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Sources on the Internal and External Conflicts of the Early 1

Procopius: Secret History, extracts

Procopius [c.490/510-c.] is the most important source for information about the reign of the emperor Justinian. He wrote a number of official histories, including the Buildings and On the Wars. Procopius, born at Caesarea in Palestine late in the , became a lawyer. In 527 CE he was made legal adviser and secretary of , commander against the Persians, and went with Belisarius again in 533 against the and in 535 against the . Sometime after 540 he returned to . He may have been that Procopius who was of Constantinople (high executive government official) in 562, but the date of his death (after 558) is unknown. He also left a "Secret History" [Anecdota]. Parts are so vitriolic, not to say pornographic, that for some time translations from Greek were only available into ["the decent obscurity of an ancient tongue"]. While this secret account was discovered centuries later in the and published by Niccolò Alamanni in 1623 at Lyons, the Secret History covers roughly the same years as the first seven books of the History of Justinian's Wars and appears to have been written after they were published. Current consensus generally dates it to 550 or 558, or maybe even as late as 562.

‘On Justinian’ from Chapter VII of the Secret History How could anyone put Justinian's ways into words? These and many even worse I think this is as good a time as any to describe the personal appearance of the vices were disclosed in him as in no other mortal: nature seemed to have taken the man. Now in physique he was neither tall nor short, but of average height; not thin, wickedness of all other men combined and planted it in this man's soul. And but moderately plump; his face was round, and not bad looking, for he had good besides this, he was too prone to listen to accusations; and too quick to punish. color, even when he fasted for two days. For he decided such cases without full examination, naming the punishment when Now such was Justinian in appearance; but his character was something I could he had heard only the accuser's side of the matter. Without hesitation he wrote not fully describe. For he was at once villainous and amenable; as people say decrees for the plundering of countries, sacking of cities, and slavery of whole colloquially, a moron. He was never truthful with anyone, but always guileful in nations, for no cause whatever. So that if one wished to take all the calamities what he said and did, yet easily hoodwinked by any who wanted to deceive him. which had befallen the Romans before this time and weigh them against his His nature was an unnatural mixture of folly and wickedness. What in olden times crimes, I think it would be found that more men had been murdered by this single a peripatetic philosopher said was also true of him, that opposite qualities combine man than in all previous history. in a man as in the mixing of colors. I will try to portray him, however, insofar as I He had no scruples about appropriating other people's property, and did not even can fathom his complexity. think any excuse necessary, legal or illegal, for confiscating what did not belong to This Emperor, then, was deceitful, devious, false, hypocritical, two-faced, cruel, him. And when it was his, he was more than ready to squander it in insane display, skilled in dissembling his thought, never moved to tears by either joy or pain, or give it as an unnecessary bribe to the barbarians. In short, he neither held on to though he could summon them artfully at will when the occasion demanded, a liar any money himself nor let anyone else keep any: as if his reason were not avarice, always, not only offhand, but in writing, and when he swore sacred oaths to his but jealousy of those who had riches. Driving all wealth from the country of the subjects in their very hearing. Then he would immediately break his agreements Romans in this manner, he became the cause of universal poverty. and pledges, like the vilest of slaves, whom indeed only the fear of torture drives to Now this was the character of Justinian, so far as I can portray it. confess their perjury. A faithless friend, he was a treacherous enemy, insane for murder and plunder, quarrelsome and revolutionary, easily led to anything, but from Chapter XI never willing to listen to good counsel, quick to plan mischief and carry it out, but As soon as Justinian came into power he turned everything upside down. finding even the hearing of anything good distasteful to his ears. Whatever had before been forbidden by law he now introduced into the government, while he revoked all established customs: as if he had been given the robes of an Emperor on the condition he would turn everything topsy-turvy. Sources on the Internal and External Conflicts of the Early Byzantine Empire 2

