were to be bought at an easie and indifferent rate before Ephestus was made Governor For having ingrossed all the Corn that came out of Egypt not permitting any man to buy so much as one bushel he put what price upon it he pleased so that in a short time having acquired a vast wealth himself he endeavored likewise to content the insatiable avarice of the Emperor And the people of Alexandria endured all this ill treatment without complaint for fear of provoking their Governor to use them worse And the Emperor taking singular delight to see Money flowing into his Exchequer from those parts took a particular kindness and affection to Ephestus whilest he to continue and advance it did as I shall relate The Emperor Dioclesian had ordained a yearly distribution of Corn to the poor of Alexandria which from that very time was constantly observed the poor having received it in those times and left it afterwards to their posterity But Ephestus stopped this distribution and caused two thousand Barrels of Corn which was the usual quantity to be disposed among the people to be secured in the Emperors Granaries pretending That the Alexandrines had enjoyed it by Usurpation and contrary to all Justice and the interest of the State The Emperor approved what he had done confirmed it by Proclamation and had a higher esteem for Ephestus then before whilest the poor people of that City whose hopes of livelihood depended much upon so considerable a relief was by this unparalleld cruelty reduced to the greatest extremity and they were the more sensible of it because it fell out at a time when there was great scarcity in Egypt But Justinian committed so many cruelties of this nature it would tire any man to number them Wherefore I shall only select out of that vast number some few which I conceive will be sufficient to convince posterity of his fraud hypocrisie contempt of God his Priests and his Laws how he persecuted those who were most religious and devout and that he had neither shame nor modesty nor care of the State his whole thoughts being bent upon contriving plausible pretences for his Crimes when indeed his end was nothing but to ruine the whole World and get their Estates At first he put in one Paul into the Bishoprick of Alexandria at the time when Rhodon a Phenician was Governor to whom he writ to execute what ever Paul recommended to him and to be sure to assist him for by his industry he hoped to oblige all the cheif persons in that City and prevail with them to stand for the Council of Chalcedon There was at that time a native of Palestine called Arsenius the wickedest man alive who having made himself necessary to the Empress by the management of her intrigues had got a vast estate and with it great credit and authority This miscreant was of the same Religion with the Samaritans but he had always pretended to be a Christian and his Father and Brother dissembling the same Faith being supported by his interest and acted by his devilish perswasions they brought a thousand miseries upon the Christians of Scythopolis where they lived Whereupon the Citizens revolted and put them to death after they had punished them severely which was the occasion afterwards of much mischeif to Palestine for as to Arsenius though he was really the Author of those troubles the Emperor inflicted no other punishment upon him but to forbid him the Court and that he did only to satisfie the Christians who were very importunate against him Arsenius being banished the Court conceiving he should do a thing very acceptable to the Emperor went a while after with Paul to Alexandria For during the time of his absence from the Court he pretended to have instructed himself in all the Niceties and Criticisms of the Christian Faith but instead of succeeding in his design he fell into Theodoraes displeasure who seemed to act in that affair by motives altogether opposite to the Emperors When Paul was arrived at Alexandria and setled there he caused the Deacon Psoes to be seised and delivered into the hands of Rhodon the Governor of the City to be put to death objecting That he was the only man who opposed his designs and obstructed the execution of the Emperors orders Rhodon had Letters continually from the Emperor pressing him to do whatever Paul should desire wherefore he caused Psoes to be whipped and Psoes being an infirm man died under the correction The news of his death being brought to the Court by the instigation of Theodora who with her prayers and perswasions never let him rest Justinian expressed great indignation against Paul Rhodon and Arsenius as if he had forgot the orders which he had given them He gave the Government of Alexandria to a Roman of a Patrician family called Liberius and made choice of several Bishops of approved integrity to go and examine the business upon the place in which number one was Pelagius Archdeacon of the Roman Church whom the Pope Vigilius had sent as his Agent to act as effectually as if he had been there himself Paul being convicted of homicide was turned out of his Bishoprick Rhodon having fled to Constantinople and falling into the hands of Justinian was put to death and his estate confiscated though in his own justification he produced six of the Emperors own Letters commanding his positive obedience in what ever Paul should order and to give him liberty to do what he pleased in Matters of Religion Arsenius was put upon the Cross by Liberius according to directions which he received from Theodora and his estate confiscated and all upon no other pretence but his friendship for Paul I will not trouble my self so far as to dispute Whether this was done justly or otherwise but I shall tell upon what grounds I inserted this passage Not long after Paul came to Constantinople to endeavor by the offer of 300 Livers in Gold to prevail with the Emperor to be restored to his Bishoprick having been as he pretended unjustly dispossessed Justinian took his Money treated him with as much honor and respect as was possible and promising to restore him with the first opportunity though at the same time another was in possession and the said Justinian had caused two of the Bishops best friends to be put to death and confiscated their estates The Emperor pretended to desire it much and no body made the least question but Paul would be restored but Pope Vigilius who was at the same time in Constantinople would not consent not enduring that they should act contrary to the sentence which Pelagius had given in his name So that in all his affairs Justinians cheif designs was getting of Money by what means was possible to gain it I am now writing of a History to the same purpose which hath some Analogy with the former There was in Palestine a Man called Faustinus of Jewish extraction having been born and bred by his Parents in
