Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  [6] καὶ μὴν καὶ ὅσους οἱ τὰς πόλεις οἰκοῦντες ἁπάσας πολιτικῶν σφίσιν ἢ θεωρητικῶν οἴκοθεν πεποίηνται πόρους, καὶ τούτους μεταγαγὼν φόροις ἀναμῖξαι τοῖς δημοσίοις ἐτόλμησε.

  [6] Furthermore, all the revenues which the inhabitants of all the cities had been raising locally for their own civic needs and for their public spectacles he transferred and dared to mingle them with the national income.

  [7] καὶ οὔτε ἰατρῶν τις ἢ διδασκάλων τὸ λοιπὸν ἐγίνετο λόγος οὔτε δημοσίας τις ἔτι οἰκοδομίας προνοεῖν ἴσχυσεν οὔτε λύχνα ταῖς πόλεσιν ἐν δημοσίῳ ἐκάετο οὔτε τις ἦν ἄλλη παραψυχὴ τοῖς ταύτας οἰκοῦσι.

  [7] And thereafter neither physicians nor teachers were held in any esteem, nor was anyone able any longer to make provision for public buildings, nor were the public lamps kept burning in the cities, nor was there any other consolation for their inhabitants.

  [8] τά τε γὰρ θέατρα καὶ ἱππόδρομοι καὶ κυνηγέσια ἐκ τοῦ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἅπαντα ἤργει, οὗ δή οἱ τὴν γυναῖκα τετέχθαι τε καὶ τεθράφθαι καὶ πεπαιδεῦσθαι ξυνέβαινεν.

  [8] For the theatres and hippodromes and circuses were all closed for the most part — the places in which, as it happened, his wife had been born and reared and educated. And later he ordered these spectacles to close down altogether,

  [9] ὕστερον δὲ ταῦτα δὴ ἀργεῖν ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ἐκέλευσε τὰ θεάματα, τοῦ μὴ τὰ εἰωθότα χορηγεῖν τὸ δημόσιον πολλοῖς τε καὶ σχεδόν τι ἀναρίθμοις οὖσιν,

  [9] even in Byzantium, so that the Treasury might not have to supply the usual sums to the numerous and almost countless persons who derived their living from them.

  [10] οἷς ἐνθένδε ὁ βίος. ἦν τε ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ κοινῇ λύπη τε καὶ κατήφεια, ὥσπερ ἄλλο τι τῶν ἀπ̓ οὐρανοῦ ἐπισκήψασαι πάθος, καὶ βίος πᾶσιν ἀγέλαστος.

  [10] And there was both in private and in public sorrow and dejection, as though still another affliction from Heaven had smitten them, and there was no laughter in life for anyone.

  [11] ἄλλο τε τὸ παράπαν οὐδὲν ἐφέρετο τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐν διηγήμασιν, οἴκοι τε οὖσι καὶ ἀγοράζουσι κἀν τοῖς ἱεροῖς διατρίβουσιν ἢ συμφοραί τε καὶ πάθη καὶ καινοτέρων ἀτυχημάτων ὑπερβολή.

  [11] And no other topics whatever arose in the conversation of the people, whether they were at home or in the market-place or were tarrying in the sacred places, than disasters and calamities and misfortunes of novel kind in surpassing degree.

  [12] Ταῦτα μὲν οὕτω ταῖς πόλεσιν εἶχεν. ὃ δὲ τῷ λόγῳ λείπεται, τοῦτο εἰπεῖν ἄξιον. ὕπατοι Ῥωμαίων ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος ἐγινέσθην δύο, ἅτερος μὲν ἐν Ῥώμῃ, ὁ δὲ δὴ ἕτερος ἐν Βυζαντίῳ.

  [12] Such was the situation in the cities. And that which remains to be told is worth recounting. Two Consuls of the Romans were chosen each year, the one in Rome and the other in Byzantium.

  [13] ὅστις δὲ εἰς τὴν τιμὴν ἐκαλεῖτο ταύτην πλέον ἢ κεντηνάρια χρυσοῦ εἴκοσιν ἐς τὴν πολιτείαν ἀναλοῦν ἔμελλεν, ὀλίγα μὲν οἰκεῖα,

  [13] And whoever was called to this honour was sure to be required to spend more than twenty centenaria of gold on the State, a small portion of this being his own money but the most of it supplied by the Emperor.

  [14] τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα πρὸς βασιλέως κεκομισμένος. ταῦτά τε τὰ χρήματα ἔς τε τοὺς ἄλλους, ὧνπερ ἐμνήσθην, καὶ ἐς τῶν βίων τοὺς ἀπορωτέρους ἐκ τοῦ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον φερόμενα καὶ διαφερόντως ἐς τοὺς ἐπὶ σκηνῆς ἅπαντα τὰ πράγματα ἐς ἀεὶ τῇ πόλει ἀνίστη.

