Procopius

“ So, being strangled by the tax-collectors and ground down by what we may term the ever-flowing interest on their debts, they unwillingly lived on in a life which was a lingering death. For such reasons, to me and to the most of us these two persons never seemed to be human beings, but rather a kind of avenging demons and, as the poets say, "a twin bane of mortals," seeing that they purposed together how they might be able most easily and most quickly to destroy all races of men and their works, and, assuming human form and becoming man-demons, they harassed in this fashion the whole world. ”

“ And he himself, upon acquiring by means which were entirely improper the estates of persons either living or deceased and immediately dedicating them to one of the Churches, would feel pride in this pretence of piety, his object, however, being that title in these estates should not revert to the injured owners. Nay, more, he carried out an indefinite number of murders to accomplish these ends. For in his eagerness to gather all men into one belief as to Christ, he kept destroying the rest of mankind in senseless fashion, and that too while acting with a pretence of piety. ”

“ Now for Justinian it was rather easy to manage everything, not only because of his easy-going disposition, but also because he rarely slept, as has been stated, and was the most accessible person in the world. For even men of low estate and altogether obscure had complete freedom, not merely to come before this tyrant, but also to converse with him and to enjoy confidential relations with him. ”

“ There was a certain Leon, a Cilician by birth, a man extraordinarily devoted to the love of money. This Leon came to be the mightiest of all flatterers and shewed a capacity for suggesting to the minds of stupid persons that which already had been determined upon. For he had a kind of persuasiveness which helped him, when dealing with the fatuity of the tyrant, to accomplish the destruction of his fellow-men. This man was the first to persuade Justinian to sell legal decisions for money. ”

“ And if it seemed to any man who had broken the law that victory was not certain, such a person flung more gold to this Emperor and straightway secured a law going contrary to all laws which had been previously established. ”

“ And to state the matter briefly, no one ever saw Theodora reconciled with the one who had given her offence, even after the person had died, but the son of the deceased received the Empress' enmity as an inheritance from him, just as he received anything else that had been his father's, and passed it on to the third generation. For her passion, while more than ready to be stirred to the destruction of men, was beyond any power to assuage. ”

“ For in the case of any other man in extreme destitution, it is possible, simply by stating this fact to his creditors, to escape straightway from the embarrassment, but if a man of patrician rank should not have the means to meet his obligations to his creditors, most likely he would be ashamed to mention it, but if he did mention it, he would never be believed, since all men would feel that it is not a possible thing for poverty to be a housemate of a man of this class. ”

“ For these barbarians have many groups of leaders and war went the rounds — war that originated in an unreasoning generosity, and could never reach an end, but kept for ever revolving about its own centre. ”

“ And when any of his intimates were sent by him on some mission, if they had the fortune to destroy many of those whom they encountered and to plunder a quantity of money, they immediately seemed to the Emperor worthy both to be and to be called men of distinction, as having carried out with exactness all their instructions ”

“ And it is said that one hundred thousand men perished in this struggle, and the land, which is the finest in the world, became in consequence destitute of farmers. And for the owners of the land who were Christians this led to very serious consequences. For it was incumbent upon them, as a matter of compulsion, to pay to the Emperor everlastingly, even though they were deriving no income from the land, the huge annual tax, since no mercy was shewn in the administration of this business. ”

“ But if he does win belief, it will fall to his lot to suffer the most shameful and distressing affliction of all. Now, my Mistress, I do have financial relations with men, some of whom have loaned their substance to me, and some have borrowed from me. As for my creditors, who most persistently dog my steps, I am unable through the shame proper to my position to put them off, while as for those who are in debt to me, since they happen not to be patricians, they take refuge in certain inhuman excuses. ”

“ On that occasion, they said, Theodora remarked that in fact a dream had come to her during the night just past and had bidden her to lay aside all anxiety as far as wealth was concerned. For as soon as she should come to Byzantium, she would lie with the Lord of the Demons, and would quite certainly live with him as his married wife, and he would cause her to be mistress of money without limit. ”

“ For demons are distinguished from human beings by a marked difference. Indeed, he though many men in the long course of time either by accident or by nature have shewn themselves supremely terrible, some ruining by their own sole effort cities or countries or other such things, yet no man, with the exception of these two, has been able to accomplish the destruction of all mankind and to bring about calamities affecting the whole world ”

“ And thus she immediately caused the property of any man who had given offence to be confiscated to the public treasury, and after treating him with most bitter cruelty, though he might perhaps belong to an ancient line of patricians, she felt no hesitation whatever in penalizing him with either banishment or death. ”

“ However, they considered the ills of all mankind to be nothing at all, provided only that they should be able themselves to live in luxury. And I shall straightway make clear of what sort was the character of Theodora as revealed in her treatment of those who had given offence, mentioning only a few details so that I may not seem to labour at an endless task. ”

“ For in order to escape detection they readily exchanged their respective native lands for foreign soil, just as if their home-country had been captured by an enemy. So, then, the wealth of those reputed to be prosperous, both in Byzantium and in every other city, that is, after the members of the Senate, was plundered and seized by Justinian and Theodora in the manner which has been described. ”

“ And they, even after having received money, would send some of their fellow-leaders together with their followers, bidding them overrun and ravage the Emperor's land, so that they too might be able to sell peace to the man who for no good reason wished to purchase it. ”

“ For it did noto seem to him murder if the victims chanced to be not of his own creed. Thus his single interest was the ceaseless destruction of men, and in company with his spouse he never ceased contriving accusations leading to this end. ”

“ And in adjudicating such cases, he considered that he was acting in a pious manner if any man in the name of religion succeeded by his argument in seizing something that did not belong to him, and, having won the case, went his way. ”

“ So a great throng of persons were fleeing constantly, not only to the barbarians, but also to those Romans who lived at a great distance, and it was possible to see both in the country and in every city great numbers of strangers. ”

“ Justice was established in the market-place, and that too though she had once dwelt in the Palace, and there one could find salesrooms where could be bought for a price not only court decisions but also legislation. ”

“ As for seizing property and murdering men, he never got his fill of them, but after plundering numerous homes of affluent men he kept seeking new ones, straightway pouring out the proceeds of his earlier robbery in making presents to sundry barbarians or in erecting senseless buildings. ”