Photius believed he could not attempt any thing securely and therefore he concluded to expect till Antonina was departed from Constantinople and Theodosius was returning to Ephesus at which time he thought he might with more ease seise upon Theodosius and all his vast treasure In the mean time Bellisarius with his whole Army invaded Persia whilest several things hapned at Constantinople which I have related elswhere as the loss of John de Cappadocia c. I only omitted on purpose to say That Antonina betrayed both the said John and her Daughter notwithstanding millions of oaths and imprecations to the contrary After this she sent Theodosius back again to Ephâ—sus relying extreamly upon the kindness of the Empress who without any apprehension removed into the East It was not long before Bellisarius had taken the Fort of Sisauranum and news was brought him That his wife was at hand whereupon he caused his Army to retreat and seemed to prefer his own private interest before the benefit of the Empire True it is There was another reason which moved him to discamp with his Army and I have mentioned it in my other Books but the arrival of Antonina contributed much And this was one thing which I durst not communicate in the History which I published as not thinking my self safe if I should chance to be discovered From that time Bellisarius lost much of his reputation both with the Emperor and People for having preferred his own private to the affairs of the publick That which did principally induce him was That the extravagancies of his wife lying heavy at his heart he could not without some trouble resolve to quit the Frontiers of the Roman Empire as knowing That the nearer he was with the more ease he should be able to revenge himself upon Theodosius as soon as his wife was arrived In order thereunto he commanded Arethas with part of his Troops to cross the Tigre but Arethas not executing his Orders he returned into his own Countrey without the honor of having performed his duty Bellisarius resolution was to keep himself within a league of the Frontiers though the Fort of Sisuranum which I mentioned before was not above a days journey from the Frontiers by the way of Nisibe and by any other way it was not half so far distant In short had he passed the Tigre at first with his whole Army I make no question but he had been Master of all Assyria and without any difficulty extended his Conquests as far as the City of Ctesiphont and before his return might have delivered the Inhabitants of Antioch and all the Romans which were prisoners besides his unexpected departure favored the Retreat of Cosroes who was at the same time in Colchis The case was thus Cosroer King of Persia and Son of Cabades having subdued Petra and performed all the exploits which I have mentioned in my other Histories his Army was much weakned and imâ—overished not only by its Engagements and Sieges but by the inconvenience of the ways being over Mountains and almost unpassable Rocks and by a Contagion which carried off a great part of his Army besides the want of such things as were necessary In this juncture of them news arrived out of Persia That Bellisarius having vanquished Nabades had taken Sisuranum and in it Belesmaches and Eight hundred Persian Horse and was marching with his Army in good order directly towards Nisibe with design to besiege it That another way he had sent a strong party under the command of Arethas the cheif of the Sarrarius who had passed the River Tigre so that the whole Countrey of Assyria which before had never been subject to the Inroads of the Enemy was at present infested and become a prey to any that would invade it Moreover 〈◊〉 Body of Huns which Cosroes had sent into Armenia a Province belonging to the Roman Empire had unfortunately encountred with the Troops of Valerian and been almost utterly cut off This news being brought to the Persian Camp which was already perplexed with the incommodities which they had suffered a long time in the Countrey of the Lariens caused them to apprehend That if the Enemy should cut off the Passages after all the Distresses and Calamities they had endured they should again be reduced to a necessity of starving among the Rocks and Desarts and their ruine be attended by the distruction of their Wives and their Children and the inevitable Conquest of their whole Countrey especially at a time when their Army was so afflicted with diseases Hereupon they began to mutiny against Cosroes and to upbraid him for having broken his Oath and violated the Law of Nations which is Sacred even among the Barbarians they could not forgive him that after a solemn Peace with the Romans he had invaded their Territories undertaken an unjust War against them and attacked an Empire not only the most antient in the World but so powerful That they could not in reason hope to overcome it though their Army was much more considerable then it was These discourses had so prepared the minds of the Persians for Sedition that it was ready to break out had not Cosroes applied a remedy in time by reading the Letters which Zaberganes had received from the Empress almost in these very terms Zaberganes YOu might easily perceive when you were Ambassador with us how ready we were to oblige you and how little we disputed any thing that was to be done in your favor You have now an opportunity effectually to answer our good opinion of you and that is by prevailing with King Cosroes your Master to continue that good intelligence with us that the Peace did procure I do engage that the Emperor my Husband shall recompence any good office you shall do him to the full and let me tell you he does nothing now without my counsel and approbation When Cosroes had read the Letter he declared to the cheif Officers of his Army That he could not but wonder the Persians should call that Empire invincible which was governed by a Woman and by this means he put a stop to their mutiny Nevertheless being still apprehensive least Bellisarius should possess himself of the Passes he discamped immediately and finding no opposition he returned into his own Countrey without any impediment Bellisarius being retreated into the Territories of the Empire found that Antonina was arrived from Constantinople and without the least token of kindness he caused her to be taken into custody and a Guard clap'd upon her Many times it was in his thoughts to have put her to death but he could never determine I am of opinion his fondness was the cause though others affirm she used charms and inchantments to render him irresolute In the interim Photius arrived in great fury at Ephesus having brought along with him Caligonus the Eunuch who was Antinonaes great Confident and privy to all her debaucheries This Caligonus being brought in Chains and well lasht