  [14] This money was distributed to those whom I have mentioned and to those, as a general thing, who were altogether destitute of means of subsistence, and particularly to performers on the stage, and thus provided constant support for all civic undertakings.

  [15] ἐξ οὗ δὲ Ἰουστινιανὸς τὴν βασιλείαν παρέλαβεν, οὐκέτι καιροῖς τοῖς καθήκουσι ταῦτα ἐπράσσετο: ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα πολλοῦ Ῥωμαίοις ὕπατος καθίστατο χρόνου, τελευτῶντες δὲ οὐδὲ ὄναρ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἑώρων, ἐξ οὗ δὴ πενίᾳ τινὶ ἐνδελεχέστατα ἐσφίγγετο τὰ ἀνθρώπεια, τὰ μὲν εἰωθότα τοῦ βασιλέως οὐκέτι τοῖς ὑπηκόοις παρεχομένου, τὰ δὲ ὑπάρχοντα τρόποις ἅπασι πανταχόθεν ἀφαιρουμένου.

  [15] But since the time when Justinian took over the Empire, these things were no longer done at the appropriate seasons; but although at first a Consul was appointed for Romans after a long interval, yet finally the people never saw that official even in a dream, and consequently mankind was being most cruelly pinched by a kind of poverty, since the Emperor no longer provided his subjects with what they had been wont to receive, but kept on depriving them in every way and everywhere of what they still possessed.

  [16] Ὡς μὲν οὖν τὰ δημόσια καταπιὼν ξύμπαντα χρήματα τοὺς ἐκ τῆς συγκλήτου βουλῆς ὁ λυμεὼν οὗτος ἕκαστόν τε ἰδίᾳ καὶ κοινῇ ξύμπαντας τὰς οὐσίας ἀφῄρηται,

  [16] Now how this despoiler has been swallowing up all the public monies and how he has been fleecing the members of the Senate of their property, both individually and all of them in common, has, I think, been sufficiently described.

  [17] διαρκῶς δεδιηγῆσθαι οἶμαι. ὡς δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους εὐδαίμονας δοκοῦντας εἶναι συκοφαντίᾳ περιιὼν ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τὰ χρήματα ἴσχυσεν, ἱκανώτατά μοι εἰρῆσθαι νομίζω, οὐ μέντοι στρατιώτας τε καὶ ἄρχουσι πᾶσιν ὑπηρετοῦντας καὶ τοὺς ἐν Παλατίῳ στρατευομένους, γεωργούς τε καὶ χωρίων κτήτορας καὶ κυρίους καὶ οἷς ἐν λόγοις τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματά ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ μὴν ἐμπόρους τε καὶ ναυκλήρους καὶ ναύτας βαναύσους τε καὶ χειρώνακτας καὶ ἀγοραίους καὶ οἷς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς ἐπιτηδευμάτων ὁ βίος, καὶ μὴν καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ὡς εἰπεῖν ἅπαντας, ἐς οὓς διικνεῖσθαι βλάβος τὸ ἐκ τοῦδε συμβαίνει.

  [17] And how he has circumvented by blackmailing methods the others likewise who are reputed to be prosperous, and has succeeded in robbing them of their money, this I consider to have been told by me quite adequately; aye, and the soldiers and those who serve all the magistrates and those who serve in the Palace as guards, and the farmers and the owners and masters of lands, and those whose profession is oratory, — nay more, the shipping-merchants and the owners of ships and the sailors, and the mechanics and day-labourers and the tradesmen of the market-place and those who derive their living from performances on the stage, and, furthermore, all the
other classes, I may say, which are reached by the damage which issues from this man.

  [18] Οἷα δὲ τούς τε προσαιτητὰς καὶ ἀγελαίους ἀνθρώπους καὶ πτωχούς τε καὶ λώβῃ πάσῃ ἐχομένους εἰργάσατο, αὐτίκα ἐροῦμεν: τὰ γὰρ ἀμφὶ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν αὐτῷ πεπραγμένα ἐν τοῖς ὄπισθεν λόγοις λελέξεται.

  [18] And we shall proceed forthwith to tell how he treated the beggars and the common folk and the poor and those afflicted with every form of physical handicap; for his treatment of the priests will be described in my subsequent books.

  [19] πρῶτα μὲν, ὅπερ εἴρηται, ἅπαντα περιβεβλημένος τὰ πωλητήρια καὶ ὠνίων τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων τὰ λεγόμενα καταστησάμενος μονοπώλια πλέον ἢ τριπλάσια τιμήματα πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἐπράττετο.

  [19] First of all, having taken control, as has been said, of all the shops and having established what are called the monopolies of all the most indispensable goods, he proceeded to exact from the whole population more than threefold the usual prices.

