Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  [34] ἡ μέντοι τίσις τῶν ἁμαρτανομένων ἐκ τοῦ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐς τοὺς Πρασίνους ἐγίνετο. ἔτι μὴν καὶ ἡ ἐς τοὺς Σαμαρείτας καὶ τοὺς καλουμένους αἱρετικοὺς κόλασις φόνου ἐνέπλησε τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχήν.

  [34] But the punishment for their crimes was, for the most part, levelled against the Greens. Furthermore, the punishment of the Samaritans and of those called heretics filled the Roman Empire with slaughter.

  [35] ταῦτα δέ μοι ὅσον ἐν κεφαλαίῳ εἰρῆσθαι ἀπομνημονεύεται τανῦν, ἐπεί μοι ἱκανῶς ὀλίγῳ ἔμπροσθεν δεδιήγηται.

  [35] These things, however, are here mentioned by me merely in summary, inasmuch as they have been sufficiently recorded by me somewhat earlier.

  [36] Ταῦτα μὲν κατὰ τὸν ἐν σώματι γενόμενον δαίμονα τετύχηκε γενέσθαι ἐς πάντας ἀνθρώπους, ὧνπερ τὰς αἰτίας αὐτὸς ἅτε βασιλεὺς καταστὰς ἔδωκε: καὶ ὅσα μέντοι κατακεκρυμμένῃ δυνάμει καὶ φύσει δαιμονίᾳ διειργάσατο ἀνθρώπους κακὰ, ἐγὼ δηλώσω.

  [36] Such, then, were the calamities which fell upon all mankind during the reign of the demon who had become incarnate in Justinian, while he himself, as having become Emperor, provided the causes of them. And I shall shew, further, how many evils he did to men by means of a hidden power and of a demoniacal nature.

  [37] τούτου γὰρ Ῥωμαίων διοικουμένου τὰ πράγματα πολλὰ καὶ ἄλλα πάθη ξυνηνέχθη γενέσθαι, ἅπερ οἱ μὲν τῇ τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος τῇδε παρουσίᾳ ἰσχυρίζοντο καὶ μηχανῇ ξυμβῆναι, οἱ δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ θεῖον τὰ ἔργα μισῆσαν ἀποστραφέν τε ἀπὸ τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς, χώραν δαίμοσι τοῖς παλαμναίοις ἐνδεδωκέναι ταῦτα διαπράξασθαι

  [37] For while this man was administering the nation’s affairs, many other calamities chanced to befall, which some insisted came about through the aforementioned presence of this evil demon and through his contriving, while others said that the Deity, detesting his works, turned away from the Roman Empire and gave place to the abominable demons for the bringing of these things to pass in this fashion.

  [38] τῇδε. Ἔδεσσαν μὲν γὰρ Σκιρτὸς ἐπικλύσας ὁ ποταμὸς μυρίων δημιουργὸς τοῖς ἐκείνῃ ἀνθρώποις συμφορῶν γέγονεν, ὥς μοι ἐν τοῖς ὄπισθεν λόγοις γεγράψεται.

  [38] Thus the Scirtus River, by overflowing Edessa, became the author of countless calamities to the people of that region, as will be written by me in a following Book.

  [39] Νεῖλος δὲ ἀναβὰς μὲν ᾗπερ εἰώθει, χρόνοις δὲ οὐκ ἀποβὰς τοῖς καθήκουσι, δεινά τινας τῶν ᾠκημένων εἰργάσατο ἔργα, ἅπερ μοι καὶ πρότερον δεδιήγηται.

  [39] The Nile also rose as usual but did not recede at the proper time, and thus caused serious loss on the part of some of the inhabitants, as has been told by me previously.

  [40] Κύδνος δὲ Ταρσὸν περιβαλλόμενος σχεδόν τι πᾶσαν ἡμέρας τε αὐτὴν ἐπικλύσας πολλὰς οὐ πρότερον ἀπέστη ἕως αὐτὴν ἀνήκεστα κακὰ ἔδρασε.