by the way confessed the truth in what ever was asked him Theodosius having notice of what had passed retired into the Church of S. John which is of greater veneration then any other in Ephesus but that would not serve his turn for the Bishop called Andrew being corrupted with Money delivered him up into the hands of Photius On the other side the Empress receiving advertisement from Antonina and fearing some ill accident might befal her sent orders to Bellisarius to come back with her to the Court This order came no sooner to the ears of Photius but he sent Theodosius into Cicily where his Army was in its Winter Quarters To those who conveyed him he gave instructions to carry him as privately as possible to deliver him into the hands of the Cicilians as soon as they were arrived and to tell no body where they had disposed him Caligonus he took along with himself and all the wealth of Theodosius and carried them to Constantinople Then it was that the Empress Theodora would give an example to all mankind by recompensing the services of Antonina by actions of greater cruelty and crimes of greater infamy then her own Antonina not long before had betrayed John of Cappadocia to the Empress but the Empress out did her in the requital For she caused several persons to be put into Antoninaes hands who notwithstanding that they were innocent were all of them put to death In brief many Friends and Relations both to Photius and Bellisarius whose only guilt was acquaintance with them were drubbed and conveyed away where no body could ever hear of them others were banished by her and for no other crime but for being intimate with them Among the rest there was one Theodosius who had accompanied Photius to Ephesus she caused this Theodosius to be apprehended and having seised upon his estate she gave order to put him into a Dungeon where no day was to be seen and made him be tied up by the Neck to a Rackstaff so short that he was forced to continue in the same posture without being able to turn himself so that he was forced to eat and sleep and evacuat as he stood without any thing but his speech to discriminate him from a Beast In this cruel condition he continued four Moneths after which though the Empress gave him his liberty yet his spirits being depressed with his afflictions he died with the very thoughts of what miseries he had suffered She constrained Bellisarius to reconcile himself with his Wife in spight of his aversion and what ever he could do to prevent it Photius had a thousand stripes with a Stirrup-leather upon the Reins and the Shoulders to make him confess what he had done with Theodosius and Caligonus But though he was much weakned and dejected with his usage having been naturally tender infirm and exceeding careful of his health which care till that time had preserved him from any considerable affliction yet he would never forfeit his Oath nor discover his intrigue with Bellisarius though not long after it came out another way for Theodora found out Caligonus and returned him to Antonina and having got intelligence where Theodosius was she sent for him to Constantinople and concealed him in her Palace The next morning she sent for Antonina and told her Dear Antonina this day I have been presented with a Jewel I conceive not to be matched in the whole World If you have a curiosity to see it I am so far from refusing you that priviledge I shall think my self happy to show it Antonina not dreaming what it should be was impatient to see it and the Empress entring into the Chamber of one of her Eunuchs brought out Theodosius in her hand At the unexpectedness of the sight her joy put her into so sudden an amaze for some time Antonina was not able to speak but being a little recollected she made a thousand expressions of thankfulness to the Empress called her excellent Mistress incomparable Benefactress and the Preserver of her happiness in this World Theodora kept Theodosius in her Palace and used all means possible to re-establish him and put him at the head of the Emperors Army and in the mean time entertained him with all kind of delights but Divine Justice which sooner or later overtakes all such criminals ordered it otherwise for he died not long after of a fit of the Cholick Theodora had her Dungeons so deep so private so remote and so horribly dark the night and the day were not possibly to be distinguished in them In one of those dismal places the poor Photius was kept close along time though I know not by what good fortune twice he had escaped The first time he got into the Church of our Lady which is of principal veneration in Constantinople and threw himself before the Altar but the Empress having notice fetched him out by violence and recommitted him to his Dungeon The second time he hid himself in a Vault belonging to Sancta Sophia a place of no less esteem among the Christians but she made no scruple to force him from thence there being no place so sacred that she was fearful to violate nay rather she boasted and insulted in her Sacriledges were the places never so holy The People and the Clergy abominated her impieties and made a thousand Imprecations against her that committed them but neither the one nor the other had the courage to oppose them About three years Photius had been recluse in this manner when the Prophet Zachary appeared to him in a Dream required him to escape and promised his assistance This Vision having encouraged him he got out of his Dungeon as he could and having passed unknown thorow hundreds of his persecutors he came at length to Jerusalem where having shaved he took the habit of a Monk and evaded the cruelty of Theodora Bellisarius having neglected him in his persecutions though he had sworn solemnly to assist him and his sufferings were only for his sake no wonder if afterwards God Almighty deserted in him all his affairs Being a while after sent with an Army against Cosroes King of Persia who was the third time ravaging the Provinces of the Empire though he repelled him with honor enough yet he was suspected of Treason For Bellisarius continuing in his Camp instead of pursuing Cosroes who in his retreat over Euphrates had made himself Master of Callinicum a very populous City and taken many Romans prisoners in it gave occasion of jealousie to the World That it was either want of Fidelity or Courage besides which miscarriages there was another accident which augmented his disgrace The sickness being at that time in Constantinople and many people dying the Emperor fell very ill among the rest and a report was raised that he was dead The report being general came at length to the Army of Bellisarius and some of the cheif Officers began to talk That if the People of Constantinople were
