτῄσειεν, ἀπηλλάσσετο.

  [17] So he at an unseasonable hour of the night would put the man on board a ship, seeing that he was thoroughly bundled up and shackled, and also go on board with him, and he very stealthily delivered him over, at the point which had been indicated by the woman, to the man qualified for this service; then he departed after directing the man to guard the prisoner as securely as possible and forbidding him to speak of the matter to anyone until either the Empress should take pity on the poor wretch, or, after suffering for years a lingering death by reason of the miseries of his existence in that place and utterly wasting away, he should at last end his days.

  [18] Καὶ Βασιανὸν δέ τινα Πράσινον, οὐκ ἀφανῆ νέον ὄντα, αὐτῇ διαλοιδορησάμενον δἰ ὀργῆς ἔσχε. διὸ δὴ ὁ Βασιανὸς ῾οὐ γὰρ ἀνήκοος ταύτης δὴ τῆς ὀργῆς ἐγεγόνεἰ ἐς τοῦ ἀρχαγγέλου τὸν νεὼν φεύγει.

  [18] And she also conceived an anger against a certain Vasianus, a youthful member of the Green Faction and not without distinction, for having covered her with abuse. For this each Vasianus (for he had not failed to hear of this anger) fled to the Church of the Archangel.

  [19] ἡ δέ οἱ ἐπέστησεν αὐτίκα τὴν τῷ δήμῳ ἐφεστῶσαν ἀρχὴν, οὐδὲν μὲν τῆς λοιδορίας ἐπικαλεῖν ἐπαγγείλασα, ὅτι δὲ παιδεραστοίη ἐπενεγκοῦσα.

  [19] And she immediately set upon him the official in charge of the people, commanding him to make no point of his abuse of her, but laying against him the charge of sodomy.

  [20] καὶ ἡ μὲν ἀρχὴ ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀναστήσασα ᾐκίζετο ἀνυποίστῳ τινὶ κολάσει, ὁ δὲ δῆμος ἅπας ἐπεὶ ἐν τοιαύταις συμφοραῖς εἶδε σῶμα ἐλευθέριόν τε καὶ ἀνειμένῃ ἄνωθεν διαίτῃ ἐντραφὲν, ἀπήλγησάν τε τὸ πάθος εὐθὺς καὶ ξὺν οἰμωγῇ ἀνέκραγον οὐράνιον ὅσον ἐξαιτούμενοι τὸν νεανίαν.

  [20] And the official removed the man from the sanctuary and inflicted a certain intolerable punishment upon him. And the populace, upon seeing a free-born man involved in such dire misfortunes, were all straightway filled with anguish at the calamity and in lamentation raised their cries to the heavens, seeking to intercede for the youth.

  [21] ἡ δὲ αὐτὸν ἔτι μᾶλλον κολάσασα καὶ τὸ αἰδοῖον ἀποτεμομένη διέφθειρεν ἀνεξελέγκτως, καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν ἐς τὸ δημόσιον ἀνεγράψατο.

  [21] She, however, only punished him even more, and cutting off his private parts destroyed him without a trial and confiscated his property to the Treasury.

  [22] οὕτως ἡνίκα ὀργῴη τὸ γύναιον τοῦτο, οὔτε ἱερὸν ὀχυρὸν ἐγεγόνει οὔτε νόμου του ἀπαγόρευσις οὔτε πόλεως ἀντιβόλησις ἐξελέσθαι τὸν παραπεπτωκότα ἱκανὴ ἐφαίνετο οὖσα, οὔτε ἄλλο αὐτῇ ἀπήντα τῶν πάντων οὐδέν.

  [22] Thus whenever this hussy became excited, no sanctuary proved secure nor did any legal prohibition hold, nor could the supplication of a whole city, as it were, as it was clearly shown, avail to rescue the offender, nor could anything else whatever stand in her way.

  [23] καὶ Διογένην δέ τινα οἷα Πράσινον ὄντα δἰ ὀργῆς ἔχουσα, ἄνδρα ἀστεῖον καὶ ποθεινὸν ἅπασί τε καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ βασιλεῖ, οὐδέν τι ἧσσον γάμων ἀνδρείων συκοφαντεῖν ἐν σπουδῇ εἶχε.

  [23] And being angry with a certain Diogenes, as being a Green, a man who was witty and liked by all, even by the Emperor himself, she nevertheless was determined to bring against him the slanderous charge of male intercourse.

  [24] δύο γοῦν ἀναπείσασα τῶν αὐτοῦ οἰκετῶν κατηγόρους τε καὶ μάρτυρας τῷ κεκτημένῳ ἐπέστησε.