  [40] And the Cydnus River rose so as to surround practically the whole of Tarsus, and after flooding it for many days only subsided after it had done irreparable damage to it.

  [41] σεισμοὶ δὲ Ἀντιόχειάν τε καθεῖλον τὴν τῆς ἑῴας πρώτην καὶ Σελεύκειαν, ἥπερ αὐτῆς ἐκ γειτόνων οἰκεῖται, καὶ τὴν ἐν Κίλιξιν ἐπιφανεστάτην Ἀνάζαρβον.

  [41] And earthquakes destroyed Antioch, the first city of the East, and Seleucia which is close to it, as well as the most notable city in Cilicia, Anazarbus.

  [42] αἷς τῶν ξυναπολωλότων ἀνθρώπων τὸ μέτρον τίς ἂν διαριθμεῖσθαι δυνατὸς εἴη; προσθείη δὲ ἄν τις τά τε Ἴβωρα καὶ Ἀμάσειαν, ἣ πρώτη ἐν Πόντῳ ἐτύγχανεν οὖσα, Πολύβοτόν τε τὴν ἐν Φρυγίᾳ καὶ ἣν Πισίδαι Φιλομηδὴν καλοῦσι, Λύχνιδόν τε τὴν ἐν Ἠπειρώταις καὶ Κόρινθον, αἳ δὴ πολυανθρωπόταται ἐκ παλαιοῦ ἦσαν.

  [41] And the number of persons who perished along with these cities who would be able to compute? And one might add to the list Ibora and also Amasia, which chanced to be the first city in Pontus, also Polybotus in Phrygia, and the city which the Pisidians call Philomede, and Lychnidus in Epirus, and Corinth, all of which cities have from ancient times been most populous.

  [43] ταύταις γὰρ ἁπαξαπάσαις ὑπὸ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον σεισμῷ τε καταπεσεῖν καὶ τοῖς ᾠκημένοις σχεδόν τι πᾶσι ξυνδιολωλέναι τετύχηκεν.

  [43] For it befell all these cities during this period to be overthrown by earthquakes and the inhabitants to be practically all destroyed with them.

  [44] ἐπιγενόμενος δὲ καὶ ὁ λοιμὸς, οὗ πρόσθεν ἐμνήσθην, τὴν ἡμίσειαν μάλιστα τῶν περιγινομένων ἀνθρώπων ἀπήνεγκε μοῖραν.

  [44] And afterwards came the plague as well, mentioned by me before, which carried off about one-half of the surviving population.

  [45] τοσούτων μὲν ἀνθρώπων ἐγένετο φθόρος, Ἰουστινιανοῦ πρότερον Ῥωμαίοις διοικουμένου τὴν πολιτείαν καὶ ὕστερον τὴν αὐτοκράτορα ἀρχὴν ἔχοντος.

  [45] Such was the destruction of life which took place, first when Justinian was administering the Roman State as Regent, and later when he held the imperial office.

  XIX

  Ὅπως δὲ καὶ τὰ χρήματα ἀφείλετο ἁπαξάπαντα ἐρῶν ἔρχομαι, ὄψιν ὀνείρου ὑπειπὼν πρότερον ἥνπερ κατ̓ ἀρχὰς τῆς Ἰουστίνου βασιλείας τῶν τινι ἐπιφανῶν ἰδεῖν ξυνηνέχθη.

  I shall now proceed to tell how he robbed the State of quite all its monies, first, however, telling about the vision of a dream which one of the notables chanced to see at the beginning of the reign of Justinus.

  [2] ἔφη γάρ οἱ δοκεῖν ἐν τῷ ὀνείρῳ ἑστάναι μέν που ἐν Βυζαντίῳ παρὰ τὴν τῆς θαλάσσης ἠιόνα, ἣ δὴ Χαλκηδόνος καταντικρύ ἐστιν, ὁρᾶν δὲ τοῦτον κατὰ τὸν ἐκείνῃ πορθμὸν ἑστῶτα μέσον.