bought by Justin and served him a long time in the nature of a Concubine he married her and she lived with him to his dying day Justin was not capable of doing his Subjects either good or hurt for he was a Man of extraordinary stupidity and sottishness and extraordinary brutish But Justinian his Sisters Son who was young and governed the State brought more and greater evils upon the Empire then were ever mentioned in all the Histories of former times He made no scruple of sequestring any mans estate nor murdering any mans person and could without any remorse give orders for the putting to death a great multitude of innocent persons at once He never executed the resolutions that were taken but on the contrary was so great a lover of Novelty that he delighted to subvert and undo all things that were well ordered with a word During his Reign as I have said before in my other Books there hapned so great a contagion quite thorow his Dominions that few or none escaped who were infected and few or none escaped without infection But as to the Tyranny of Justinian there was scarce a Subject of the whole Roman Empire but had had some experiment of it This unhappy Prince as if he had been sent down from Heaven as a Plague upon his People put some of them to death in a criminal way and others he kept alive but in such deplorable poverty they desired a thousand times to be delivered by the greatest punishment he could inflict Not conducted that he had mined and subverted the Roman Empire he imployed his Armies for the Conquest of Italy and Africk to involve those two brave Countreys in the same calamities which he had brought upon the other Provinces that had submitted to his Dominion He was scarce ten days in Authority before he put Amantius to death who was the cheif of the Court Eunuchs and many others upon no other grounds but because they had spoke too liberally against John the Patriarch of Constantinople which made him afterwards the most terrible Man in the World About the same time he sent for the Tyrant Vitalian promised him in the Emperors name sincere amity obliged him to embrace the Christian Religion but growing jealous of him afterwards and suspecting he was not true to his interests he caused him and all his Relations and friends to be stabbed in the middle of the Court without the least compunction for the breach of his Faith which is a sacred thing among all Men. As I have said before there were at that time two contrary factions among the people of which having gained the Venetes and managed them along while he had all the liberty he could desire to molest and disorder every thing as he pleased so that having found the Roman Empire declining he easily finished its destruction though the most seditious of that party who served him in the execution of his tyrannical designs have passed since for the most moderate of all Men because they did not abuse that liberty to do mischeif which was given them as they might have done Those of the opposite party which was called the faction of the Prasinians committed several murders and outrages as they had opportunity and it was in their power though from time to time some of them suffered privately very cruel punishments which did but animate the rest for it is frequently seen that injury does but exasperate and provoke people to betake themselves to force and the desire of revenge carries them on to such ill actions as they would not do had they not been irritated before The Venetes having got the priority the Roman Empire was utterly overturned and all things put into confusion without possibility of recovery The Cities and Towns were ruined as if they had been pillaged by an Enemy or destroyed by some Earthquake or Inundation all things ran into most desperate disorder Justice and the Laws were quite out of force the Face of the Government was intirely changed and in a little time all things ran headlong to ruine The Factions began to be effeminate to take delight in their Hair and to cut it after a mode that was quite new to the Romans they shaved not their Beards as formerly but suffered them to grow long like the Persians they shaved the sore part of their Head to their very Temples leaving it thick as possible behind after the manner of the Massagets and this kind of cut they called The Mode of the Huns. They made themselves rich Cloaths embroidered very magnificently and more costly by far then their conditions would bear had not the Money they had gotten by their Violences furnished them with wherewithal The Sleeves of their Vests were extream strait at their Wrists but from thence to their Sholders they were extraordinary wide insomuch that vvhen upon the Theater or in the Circus when they stretched forth their hands either in speaking themselves or inciting of others they exposed that part of the Body that Sots and Fools might be induced to believe it was the strength and greatness of their Arm which obliged them to wear them so large not perceiving that the vacuity and wideness of the Sleeve did rather discover the smalness of their Limbs They took also the Doublet and the Hose and several other fashions from the Huns and gave them the names which they retain still among the people At first they carried Daggers privately under their Coats and meeting in little troops as soon as day was shut in they took their Posts possessed themselves of the corners of the Streets robbed all that past by took away their Cloaks their Belts their Gold Buckles or what ever else they thought convenient for them Some they killed after they had robbed them that they might tell no tales nor discover who had wronged them All people were fellow sufferers in these exorbitancies but especially those who were not of the faction of the Venetes finding they could not do otherwise securely they began to wear Clasps and Buckles of Copper upon their Belts and their Cloaths were made meaner then perhaps their qualities did require least the richness of their habits might bring their lives into danger and every one went home before night for fear of ambushments by the way These mischeifs increased every day and the seditious grew more insolent because the Magistrates of the Town punished not the guilty so that crimes increased easily by the security of committing them for they were not severe enough in their corrections to reach at the Root and many were hurried into them by the impetuosity of their natures And this was the behavior of the Venetes for the other faction most of them changed their party to revenge themselves in their particular quarrels Some hid themselves where they could others were massacred by their Enemies or died of the punishments which the Magistrate inflicted A good party of youth of the Town Joyned themselves with that faction not