  [20] καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἐπεὶ ἀνάριθμά μοι ἔδοξεν εἶναι, οὐκ ἂν ἔγωγε λόγῳ ἀτελευτήτῳ καταλέγειν φιλονεικοίην: ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν τοὺς ἄρτους ὠνουμένων πικρότατα ἐς πάντα τὸν αἰῶνα ἐσύλει, οὓς δὴ καὶ χειρώνακτας καὶ πτωχοὺς καὶ πάσῃ λώβῃ ἐχομένους ἀνθρώπους μὴ οὐκ ὠνεῖσθαι ἀδύνατον.

  [20] Now as to his other doings, inasmuch as they have seemed to me past counting, I, for my part, could not aspire to catalogue them even in an endless narrative; but I will say that from the purchasers of bread he stole most cruelly at all times, men who, being manual labourers and impoverished and afflicted with every physical handicap, could not possibly avoid buying bread.

  [21] αὐτὸς μὲν γὰρ ἐς τρία κεντηνάρια φέρεσθαι ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος ἐνθένδε ἠξίου, ὅπως οἱ ἄρτοι ἀξιώτεροι ὦσι καὶ σποδοῦ ἔμπλεῳ: οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐς τοῦτο δὴ τὸ τῆς αἰσχροκερδείας ἀσέβημα ὁ βασιλεὺς οὗτος ὀκνηρὸς ᾔει:

  [21] For in order to realize from this source as much as three centenaria each year, he required that the loaves should be both more expensive and full of ash; for this Emperor did not hesitate to resort to even so impious an act of shameful covetousness as this.

  [22] ταύτῃ δὲ τῇ σκήψει οἰκεῖα κέρδη ἐπιτεχνώμενοι οἷς ἐπέκειτο ἡ τιμὴ αὕτη αὐτοὶ μὲν ῥᾷστα ἐς πλοῦτόν τινα περιίσταντο μέγαν, λιμὸν δὲ τοῖς πτωχοῖς χειροποίητον ἐν εὐθηνοῦσι χρόνοις ἀεὶ παρὰ δόξαν εἰργάζοντο, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ σῖτον ἑτέρωθέν τινι εἰσκομίζεσθαι τὸ παράπαν ἐξῆν, ἀλλὰ ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ἅπασι τούτους δὴ ὠνουμένους ἄρτους ἐσθίειν.

  [22] And those who were charged with this office, using this pretext as an excuse for contriving some private gains, did indeed find it easy to attain great wealth of a sort, but in so doing they were constantly, strange as it seemed, creating for the poor a man-made famine in times of abundance; for it was absolutely forbidden that any man should import even cornº from elsewhere, but it was required of all that they should buy and eat these loaves.

  [23] Τὸν δὲ τῆς πόλεως ὀχετὸν διερρωγότα τε ὁρῶντες καὶ μοῖραν ὕδατος ὀλίγην τινὰ ἐς τὴν πόλιν εἰσάγοντα ὑπερεώρων τε καὶ οὐδ̓ ὁτιοῦν αὐτῷ προέσθαι ἤθελον, καίπερ ὁμίλου ἀεὶ ἀμφὶ τὰς κρήνας ἀποπνιγομένου πολλοῦ, καὶ τῶν βαλανείων ἀποκεκλεισμένων ἁπάντων: καίτοι ἐς οἰκοδομίας θαλασσίους τε καὶ ἀνοήτους ἄλλας μέγεθος χρημάτων οὐδενὶ λόγῳ προΐετο, πανταχόθι τῶν προαστείων ἐπιτεχνώμενος, ὥσπερ τῶν βασιλείων αὐτοὺς οὐ χωρούντων, ἐν οἷς δὴ ἅπαντες οἱ πρότερον βεβασιλευκότες διαβιοῦν ἐς ἀεὶ ἤθελον.

  [23] And though they saw that the city’s aqueduct had been broken and was delivering only a small fraction of the water into the city, they took no notice of the matter and would not consent to spend any money on it whatever, in spite of the fact that a great throng of the people, bursting with indignation, was always gathered at the fountains, and that all the baths had been closed. And yet he squandered a great mass of money for no good reason on buildings over the sea and other senseless structures, building new ones in all parts of the suburbs, as if the palaces in which all the earlier Emperors had been content to live throughout their lives could not contain his household.

  [24] οὕτως οὐ χρημάτων φειδοῖ, ἀλλὰ φθόρου ἀνθρώπων ἕνεκα τῆς τοῦ ὀχετοῦ οἰκοδομίας ὀλιγωρεῖν ἔγνω, ἐπεὶ οὐδεὶς ἐκ τοῦ παντὸς χρόνου Ἰουστινιανοῦ τοῦδε ἑτοιμότερος γέγονεν ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων χρήματά τε προσποιεῖσθαι κακῶς, καὶ ταῦτα χειρόνως αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα προέσθαι.