  [2] He said, namely, that in the dream it seemed to him that he was standing somewhere in Byzantium on the shore of the sea which is opposite Chalcedon, and that he saw this man standing in the middle of the strait there.

  [3] καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τοι τὸ ὕδωρ τῆς θαλάσσης αὐτὸν ἐκπιεῖν ὅλον, ὥστε οἴεσθαι τὸ λοιπὸν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῆς ἠπείρου ἑστάναι, οὐκέτι τοῦ πορθμοῦ ταύτῃ ἐπιόντος, ἔπειτα δὲ ὕδωρ ἄλλο ῥύπου τε πολλοῦ καὶ φορυτοῦ γέμον, βρύσαν ἐξ ὑπονόμων ἑκατέρωθεν ὄντων, ἐνταῦθα γενέσθαι, καὶ αὐτὸ μὲν τοῦτον ἐκπιεῖν ἅμα, γυμνόν τε α�
�θις ἐξεργάσασθαι τοῦ πορθμοῦ χῶρον.

  [3] And first he drank up all the water of the sea, so that he had the impression thereafter that the man was standing on dry land, since the water no longer filled the strait at this point, but afterwards other water appeared there that was saturated with much filth and rubbish and welled up from sewer-outlets which are on either side of the strait, and the man immediately drank even this too, and again laid the tract of the strait bare.

  [4] Ἡ μὲν τοῦ ὀνείρου ὄψις ἐδήλου τοιαῦτα. Ἰουστινιανὸς δὲ οὗτος, ἡνίκα οἱ ὁ θεῖος Ἰουστῖνος τὴν βασιλείαν παρέλαβε, χρημάτων δημοσίων ἔμπλεων τὴν πολιτείαν εὗρεν.

  [4] Such were the things revealed by the vision of the dream. Now this Justinian, when his uncle Justinus took over the Empire, did find the Government well supplied with public money.

  [5] Ἀναστάσιος γὰρ προνοητικώτατός τε ἅμα καὶ οἰκονομικώτατος πάντων αὐτοκρατόρων γενόμενος, δείσας ὅπερ ἐγένετο, μή οἱ ὁ τὴν βασιλείαν ἐκδεξόμενος χρημάτων ὑποσπανίζων ἴσως τοὺς κατηκόους ληΐζηται, χρυσοῦ τοὺς θησαυροὺς ἅπαντας κατακόρως ἐμπλησάμενος, τὸν βίον ξυνεμετρήσατο.

  [5] For Anastasius had been both the most provident and the most prudent administrator of all Emperors, and fearing, as actually happened, lest his future successor to the throne, finding himself short of funds, might perhaps take to plundering his subjects — he had filled all the treasuries to overflowing with gold before he completed the term of his life.

  [6] οὕσπερ ἅπαντας Ἰουστινιανὸς ὡς τάχιστα διεσπάσατο, πὴ μὲν θαλασσίοις οἰκοδομίαις λόγον οὐκ ἐχούσαις, πὴ δὲ τῇ ἐς τοὺς βαρβάρους φιλότητι: καίτοι ᾠήθη ἄν τις αὐτοὺς βασιλεῖ ἐς ἄγαν ἀσώτῳ ἐσομένῳ ἐτῶν ἑκατὸν ἐπαρκέσειν.

  [6] All this money Justinian dissipated with all speed, partly in senseless buildings on the sea, and partly by his kindness to the barbarians; and yet one would have supposed that even for an Emperor who was going to be extremely prodigal these funds would last for a hundred years.

  [7] ἰσχυρίζοντο γὰρ οἱ τοῖς θησαυροῖς τε καὶ ταμείοις καὶ ἄλλοις ἅπασι τοῖς βασιλικοῖς χρήμασιν ἐφεστῶτες, Ἀναστάσιον μὲν Ῥωμαίων ἔτη πλέον ἢ ἑπτὰ καὶ εἴκοσιν ἄρξαντα διακόσια καὶ τρισχίλια χρυσοῦ κεντηνάρια ἐν δημοσίῳ ἀπολιπεῖν.