they and they were all extirpated with their Wives and Children The greatest part of the Roman Army perished there likewise and with them all the Auxilliary Troops of their Allies so that I am of opinion it may be affirmed without extravagance That in that Countrey alone he was the destruction of above a million and all because after he had defeated the Vandals he took no care to establish his Empire in those parts and fortifie his party by indulging the Natives but called away Bellisarius upon pretence that he designed to make himself King a thing he never thought of nor was it any way convenient for him But what ever he pretended the true cause was that he might have opportunity to pillage more freely and ruine without obstruction the whole Coast of Africa And to speak truth the Officers which he sent acquitted themselves very faithfully of their Commission from him for under the new names of Imposts and Duties they seised upon the best and richest part of the Countrey This Emperor who could not contain himself in one and the same state and seemed to be born to put all things in confusion forbid the Arians the exercise of their Religion and deferred always to send supplies to his Army till at length they began to mutiny and so many Seditions were ready to break out as would certainly have indangered the peace and tranquility of the whole Government He dispeopled Italy of its Inhabitants much more then he had done the Coast of Africa which was three times of greater extent from whence a probable computation may be made of the numbers which he occasionally ruined for I have elswhere spoke of the original of his Wars in Italy The same exactions that he used in Africk he used likewise in Italy having ravaged all by the means of certain receivers which he called Logothetes Before the Wars in Italy the Empire of the Goths extended from Gaule or France as far as the confines of Dacia or the City of Sirmium and when the Roman Troops were in Italy the Germans possessed the best part of Gallia Cisalpina and the Countrey belonging to Venice Sirmium and the Countrey adjacent were in the hands of the Gepides All this vast tract of Ground was depopulated in the Raign of the Emperor Justinian partly by War partly by Famine partly by the Plague and by other evils that are inseparably concomitant with War Illyrium Thrace Greece the Ghersoness and all the Provinces from the entrance into the Jonique Sea to the very Walls of Constantinople were cruelly spoiled under the Dominion of Justinian by the annual incursions of the Huns the Sclavonians and others I do verily believe that in every of these inroads what of those who were left behind and of those who were carried away prisoners there perished above Two hundred thousand Romans And this is most certain That in that Countrey which before was the most populous in the World there were fewer people then in the uninhabited Deserts of Scythia and this was the effect of the Wars in Europe and Africk Asia likewise was not without her sufferings for the Saracens during those Wars having extended their Arms from Egypt as far as the Borders of Persia and made themselves Masters of the Provinces which were under the Dominion of the Romans so harassed them with such constant cruelty that there was not a person to be seen and the numbers which were killed or transplanted were infinite The Persian made three incursions into the Lands of the Empire under the conduct of Cosroes and where ever they came they ruined the Towns and Countreys unpeopled them of their Inhabitants and carrying the greatest part away with them prisoners they put the rest to the Sword but being afterwards got into Colchis they made considerable devastations one after the other as it had been in imitation of what the Laziens and Romans had done there before but neither the Persians themselves the Huns the Sclavonians nor other of the Barbarous Nations which invaded the Roman Empire could ever carry back their Armies whole and intire They lost many Men in their Conquests in their Rencounters Sieges and pitched Battles in which Fortune was not always favorable to their side so as they became sensible of Justinians fury as well as his own Subjects Cosroes also as I have said elswhere was a man of a turbulent spirit yet Justinian was always the aggressor and served as a Bonte-feu to the conflagrations which brake out and in the consequence consumed most of his Countrey To be short in the affairs which he mannaged he never conducted them according to the times and conjunctures but did every thing improperly during the whole War and in times of Peace or Cessation his thoughts were wholly taken up in contriving which way he might trouble bis Neighbors He invaded them bluntly without declaring of War but his preparations were always so backward by reason of his extream covetousness he seldom succeeded and instead of applying himself to the prosecution of his designs he was for the most part taken up in Metaphisical Notions about the Nature and existence of God Nevertheless he kept his Armies constantly on foot to execute his cruel and tyrannical commands never suffering them to come to any engagement with their Enemies his avarice not permitting him to allow them what was necessary to overcome come them so that in Justinians Reign the Land was not only besprinkled but overflown with the Blood of the Romans and all other Nations in the World These were evils which succeeded upon the War at that time in the Territories of the Roman Empire but we shall find as many murders committed in the Cities if we consider what was done by the Factious who had their quarrels and combats quite thorow the Empire and indeed how could it be otherwise seeing no man was punished as he deserved because one faction adhered to the Emperor and neither the one nor the other had patience to be at quiet One of them finding themselves backed and supported by the Emperor puffed up with vanity believed they might hazard all securely the other knowing the Emperor was their Enemy grew desperate upon an opinion that they could be no worse because they had nothing left already to loose Hereupon they meet frequently in small Parties and fought several little Battles sometimes they met in Squadrons to fight and sometimes hand to hand in single duels sometimes also they would lie in wait for one another and murder one another as they found opportunity There was not a day passed but a thousand cruelties were exercised on both sides for two and thirty years together and continued without any intermission Oftentimes the Governor of the Town would put some of them to death but for the most part his severity was exercised against the Prasinian faction besides which so many Samaritans and Hereticks were put to death that the whole Empire seemed to be overflowed with Blood These