  [24] Thus it was not from motives of economy, but in order to effect the destruction of human beings, that they saw fit to neglect the building of the aqueduct, for no man in the whole world since the beginning of time has been more ready than this Justinian both to acquire money basely and then immediately more foolishly to squander it.

  [25] δυοῖν τοίνυν ἀπολελειμμένοιν ἔν τε ποτῷ καὶ τοῖς ἐδωδίμοις τοῖς τὰ ἔσχατα πενομένοις καὶ πτωχοῖς οὖσιν, ὕδατός τε καὶ ἄρτου, δἰ ἀμφοῖν αὐτοὺς, ὥσπερ μοι δεδιήγηται, βασιλεὺς ὅδε ἔβλαψε, τὸ μὲν ἄπορον σφίσι, τὸν δὲ πολλῷ ἀξιώτερον ἐργασάμενος.

  [25] Of the two resources, then, namely food and drink, which had been left to those in extreme destitution, both were used by this Emperor to their injury, as I have stated, since he made the one, namely water, impossible to get, and the other, bread, far more expensive to buy.

  [26] Οὐ μόνον δὲ τοὺς ἐν Βυζαντίῳ προσαιτητὰς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἑτέρωθι ᾠκημένων τινὰς ἔδρασε ταῦτα, ὥσπερ μοι αὐτίκα λελέξεται.

  [26] And he treated thus not only the beggar class of Byzantium, but also, in some instances, those who lived elsewhere, as will immediately be told by me.

  [27] Ἰταλίαν γὰρ Θευδέριχος ἑλὼν τοὺς ἐν τῷ Ῥώμης Παλατίῳ στρατευομένους αὐτοῦ εἴασεν, ὅπως τι διασώζοιτο πολιτείας ἐνταῦθα τῆς παλαιᾶς ἴχνος, μίαν ἀπολιπὼν σύνταξιν ἐς ἡμέραν ἑκάστῳ.

  [27] For when Theoderic captured Italy, he left where they were those who were serving as soldiers in the Palace at Rome, in order that at least a trace of the ancient polity might be preserved there, leaving each man a small daily wage; and these soldiers were very numerous.

  [28] ἦσαν δὲ οὗτοι παμπληθεῖς ἄγαν. οἵ τε γὰρ σιλεντιάριοι καλούμενοι καὶ δομέστικοι καὶ σχολάριοι ἐν αὐτοῖς ἦσαν, οἷς δὴ ἄλλο οὐδὲν ἀπελέλειπτο ἢ τὸ
τῆς στρατείας ὄνομα μόνον, καὶ ἡ σύνταξις αὕτη ἐς τὸ ἀποζῆν ἀποχρῶσα μόλις αὐτοῖς, ἅπερ ἔς τε παῖδας καὶ ἀπογόνους Θευδέριχος αὐτοὺς παραπέμπειν ἐκέλευσε.

  [28] For the Silentiarii, as they are called, and the Domestici and the Scholarii were among them, though in their case nothing military remained except the name of the army, and this pay which barely sufficed to maintain them; and Theoderic commanded that this custom be transmitted to their offspring and descendants.

  [29] τοῖς τε προσαιτηταῖς οἳ παρὰ τὸν Πέτρου τοῦ ἀποστόλου νεὼν δίαιταν εἶχον, τρισχιλίους σίτου μεδίμνους χορηγεῖν ἀεὶ τὸ δημόσιον ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος διώρισεν: ἅπερ ἅπαντες οὗτοι διαγεγόνασι κομιζόμενοι ἕως Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Ψαλίδιος ἐς τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἀφίκετο.

  [29] And to the beggars who had their station beside the Church of Peter the Apostle, he ordered that the Treasury should for ever supply each year three thousand measures of corn. These pensions all these beggars continued to receive until Alexander, called “Snips,” arrived in Italy.

  [30] πάντα γὰρ εὐθὺς οὗτος ἀνὴρ ὀκνήσει οὐδεμιᾷ περιελεῖν ἔγνω. ταῦτα μαθὼν Ἰουστινιανὸς Ῥωμαίων αὐτοκράτωρ τήν τε πρᾶξιν προσήκατο ταύτην καὶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ἔτι μᾶλλον ἢ πρότερον διὰ τιμῆς ἔσχεν. ἐν ταύτῃ Ἀλέξανδρος τῇ πορείᾳ καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας εἰργάσατο τάδε.

  [30] For this man decided immediately, without any hesitation, to abolish them all. Upon learning this, Justinian, Emperor of the Romans, put the stamp of his approval upon this course of action and held Alexander in still higher honour than formerly. During this journey Alexander did the following disservice to the Greeks also.