  [24] Consequently she persuaded two of his own domestics to act as both accusers and witnesses and set them upon their owner.

  [25] τοῦ δὲ οὐ κρύβδην ἐξεταζομένου καὶ λαθραιότατα, ᾗπερ εἰώθει, ἀλλ̓ ἐν δημοσίῳ, δικαστῶν ᾑρημένων πολλῶν τε καὶ οὐκ ἀδόξων, διὰ τὴν Διογένους δόξαν, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἐδόκουν ἀκριβολογουμένοις τοῖς δικασταῖς οἱ τῶν οἰκετῶν λόγοι ἀξιόχρεῳ ἐς τὴν κρίσιν εἶναι, ἄλλως τε καὶ παιδαρίων ὄντων, Θεόδωρον τῶν Διογένει ἀναγκαίων τινὰ ἐν τοῖς εἰωθόσιν οἰκιδίοις καθεῖρξεν.

  [25] And when he was first examined, not secretly and with the great privacy which is usually observed, but in a public trial, with many judges appointed who were men of note, all on account of the reputation of Diogenes, since it did not seem to the judges, as they sought to get at the exact truth, that the statements of the domestics were of sufficient weight to justify a decision, particularly as they were young boys, she confined Theodore, one of the connections of Diogenes, in the usual cells.

  [26] ἐνταῦθα πολλαῖς μὲν θωπείαις, πολλοῖς δὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπον αἰκισμοῖς περιῆλθεν. ἐπεί τέ οἱ οὐδὲν προὐχώρει, νευρὰν βοείαν ἐς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀμφὶ τὰ ὦτα περιελίξαντας τὴν νευρὰν στρέφειν τε καὶ σφίγγειν ἐκέλευε.

  [26] There she attacked the man with much cajolery and also with abuse. But since she met with no success, she caused the attendants to wind a leathern strap on the man’s head, about his ears, and then ordered them to twist and so to tighten the strap.

  [27] καὶ τοὺς μέν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὺς Θεόδωρος ἐκπεπηδηκέναι τὴν οἰκεί�
�ν λιπόντας χώραν ὑπώπτευεν, οὐδὲν μέντοι τῶν οὐ γεγονότων ἀναπλάσσειν ἔγνω.

  [27] And Theodore believed that his eyes had jumped out of his head, leaving their proper seats, yet he was unwilling to fabricate any untruth.

  [28] διὸ δὴ οἱ μὲν δικασταὶ ἅτε ἀμαρτυρήτου δίκης Διογένους ἀπέγνωσαν, ἡ δὲ πόλις ἑορτὴν ἀπ̓ αὐτοῦ πανδημεὶ ἦγεν.

  [28] So finally the judges acquitted Diogenes on the ground that the charge was unsupported by evidence, and the whole city in consequence celebrated a public holiday.

  XVII

  Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν τῇδε ἐχώρησεν. ἐρρήθη δὲ ἀρχομένῳ μοι τοῦδε τοῦ λόγου καὶ ὅσα Βελισάριόν τε καὶ Φώτιον καὶ Βούζην αὐτῇ ἐργασθείη.

  Such was the outcome of this affair. But at the beginning of this Book I told all that the Empress did to Belisarius and Photius and Bouzes.

  [2] στασιῶται δὲ Βένετοι δύο Κίλικες γένος Καλλινίκῳ τῷ Κιλικίας Δευτέρας ἄρχοντι σὺν θορύβῳ πολλῷ ἐπιστάντες χειρῶν ἀδίκων ἐπ̓ αὐτὸν ἦρξαν, τόν τε αὐτοῦ ἱπποκόμον ἄγχιστά που ἑστῶτα καὶ ἀμύνειν τῷ κεκτημένῳ πειρώμενον ἔκτειναν, τοῦ τε ἄρχοντος καὶ τοῦ δήμου θεωμένου παντός.

  [2] And two members of the Blue Faction, Cilicians by birth, with a great tumult set upon Callinicus, Governor of the Second Cilicia, and proceeded to lay violent hands upon him, and they slew the man’s groom who stood hard by and was trying to defend his master, while the Governor and the whole populace looked on.

  [3] καὶ ὁ μὲν τοὺς στασιώτας ἄλλων τε πολλῶν καὶ τοῦδε ἁλόντας τοῦ φόνου ἐν δίκῃ ἀνεῖλεν, ἡ δὲ μαθοῦσα καὶ ὅτι τοὺς Βενέτους προσποιεῖται ἐνδεικνυμένη, ἔτι αὐτὸν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχοντα ἐν τῷ τῶν φονέων τάφῳ ἀνεσκολόπισεν οὐδενὶ λόγῳ.