  [7] For those who were in charge of all the treasures and treasuries and all the other imperial monies declared that Anastasius, after his reign over the Romans of more than twenty-seven years, left behind him in the Treasury three thousand two hundred centenaria of gold.

  [8] ἐπὶ μέντοι Ἰουστίνου ἔτη ἐννέα τὴν αὐτοκράτορα ἀρχὴν ἔχοντος, τούτου Ἰουστινιανοῦ ξύγχυσίν τε καὶ ἀκοσμίαν τῇ πολιτείᾳ προστριψαμένου, τετρακισχίλια κεντηνάρια ἐς τὴν βασιλείαν εἰσκομισθῆναι οὐδενὶ νόμῳ, καὶ τούτων ἁπάντων οὐδ̓ ὁτιοῦν ἀπολελεῖφθαι, ἀλλ̓ ἔτι περιόντος Ἰουστίνου πρὸς τοῦδε τοῦ ἀνθρώπου δεδαπανῆσθαι ᾗπέρ μοι ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν εἴρηται λόγοις.

  [8] But during the nine years of the reign of Justinus, while this Justinian was inflicting the evils of confusion and disorder upon the Government, they say that four thousand centenaria were brought into the Treasury by illegal means, and that of all this not a morsel was left, but that even while Justinus was still living it had been squandered by this man in the manner described by me in an earlier passage.

  [9] ἅπερ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ παντὶ χρόνῳ σφετερίζεσθαί τε οὐ δέον καὶ ἀναλοῦν ἴσχυσεν, οὐδ̓ ἄν τινα λόγον ἢ λογισμὸν ἢ μέτρον φανῆναι μηχανή τις οὐδεμία ἐστίν.

  [9] For as to the amounts which, during all the time he was in power, he succeeded in wrongfully appropriating to himself and then spending, there is no means by which any man could give a reckoning or a calculation or an enumeration of them.

  [10] ὥσπερ γάρ τις ποταμὸς ἀένναος ἐς ἡμέραν ἑκάστην ἐκδηιούμενος κατεληΐζετο τοὺς ὑπηκόους, ἐπέρρει δὲ ἅπαντα τοῖς βαρβάροις εὐθύς.

  [10] For like an everflowing river, while each day he plundered and pillaged his subjects, yet the inflow all streamed straight on to the barbarians, to whom he would make a present of it.

  [11] Πλοῦτον οὕτω τὸν δημόσιον εὐθὺς ἐκφορήσας ἐπὶ τοὺς κατηκόους τὸ βλέμμα ἦγε, πλείστους τε αὐτίκα τὰς οὐσίας ἀφείλετο ἁρπάζων τε καὶ βιαζόμενος οὐδενὶ λόγῳ, τῶν ἐγκλημάτων τε οὐδαμῆ γεγονότων ὑπάγων τοὺς εὐδαίμονας ἔν τε Βυζαντίῳ καὶ πόλει ἑκάστῃ δοκοῦντας εἶναι, καὶ τοῖς μὲν πολυθεΐαν, τοῖς δὲ δόξης ἐν Χριστιανοῖς οὐκ ὀρθῆς αἵρεσιν, τοῖς δὲ παιδεραστίας, ἑτέροις ἱερῶν γυναικῶν ἔρωτας, ἢ ἄλλας τινὰς οὐ θεμιτὰς μίξεις, ἄλλοις στάσεως ἀφορμὴν, ἢ μέρους Πρασίνου στοργὴν, ἢ ἐς αὐτὸν ὑβρίζειν, ἢ ὄνομα ὁτιοῦν ἄλλο ἐπενεγκὼν, ἢ κληρονόμος αὐτόματος τοῖς τετελευτηκόσιν ἢ καὶ περιοῦσιν, ἂν οὕτω τύχοι, γινόμενος ἅτε ἐσποιητὸς πρὸς αὐτῶν γενόμενος.

