justinian impoverishes private individuals by “monopolies”—two new magistrates appointed at constantinople—praetor of the people to judge cases of robbery—legislation in regard to paederasty and female morality—establishment of an inquisition against heretics—condemnations and confiscations—degradation of the quaestorship in the hands of junilus and constantine—their venality.
besides this, justinian found other means of contriving to plunder his subjects, not en masse and at once, but by degrees and individually. these methods i will now proceed to describe as well as i am able. first of all he appointed a new magistrate, who had the right of conferring upon all those who kept shops the privilege of selling their wares at whatever price they pleased, on payment of a yearly rent to the emperor. the citizens were compelled to make their purchases in the market, where they paid three times as much as elsewhere; nor, although he suffered severe loss, was the purchaser allowed to claim damages from anyone, for part of the profit went to the emperor, and part to increase the salary of these officials. purchasers were equally cheated by the magistrates’ servants, who took part in these disgraceful transactions, while the shopkeepers, who were allowed to put themselves beyond reach of the law, inflicted great hardships upon their customers—not merely by raising their prices many times over, but by being guilty of unheard-of frauds in regard to their wares. afterwards, justinian instituted several “monopolies,” as they were called, and sold the liberty of the subject to any who were willing to undertake this disgraceful traffic, after having settled with them the price that was to be paid. this done, he allowed those with whom he had made the bargain to carry out the management of the affair in whatever way they thought fit. he made these disgraceful arrangements, without any attempt at concealment, with all the other magistrates, who plundered their subjects with less apprehension, either themselves or through their agents, since some part of the profits of the plunder always fell to the share of the emperor. under the pretence that the former magistrates were insufficient to carry out these arrangements (although the city prefect had previously been able to deal with all criminal charges) he created two new ones. his object in this was, that he might have at his disposal a larger number of informers, and that he might the more easily inflict punishment and torture upon the innocent. one of these was called praetor of the people, whose nominal duty it was to deal with thieves; the second was called the commissioner, whose function it was to punish all cases of paederasty, buggery, superstition and heresy. if the praetor found any articles of value amongst stolen goods, he handed them over to the emperor, declaring that no owner could be found for them, and in this manner justinian every day got possession of something of very great value. the commissioner, after he had condemned offenders, confiscated what he pleased out of their estates and bestowed it upon the emperor, who thus, in defiance of the law, enriched himself out of the fortunes of others; for the servants of these magistrates did not even take the trouble at the commencement of the trial to bring forward accusers or to produce any witnesses to the offences, but, during the whole of this period, without intermission, unexamined and unconvicted, the accused were secretly punished by death and the confiscation of their property by the emperor.
afterwards, this accursed wretch ordered both these magistrates and the city prefect to deal with all criminal affairs indifferently, bidding them enter into rivalry to see which of them could destroy the greatest number of citizens in the shortest time. it is said that, when one of them asked him which of them should have the decision if anyone was accused before all three, he replied, “whichever of you has anticipated the others.”
he debased the office of quaestor, which almost all the preceding emperors had held in especial regard, so that it was only filled by men of wisdom and experience, who above all were learned in the law and free from all suspicion of corruptibility, for it was felt that it would unavoidably be disastrous to the state if it were to be filled by men without experience or who were the slaves of avarice. this emperor first bestowed it upon tribonianus, whose character and misdeeds i have sufficiently described elsewhere. after his death, justinian seized part of his estate, although he had left a son and several relatives who survived him. he then appointed junilus (a libyan by birth), a man who had not so much as a hearsay knowledge of law, for he had not even studied it in the public schools. although he had a knowledge of latin, he had never had any tuition in greek, and was unable to speak the language. frequently, when he attempted to say a few words in greek, he was laughed at by his own servants. he was so mad after filthy lucre, that he had not the least scruple in publicly selling letters of office signed by the emperor, and was never ashamed to stretch out his hand to those who had to do with him for a stater of gold. for no less than seven years the state dured the shame and ridicule brought upon it by this officer.
on the death of junilus, justinian elevated to this office constantine, who was not unacquainted with law, but was very young and had never yet taken part in a trial; besides which, he was the most abandoned thief and braggart in the world. justinian entertained the highest regard for him and showed him very great favour, condescending to make him the chief instrument of his extortion and sole arbiter in legal decisions. by this means constantine in a short time amassed great wealth, but his insolence was outrageous, and his pride led him to treat everyone with contempt. even those who were desirous of making him considerable presents were obliged to intrust them to those who seemed to be most in his confidence, for no one was permitted to approach or converse with him, except when he was hurrying to or returning from the emperor. even then he did not slacken his pace, but walked on hastily, for fear that those who approached him might waste his time without paying for it. such was the manner in which justinian dealt with the quaestorship.