  [3] And he by process of law brought about the death of the factionists who were found guilty of this and of many other murders, but she, upon learning of this and making a display of the fact that she favoured the Blues, caused him to be impaled for no good reason and while he still held office, on the grave of the murderers.

  [4] βασιλεὺς δὲ κλάειν τε καὶ ὀδύρεσθαι τὸν ἀπολωλότα σκηπτόμενος καθῆστο γρυλλίζων, πολλά τε τοῖς ἐς τὴν πρᾶξιν ὑπουργηκόσιν ἀνατεινάμενος οὐδὲν ἔδρασε, τὰ μέντοι χρήματα τοῦ τετελευτηκότος ληΐζεσθαι ὡς ἥκιστα ἀπηξίωσεν.

  [4] And the Emperor, pretending to weep and lament over the murdered man, sat there groaning, and though he held many threats over those who had performed the deed, he did nothing; yet he by no means declined to plunder the money of the deceased.

  [5] Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτάδων τῶν ἐς τὸ σῶμα κολάσεις τῇ Θεοδώρᾳ ἐπινοεῖν ἐπιμελὲς ἦν. πόρνας ἀμέλει πλέον ἢ πεντακοσίας ἀγείρασα ἐν ἀγορᾷ μέσῃ ἐς τριώβολον, ὅσον ἀποζῆν μισθαρνούσας, ἔς τε τὴν ἀντιπέρας ἤπειρον στείλασα ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ Μετανοίᾳ μοναστηρίῳ καθεῖρξε τὸν βίον μεταμφιέσασθαι ἀναγκάζουσα.

  [5] But Theodora also concerned herself to devise punishments for sins against the body. Harlots, for instance, to the number of more than five hundred who plied their trade in the midst of the market-place at the rate of three obols — just enough to live on — she gathered together, and sending them over to the opposite mainland she confined them in the Convent of Repentance, as it is called, trying there to compel them to adopt a new manner of life.

  [6] ὧν δή τινες ἐρρίπτουν αὑτὰς ἀφ̓ ὑψηλοῦ νύκτωρ, ταύτῃ τε τῆς ἀκουσίου μεταβολῆς ἀπηλλάσσοντο.

  [6] And some of them threw themselves down from a height at night and thus escaped the unwelcome transformation.

  [7] Δύο δὲ κόραι ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ἀδελφαὶ ἤτην, οὐκ ἐκ πατρός τε καὶ τριγονίας ὑπάτων μόνον, ἀλλ̓ ἀνέκαθεν αἵματος τοῦ πρώτου ἔν γε τῇ συγκλήτῳ βουλῇ γεγονυῖαι.

  [7] There were two girls in Byzantium who were sisters; they were not only the offspring of a consular father and of three generations of Consuls, but drew their lineage from men who from remote times were of the foremost blood of the whole Senate.

  [8] ταύταις ἤδη ἐς γάμον ἐλθούσαις ἀπολωλότων τῶν ἀνδρῶν χήραις γεγονέναι ξυνέπεσεν. αὐτίκα δὲ ἄνδρας ἡ Θεοδώρα δύο ἀγελαίους τε καὶ βδελυροὺς ἀπολέξασα συνοικίζειν αὐταῖς ἐν σπουδῇ εἶχεν, ἐπικαλοῦσα μὴ σωφρόνως βιοῦν.

  [8] These had previously entered into marriage, but it had come about by the death of their husbands that they became widows. And immediately Theodora selected two men — men who were not only of the common herd, but also disgusting fellows — and made it her business to mate them with the women, whom she charged with living unchaste lives.

  [9] ὅπερ ἵνα μὴ γένηται δείσασαι, ἐς τὸ τῆς Σοφίας ἱερὸν φεύγουσιν, ἔς τε τὸν θεῖον λουτρῶνα ἐλθοῦσαι τῆς ἐνταῦθα κολυμβήθρας ἀπρὶξ εἴχοντο.

  [9] And they, fearing lest this be brought to pass, fled into the Church of Sophia, and coming into the holy baptismal chamber, they seized with their hands the font which is there.

  [10] ἀλλὰ τοσαύτην αὐταῖς ἀνάγκην τε καὶ κακοπάθειαν προσετρίψατο ἡ βασίλισσα ὥστε αὐταῖς ἀπαλλαξειούσαις τῶν ἐνθένδε κακῶν τὸν γάμον αὐτῶν ἀνταλλάξασθαι ἐν σπουδῇ γέγονεν. οὕτως αὐτῇ ἄχραντος οὐδεὶς ἢ ἄσυλος μεμένηκε χῶρος.