  [11] No sooner had he thus disposed of the public wealth than he turned his eyes towards his subjects, and he straightway robbed great numbers of them of their estates, which he seized with high-handed and unjustified violence, haling to court, for crimes that never happened, men both in Byzantium and in every other city who were reputed to be in prosperous circumstances, charging some with belief in polytheism, others with adherence to some perverse sect among the Christians, or with sodomy, or with having amours with holy women, or with other kinds of forbidden intercourse, or with fomenting revolt, or with predilection for the Green Faction, or with insult to himself, or charging crimes of any other name whatsoever, or by his own arbitrary act making himself the heir of deceased persons or, if it should so happen, of the living even, alleging that he had been adopted by them.

  [12] αἱ γὰρ δὴ σεμνόταται τῶν πράξεων αὐτῷ τοιαῦται ἦσαν. ὅπως δὲ καὶ τὴν γενομένην ἐπ̓ αὐτὸν στάσιν, ἣν Νίκα ἐκάλουν, διοικησάμενος πᾶσι κληρονόμος τοῖς ἐκ βουλῆς εὐθὺς γέγονεν ἤδη μοι ἔναγχος δεδιήγηται, καὶ ὅπως τῆς στάσεως πρότερον οὐκ ὀλίγων αὐτὸς ἰδίᾳ ἑκάστου τὴν οὐσίαν ἀφείλετο.

  [12] Such were the most august of his actions. As to the manner in which he so managed the insurrection which arose against him, the one which they called “Nika,” that he immediately became heir of all members of the Senate, and also how, before the insurrection, he had stolen the property of no small number of them, taking them individually and one at a time, has already been set forth by me in a recent chapter.

  [13] Τοὺς δ�
� βαρβάρους ἅπαντας οὐδένα ἀνιεὶς καιρὸν χρήμασιν ἐδωρεῖτο μεγάλοις, ἑῴους τε καὶ ἑσπερίους πρός τε ἄρκτον καὶ μεσημβρίαν, ἄχρι ἐς τοὺς ἐν Βρεττανίαις ᾠκημένους καὶ γῆς πανταχόθι τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ ἔθνη, ὧνπερ οὐδὲ ὅσον ἀκοὴν πρότερον εἴχομεν, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον ἰδόντες εἶτα τοῦ γένους ὄνομα ἔγνωμεν.

  [13] And he never ceased pouring out great gifts of money to all the barbarians, both those of the East and those of the West and those to the North and to the South, as far as the inhabitants of Britain — in fact all the nations of the inhabited world, even those of whom we had never so much as heard before, but the name of whose race we learned only when we first saw them.

  [14] αὐτοί τε γὰρ πυνθανόμενοι τὸ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἦθος ἐπ̓ αὐτὸν δὴ ἐκ πάσης γῆς ξυνέρρεον ἐς Βυζάντιον.

  [14] For they, of their own accord, on learning the nature of the man, kept streaming from all the earth into Byzantium in order to get to him.

  [15] καὶ ὃς οὐδεμιᾷ ὀκνήσει, ἀλλ̓ ὑπερηδόμενός τε τῷ ἔργῳ τούτῳ, καί τι καὶ ἕρμαιον εἶναι οἰόμενος τὸν μὲν Ῥωμαίων ἐξαντλεῖν πλοῦτον, βαρβάροις δὲ ἀνθρώποις ἢ ῥοθίοις τισὶ θαλασσίοις προΐεσθαι, ἀεὶ καθ̓ ἑκάστην αὐτῶν ἕκαστον ξὺν ἁδροῖς χρήμασιν ἀπεπέμπετο.

  [15] And he, with no hesitation, but overjoyed at this situation, and thinking it a stroke of good luck to be bailing out the wealth of the Romans and flinging it to barbarians or, for that matter, to the surging waves of the sea, day by day kept sending them away, one after the other, with bulging purses.