of his pay and he did it without the least shame or fear in the World His next exploit was to expose to sale the Offices and Commands with the greatest infamy that ever Man did selling them much cheaper to any that was ready for an ill action abandoning the goods and the lives of the people of the Provinces to them who bought the Governments and transferring to them all the power which the Emperor had granted him of pilling and plundering with impunity as soon as ever they had paid their Money so that what ever they received of the blood and lives of the Subject was immediately conveyed into the Coffers of the Emperor There were likewise Diabolical Councils and Conventions about the destruction of Cities held in the cheif Courts in Constantinople and if I mistake not by publick allowance for from that time Officers were created with the title of Collectors and distributed into the Provinces to raise Money under pretence of Justice but in reality to reimburse themselves of what they had given for their places which they levied upon such as were culpable with most merciless cruelty At length Peter himself among those whom he imployed in his exactions having tried many found some who cheated him and laid up for themselves and this was not his misfortune alone but every mans who had borne the said office before and after him the Masters of the Offices and such as had been advanced for their money or presents the Overseers of the Emperors particular Demesns and in few words all the Magistrates not only in Constantiople but the whole Empire For in short from the time that Justinian the greatest Tyrant that ever was had the administration of Affairs there was not one place but he sold himself or his Ministers under hand and those who bought them were obliged to serve him long with much trouble and great loss Justinian had made great provision of Corn in Constantinople and kept it till the greatest part of it shrunk nevertheless though it was not fit to be used he forced the Cities in the East to take it off on his hands each of them a certain proportion and sold it to them at a much dearer rate then if it had been good So that the poor Citizens were constrained so throw it into the Sea or the Common-shores though it had cost them so dear And for that which was good though there was great quanrities of it in the Granaries in Constantinople the Emperor caused it to be sold to such Towns as wanted it at double the price it bore in the Provinces from whence it was extorted and sent thither But the next year there being a scarcity of Corn and the Ships having transported less from the Provinces then was requisite for the subsistance of the people of that City which was the greatest in the World Peter found himself in great perplexity not knowing of what Wood to make his Arrow nor what remedy to apply to their Distress Having well considered of a way at length he pitched upon this to cause all the Corn to be transported out of Thrace Phrygia and Bithynia to Constantinople and to compel the Inhabitants of those Provinces to convey it themselves to the Ports where they were to ship it with a great deal of pains and carry it by Sea to Consantinople having experimented in their passage all the dangers that could be incurred in a sullen and outragious Sea When they were arrived thorow all those difficulties and had perfected their voyage they had but a third part of their due paid them for their pains and the losses they received were so great and considerable they had better have given away their Corn and twice as much more Yet all this Provision was too small for the sustenance of so populous a City several persons went to complain to the Emperor and remonstrate the true state of affairs The Soldiers who were in great arrears and had no Money to furnish themselves with Victuals began to murmur and repine and to hold such Meetings and Assemblies in the Town as seemed to presage a Sedition which was ready to break out Hereupon the Emperor conceiving a displeasure against Peter for his male-administration resolved to take away his place not only because of the present inconveniencies but because he was assured he was very rich and had heaped up vast sums by his violences and oppressions But Theodora opposed it being a great friend to Barzames by reason as I imagine of his wicked inclinations and the insupportable cruelty wherewith he treated the Subjects for as she her self was naturally cruel and inhumane she took particular care to have such people to execute her designs as were absolutely conformable to her own pernicious disposition Some there are notwithstanding who affirm That Peter forced Theodora to be his friend by vertue of certain charms though she was naturally his Enemy The truth is all his life long he had applied himself much to Inchantments and Necromancy holding great correspondence with the Manicheans because they studied them much and were open favorers of those Arts as Barzames was of them Though Theodora understood all this and more she loved him never the less on the contrary she ingaged in his interests with more kindness and zeal having had her self in her youth great conversation with Sorcerers and Magicians and placed much confidence in their Art and many times made very much use of it It was believed likewise That it was not alogether her flattery and complacency which gave her such influence upon Justinian but her Magick and intelligence with the Devil for Justinian was not so cunning nor of a nature so flexible to good to defend himself against her stratagems and wiles of this kind On the contrary his mind being entirely corrupted by cruelty and avarice he was every moment exposed so much to subtilties and flattery that in things of greatest importance he turned easily with the wind there being no trust or reliance upon him for the best friend or nearest relation that he had For in short he was the most light unconstant and uncertain man in all things that ever was known So that the Sorcerers who were very busie about him with their charms and particularly Theodora found no great difficulty to arrive at their ends The humors and inclinations of Peter as I said before wrought so much upon Theodora and gained him the favor of that Princess so effectually that the Emperor having with much ado removed him from his Prefectship she prevailed with him not long after to make him high Treasurer of the Empire having taken that place from John who had been put into it but little before This John was originally of Palestine a man of that mildness justice and generosity he knew not how to exercise the little frugalities of a private family and for injury he had never done it to any person alive But the more grateful he was in the eyes of the