  [10] But the Empress Theodora inflicted upon them such dire constraint and suffering that in their desire to escape these woes they became eager enough to accept the marriage in place of them. Thus for her no place remained undefiled or inviolate.

  [11] αὗται μὲν οὖν ἀνδράσι πτωχοῖς τε καὶ ἀπερριμμένοις πολλῷ ἀπὸ τῆς σφετέρας ἀξίας ἀκούσιαι ξυνῳκίσθησαν, καίπερ εὐπατριδῶν σφίσι παρόντων μνηστήρων.

  [11] So these women, against their wills, were united in marriage to men who were beggars and outcasts, much beneath them in standing, although noble suitors were at hand for them.

  [12] ἡ δὲ μήτηρ αὐταῖς χήρα καὶ αὐτὴ γεγονυῖα οὔτε ἀνοιμῶξαι οὔτε

  [12] And their mother, who also had become a widow, not daring to groan or to cry out at the calamity, attended the betrothal.

  [13] ἀποκλαῦσαι τολμῶσα τὸ πάθος παρῆν τῇ ἐγγύῃ. ὕστερον δὲ ἀφοσιουμένη ἡ Θεοδώρα τὸ μίασμα, δημοσίαις αὐτὰς παρηγορῆσαι ξυμφοραῖς ἔγνω.

  [13] But later Theodora, by way of expiating the scandal, decided to console them at the expense of public misfortunes. For she appointed both of the men magistrates.

  [14] ἄρχοντα γὰρ ἑκάτερον κατεστ
ήσατο. καὶ ταῖς μὲν κόραις παραψυχὴ οὐδ̓ ὣς γέγονε, πάθη δὲ ἀνήκεστα καὶ ἀνύποιστα τοῖς ὑπηκόοις σχεδόν τι ἅπασι πρὸς τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων ξυνηνέχθη παθεῖν, ἅπερ μοι ἐν τοῖς ὄπισθεν λόγοις λελέξεται.

  [14] But no comfort came to the girls even so, and woes incurable and unbearable fell from the hands of these men upon practically all their subordinates, as will be told by me in the later Books.

  [15] Θεοδώρᾳ γὰρ οὔτε ἀρχῆς οὔτε πολιτείας ἀξίωσις οὔτε τι ἄλλο ἐπιμελὲς ἦν, εἰ τὸ βούλημα περανεῖται μόνον.

  [15] For in Theodora there was respect of neither magistrate nor government, nor was anything else the object of her concern, provided only that her will was being accomplished.

  [16] Ἐτύγχανε δὲ ὑπό του κυήσασα τῶν ἐραστῶν, ἡνίκα ἔτι ἐπὶ σκηνῆς ἦν, τοῦ δὲ κακοῦ ὀψὲ τοῦ καιροῦ αἰσθομένη πάντα μὲν ἐς τὸ ἀμβλύσκειν, ὥσπερ εἰώθει, ἐποίει, ἄωρον δὲ ἀποκτιννύναι τὸ βρέφος οὐδεμιᾷ μηχανῇ εἶχεν, ἐπεὶ οὐ πολλῷ ἀπελέλειπτο τοῦ ἀνθρωποειδὲς γένος γεγονέναι.

  [16] Now she had chanced to conceive a child by one of her lovers while she was still on the stage, and being late about discovering her misfortune she did everything to accomplish, in her usual way, an abortion, but she was unsuccessful, by all the means employed, in killing the untimely infant, for by now it lacked but little of its human shape.

  [17] διὸ δὴ ἐπεὶ οὐδὲν προὐχώρει, τῆς πείρας ἀφεμένη τίκτειν ἠνάγκαστο. ὁρῶν δὲ αὐτὴν ὁ τοῦ τεχθέντος πατὴρ ἀπορουμένην τε καὶ ἀσχάλλουσαν, ὅτι μήτηρ γενομένη τῷ σώματι ὁμοίως ἐργάζεσθαι οὐκέτι ἂν δυνατὴ εἴη, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἀληθῶς δὴ ὑπῄσθετο ὡς διαχρήσεται τὸ παιδίον, ἀνείλετό τε καὶ Ἰωάννην ἐπονομάσας, ἐπεὶ ἄρσεν ἦν, ἐς τὴν Ἀραβίαν ἐς ἥνπερ ὥρμητο ἀπιὼν ᾤχετο.