the impost called “aerikon”—exactions authorised by justinian—the property of john the cappadocian confiscated—the farming of the taxes entrusted to salaried commissioners—increased spoliation—oath taken against venality—increasing corruption of officials—the thracians and illyrians at first check the depredations of the huns, goths, and other barbarians, and then, in turn, take to plundering themselves.
the praefect of the supreme tribunals, besides the public tax, annually paid to the emperor more than thirty centenars of gold. this sum was called the “aerial tribute,” doubtless because it was no regular or usual one, but seemed to have fallen as it were by chance from heaven, whereas it ought rather to have been called “the impost of his wickedness,” for it served as a pretext to those functionaries, who were invested with high power, to plunder their subjects incessantly without fear of punishment. they pretended that they had to hand over the tribute to the emperor, and they themselves, without any difficulty, acquired sufficient sums to secure regal affluence for themselves. justinian allowed them to go on unchecked and unheeded, waiting until they had amassed great wealth, when it was his practice to bring against them some charge from which they could not readily clear themselves, and to confiscate the whole of their property, as he had treated john of cappadocia. all those who held this office during his reign became wealthy to an extraordinary degree, and suddenly, with two exceptions. one of these was phocas, of whom i have spoken in my previous writings—a man in the highest degree observant of integrity and honesty; who, during his tenure of office, was free from all suspicion of illegal gain. the other was bassus, who was appointed later. neither of them enjoyed their dignity for a year. at the end of a few months they were deprived of it as being incapable and unsuited to the times. but, not to go into details in every case, which would be endless, i will merely say that it was the same with all the other magistrates of byzantium.
in all the cities throughout the empire, justinian selected for the highest offices the most abandoned persons he could find, and sold to them for vast sums the positions which they degraded. in fact, no honest man, possessed of the least common sense, would ever have thought of risking his own fortune in order to plunder those who had committed no offence. when justinian had received the money from those with whom he made the bargain, he gave them full authority to deal with their subjects as they pleased, so that, by the destruction of provinces and populations, they might enrich themselves in the future; for, since they had borrowed large sums from the bankers at heavy rates of interest to purchase their magistracies, and had paid the sum due to him who sold them, when they arrived in the cities, they treated their subjects with every kind of tyranny, paying heed to nothing save how they might fulfil their engagements with their creditors and lay up great wealth for themselves. they had no apprehension that their conduct would bring upon them the risk of punishment; on the contrary, they expected that the greater number of those whom they plundered put to death without cause, the greater the reputation they would attain, for the name of murderer and robber was regarded as a proof of activity. but when justinian learned that they had amassed considerable wealth during office, he entangled them in his net, and on some pretence or other deprived them of all their riches in a moment.
he had published an edict that candidates for offices should swear that they would keep themselves free from extortion, that they would neither give nor receive anything for their offices, and uttered against those who transgressed the law the most violent curses of ancient times. the law had not been in force a year when, forgetting its terms and the malediction which had been pronounced, he shamelessly put up these offices for sale, not secretly, but publicly in the market-place, and those who purchased them, in spite of their oaths to the contrary plundered and ravaged with greater audacity than before.
he afterwards thought of another contrivance, which may seem incredible. he resolved no longer to put up for sale, as before, the offices which he believed to be of greatest repute in byzantium and other cities, but sought out a number of hired persons, whom he appointed at a fixed salary, and ordered to bring all the revenues to himself. these men, having received their salary, shamelessly got together from every country and carried off everything that they could. the stipendiary commission went from one place to another, plundering the subjects of the empire in the name of their office.
thus the emperor exercised in every case the greatest care in the selection of these agents of his, who were truly the greatest scoundrels in the world; nor were his efforts and industry in this detestable business unsuccessful. when he advanced the first of his wicked agents to high offices, and the licence of authority revealed their corruption, we were astounded to think how the nature of man could be capable of such enormity. but when those who succeeded them far outdid them, men were at a loss to understand how their predecessors could have appeared the most wicked of mankind, since, in comparison with their successors, who had surpassed them in evil-doing, they might be considered good and honest men. but the third set and their successors so far outstripped the second in every kind of villainy, and in their cleverness in inventing new accusations, that they secured for their predecessors a certain reputation and a good name. as the misfortunes of the state increased, all learned by experience that there is no limit to the innate wickedness of man, and that, when it is supported by the knowledge of precedents, and encouraged by the power in its hands to torment its victims, no man can tell how far it will extend, but only the thoughts of the oppressed are capable of estimating it. such was the state of affairs in regard to the magistrates.
the hostile armies of the huns had often reduced to slavery and plundered the inhabitants of the empire. the thracian and illyrian generals resolved to attack them on their retreat, but turned back when they were shown letters from the emperor forbidding them to attack the barbarians, on pretence that their help was necessary to the romans against the goths and other enemies of the empire.
making use of this opportunity, these barbarians plundered the country like enemies, and carried away the inhabitants into slavery; and in this manner these pretended friends and allies of the romans returned home with their plunder and a number of prisoners. frequently, some of the peasants in those parts, urged on by a longing for their wives and children who had been carried away into slavery, formed themselves into bands, marched against the barbarians, slew a number of them, and succeeded in capturing their horses together with their plunder. this success, however, proved very unfortunate for them; for agents were sent from byzantium, who had no hesitation in beating and wounding them and seizing their property, until they had restored all the horses that they had taken from the barbarians.