people the more odious he became to Justinian and Theodora who no sooner had notice of the vertue and goodness of their Officers but they turned their thoughts wholly upon ways of removing them not being able to endure persons so opposite to their own natural temper Peter as I said before succeeding John in the management of the Treasury was the cause of a thousand miseries toparticular persons having imbezled the Fund which of a long time had been raising by an antient and laudable custom for the relief of several poor families sending part of it to the Emperor and keeping the rest for himself whereby he acquired vast riches whilest they died with hunger who had nothing else to maintain them but those annual Contributions Besides which he coyned Money of Gold much less then the former and made it currant by Proclamation These in the Reign of Justinian were the persons who managed all the Offices and publick imployments I shall now speak of the methods which he used to ruine all people of estates though to exhibite their misery there needs in strictness no more then what I have spoken of the Governors of Provinces and Collectors who had private and peremptory instruction to ruine all people whose estates were in Land The Roman Emperors were formerly accustomed to remit to the people the arrears of such Money as was owing to the Exchequer that such of them as were unable to pay might not be in fear all their life long nor the Treasurers have opportunity to raise Money where many times it was not due But Justinian in Two and thirty years time was not guilty of one of those remissions the poor people were forced from their Houses and Countreys without any hopes of return whilest such as were honest were liable to calumniations and threatned perpetually to be complained of as not having paid what was due to the Emperor for their Taxes upon their Lands insomuch that the unfortunate Creatures were constrained to pass away their Lands to the Emperor or their Persecutors not so much out of apprehension of new Taxes as for the impossibility which they found to support long the unjust exactions which for many years together they had been forced to pay Moreover though the greatest part of Asia had been ruined by the Arms of the Sarazens and Persians and all Europe harassed and infested by the incursions of the Huns and Sclavonians the War of the Goths produced sacking and burning of Towns and devastations of Provinces though the Inhabitants were carried away prisoners with all that they had and those few who escaped the hands of the Barbarians were glad to forsake their Countrey and banish themselves Yet none of these considerations could work upon Justinian or prevail with him to remit one tribute or impost to any one Town in the whole Empire unless it was such as had been taken by the Enemy and in that case their exemption was but for a year whereas if he should have excused them for seven years together as his Predecessor Anastatius had done it would have been no great matter considering the great misery to which they were reduced In short Cabades invaded the Territories of the Emperor and returned every way Victorious but his Son Cosroes produc'd greater Consternation by Burning and Killing all where ever he passed with his Army And yet those of the East who had been exposed so often to the Incursions of the Huns the Persians and Sarazius and ruined by their Armies and the Romans who being setled in several parts of Europe had many times felt the Hostility of the Barbarians those I say who had suffered so much for their affection to the State found more cruelty in Justinian then among all the Barbarians his Edicts and Impositions compleating that Ruine which the Enemy had but begun I shall now recite what was the Contents of those Edicts Those whose Estates were in Land were by them obliged to furnish a certain quantity of Provisions for the Souldiers at their own Charges every Man paying his part nor did they consider what was given according to the Prizes of things but according to a former Assesment made a long time before and if at any time they were so unfortunate not to have so much Cattle or Forrage upon their Lands as would satisfie for their share they were constrained to buy them at any rate and convey them from the Provincial Magazines which were very far off to the place where the Troops were in Garrison and then deliver them in what quantity and at what rate the Officers pleased and not according to what was reasonable and just This Impost was called the Impost of Victuals by which those who had Lands paid ten times greater Tribute then formerly so that really it was taking from them so much Blood out of their Veins being obliged to carry their Corn to Constantinople after they had suffered so much by quartering the Army These disorders and oppressions the State owes to Barzames and John de Cappadocia whom their Successors imitated exactly in the Continuation of their Crime And so much for the Tax called the Impost of Victuals The Impositions were like a Plague which came suddenly upon those whose Estates were in Land and took from them not only the hopes of living tolerably well but the means of continuing their Life as miserable as it was For though the Lands were all thrown up and deserted by the Ruine or Flight of the Owners or their Tenants who were either Killed or Frighted out of their Country or else hid themselves to avoid Persecution Justinian without any reluctance exacted these Impositions which were very frequent in his time I conclude in sew words the Taxes call the Descriptions were imposed to repair the Losses which the Cities had brought upon such as were proprietors in the Country But it would be an infinite Trouble to undertake an Account of all the Evil Effects which ensued upon these Taxes or the idle and trivial pretences upon which they were Imposed for the Miseries of the People increased daily and though the Inhabitants in the Country were most of them dead of the Plague which the Roman Empire was no less afflicted at that time then the other parts of the World and though the Contagion was so universal the Fields and the Farms lay uninhabited and untilled Justinian never made the least Abatement in his Duties and Imposts that he had Established on the contrary he constrained with great severity those who were alive to pay the proportions of such of their Neighbors as were Dead of the Infection In short their finest and richest Apartments they gave for Quarters to the Souldiers treating them with all possible liberality and civility whilst they were glad to make shift with any by place or stinking hole to lye in themselves In this manner things passed in the Reign of Justinian and Theodora who though they were but Mortal as other Men are acted more like Furies
consiscation of Goods and loss of Estate to any that should disobey This appearing altogether unreasonable to the Merchant who could not afford his Commodities which cost him much dearer at the usual rate he chose rather to give over and trade no more Whereupon several of them gave away secretly all the remainder of their Wares to such of their friends as delighted in such unnecessary expences and loved to appear glorious in the World or to such as had any other occasion for them but as privately as they carried it a rumor was spread abroad no body knew from whence which coming to the Ears of Theodora she fined the Merchants an hundred pound in Gold and seized upon their Silks into the bargain At present there is none but the grand Treasurer who can licence that Manufactory in which Perzames who had that Office was permitted to play a thousand juggling tricks 〈◊〉 effect he took the Workmen to himself constrained them to work only for him and would not suffer them to deal with any body else besides he sold publickly in the Ware-houses which he had set up an ounce of any coloured Silk for six pieces of Gold but if it were in Grain or the Colour Royal which they called Holovere he sold it for four and twenty so that by these unconscionable wayes he raised vast Summes of Money for the Emperor besides his own snips which he kept very private and were supposed as considerable as the other and this trade he drives to this day with prohibition to every body else For this cause the Merchants both in Constantinople and other Citys resented highly their usage and the loss which they sustained by the ruin of their Workmen And for as much as in Tyre and Beryte most of the popular subsisted by that sort of Manufactory they were brought to a necessity of begging the charity of good people or starving with hunger and misery And those few who escaped quitted their own Countrey and fled among the Parthians for as I said before none but the Treasurer-General of the Empire was permitted to meddle in that commodity and he returning a small part of his gains to the Emperor kept the greatest to himself raising a prodigious estate out of the ruins of the people and his happiness out of the Calamities of the State but enough of this I shall now proceed and give an account how he despoild Constantinople and the other Towns of all their Ornaments His first designe was against the Lawyers whom he resolved utterly to undo lessening their fees and forbiding gratuities though after the Cause was determined which were commonly very considerable In all Suits that were depending he caused decision to be made by oath which rendred the Lawyers useless and contemptible to theirgreat prejudice and displeasure Moreover from the time in which Justinian made bold with the Senators and seized upon their Estates and other great Citizens in Constantinople which were as Wealthy as they the Advocates and Lawyers were become very inconsiderable as not having Work for any one Hearing so that they whose number and esteem was formerly very great were now grown but few and they not only despised by all the World but destitute of all Necessaries having nothing left them but their old Institution to distinguish them from other people Nor was Justinians Malice peculiar to the Lawyers the same kind of Severity he used upon the Physitians and all other Professors of Learning retrenching their Fees and taking away their Pensions which had been given by the Primitive Emperors and payd constantly As to the Revenue of every Town which had been given by their Predecessors for Exhibition of publick shows or supplying publick Necessities he made no Bones to ingross them to himself by which means the Physitians and other Learned Professors lost their subsistance No publick Buildings were Erected no Lights in the Night for the convenience of Passengers No Feasting nor rejoycing among the Citizens baiting of wild Beasts Comedies and the pastimes of the Cyrcus were layd aside along time by Justinian whose Wife had been bred and advanced from those very Theaters which he destroyed at length when he had put down these shews in all the other Cities he suppressed them in Constantinople and all to save the Money which he was thereby necessitated annually to disburse without the least regard or consideration that he would starve an infinite number of poor people whose subsistance depended wholly upon those kind of things So that in a manner the whole world was invalu'd in and depressed with extream sadness as well publick Societies as particular persons every Man passing his time without any Diversion and groaning under his Misfortune as heavy and immoveable To be short their Discourse and Communication at home in the Streets in the Churches and every where was nothing but of the Miseries the Calamities of that age and the sad and deplorable condition of their present Affairs and this was the manner in which he Treated the Cities but now it is necessary I say something of what followed and so compleat this History It was a Custom to create every year two Consuls one at Rome the other at Constantinople whoever was advanced to that Dignity was obliged at his Entrance to an Expence of two thousand pound in Gold a small part of it was generally his own Money but the greatest part was from the liberality of the Prince and this Money which the Consuls commonly imploy'd in Presents that were to be given upon their admission or to the poor or in Gifts to the Comedians was of great Relief to those Cities and helped well towards the subsistance of the people But since Justinian came to the Empire no certain time was kept for the Election of the said Consuls the same persons being continued several years and no Assemblies allowed for the Creation of new so that all people were fallen into extream Misery the Emperor not only retained in his own hand what was went to be distributed among his Subjects but robb'd and dispossessed them of what they had of their own in all places and by all ways imaginable I suppose I have said enough of the Violences which he used in his administration of the publick Moneys as also when he sequestred the Estates of the whole Senate and every particular Member therein with which he cramm'd his own Coffers but could not satiate his Mind as likewise in the descriptions of the Arts and Calumnies which he used to get the Estates of all rich Men into his hands his Tyranny and the sad effects of it upon the Emperors Guards and other Domesticks his cruelty to the Common Souldiers of his Army and of his particular Guards To the Inhabitants of the Country To the Proprietors of the Land To the Professors of Sciences Merchants Masters of Ships Seamen Carryers Messengers Mechanicks Comedians Lawyers Officers of Justice of all sorts and in a word to all those who were Expos'd and