Existing offices he abolished, and invented new ones for the management of public Empire, there are many with dissenting trines, which are called heresies by the affairs. He did the same thing to the laws and to the regulations of the army; and established church: such as those of the Montanists and Sabbatians, and his reason was not any improvement of justice or any advantage, but simply that whatever others cause the minds of men to wander from the true path. All of these everything might be new and named after himself And whatever was beyond his beliefs he ordered to be abolished, and their place taken by the orthodox dogma: power to abolish, he renamed after himself anyway. threatening, among the punishments for disobedience, loss of the heretic's right to will property to his children or other relatives. Now the churches of these so-called Of the plundering of property or the murder of men, no weariness ever overtook heretics, especially those belonging to the Arian dissenters, were almost incredibly him. As soon as he had looted all the houses of the wealthy, he looked around for wealthy. Neither all the Senate put together nor the greatest unit of the Roman others; meanwhile throwing away the spoils of his previous robberies in subsidies Empire, had anything in property comparable to that of these churches. For their to barbarians or senseless building extravagances. And when he had ruined and silver treasures, and stores of precious stones, were beyond telling or perhaps myriads in this mad looting, he immediately sat down to plan how he numbering: they owned mansions and whole villages, land all over the world, and could do likewise to others in even greater number. everything else that is counted as wealth among men. As the Romans were now at peace with all the world and he had no other means As none of the previous Emperors had molested these churches, many men, even of satisfying his lust for slaughter, he set the barbarians all to fighting each other. those of the orthodox faith, got their livelihood by working on their estates. But the And for no reason at all he sent for the Hun chieftains, and with idiotic magnanimity Emperor Justinian, in confiscating these properties, at, the same time took away gave them large sums of money, alleging he did this to secure their friendship. what for many people had been their only means of earning a living. These Huns, as soon as they had got this money, sent it together with their soldiers to others of their chieftains, with the word to make inroads into the land of Agents were sent everywhere to force whomever they chanced upon to renounce the Emperor: so that they might collect further tribute from him, to buy them off in a the faith of their fathers. This, which seemed impious to rustic people, caused them second peace. Thus the Huns enslaved the , and were paid by the to rebel against those who gave them such an order. Thus many perished at the Emperor to keep on doing it. hands of the persecuting faction, and others did away with themselves, foolishly thinking this the holier course of two evils; but most of them by far quitted the land This encouraged still others of them to rob the poor Romans; and after their of their fathers, and fled the country. The Montanists, who dwelt in Phrygia, shut pillaging, they too were further rewarded by the gracious Emperor. In this way all themselves up in their churches, set them on fire, and ascended to glory in the the Huns, for when it was not one tribe of them it was another, continuously flames. And thenceforth the whole Roman Empire was a scene of massacre and overran and laid waste the Empire. For the barbarians were led by many different flight. chieftains, and the war, thanks to Justinian's senseless generosity, was thus endlessly protracted. Consequently no place, mountain or cave, or any other spot A similar law was then passed against the , which threw Palestine into in Roman territory, during this time remained uninjured; and many regions were an indescribable turmoil. Those, indeed, who lived in my own Caesarea and in the pillaged more than five times. other cities, deciding it silly to suffer harsh treatment over a ridiculous trifle of dogma, took the name of Christians in exchange for the one they had borne These misfortunes, and those that were caused by the Medes, Saracens, , before, by which precaution they were able to avoid the perils of the new law. The and the rest of the barbarians, I described in my previous works. But, as I most reputable and better class of these citizens, once they had adopted this said in the preface to this narrative, the real cause of these calamities remained to religion, decided to remain faithful to it; the majority, however, as if in spite for be told here. having not voluntarily, but by the compulsion of law, abandoned the belief of their Moreover, while he was encouraging civil strife and frontier warfare to confound fathers, soon slipped away into the Manichean sect and what is known as the Romans, with only one thought in his mind, that the earth should run red with polytheism. human blood and he might acquire more and more booty, he invented a new The country people, however, banded together and determined to take arms means of murdering his subjects. Now among the Christians in the entire Roman against the Emperor: choosing as their candidate for the a bandit named Sources on the Internal and External Conflicts of the Early Byzantine Empire 3

Julian, son of Sabarus. And for a time they held their own against the imperial The Emperor's malice was also directed against the astrologer. Accordingly, troops; but finally, defeated in battle, were cut down, together with their leader. Ten magistrates appointed to punish thieves also abused the astrologers, for no other myriads of men are said to have perished in this engagement, and the most fertile reason than that they belonged to this profession: whipping them on the back and country on earth thus became destitute of farmers. To the Christian owners of parading them on camels throughout the City, though they were old men, and in these lands, the affair brought great hardship: for while their profits from these every way respectable, with no reproach against them except that they studied the properties were annihilated, they had to pay heavy annual taxes on them to the science of the stars while living in such a city. Emperor for the rest of their lives, and secured no remission of this burden. Consequently there was a constant stream of emigration not only to the land of the Next he turned his attention to those called Gentiles, torturing their persons and barbarians but to places farthest remote from the Romans; and in every country plundering their lands. Of this group, those who decided to become nominal and city one could see crowds of foreigners. For in order to escape persecution, Christians saved themselves for the time being; but it was not long before these, each would lightly exchange his native land for another, as if his own country had too, were caught performing libations and sacrifices and other unholy rites. And been taken by an enemy. how he treated the Christians shall be told hereafter. After this he passed a law prohibiting pederasty: a law pointed not at offenses trans. Richard Atwater, in Procopius, Secret History, (Chicago: P. Covicii; New York: Covicii Friedal, committed after this decree, but at those who could be convicted of having 1927), reprinted by University of Michigan Press, 1961, with indication that 1927 copyright was practised the vice in the past. The conduct of the prosecution was utterly illegal. expired. Sentence was passed when there was no accuser: the word of one man or boy, This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public and that perhaps a slave, compelled against his will to bear witness against his domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history. owner, was defined as sufficient evidence. Those who were convicted were Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright. Permission is castrated and then exhibited in a public parade. At the start, this persecution was granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. If directed only at those who were of the Green party, were reputed to be especially you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial use. wealthy, or had otherwise aroused jealousy.

Sources on the Internal and External Conflicts of the Early Byzantine Empire 4

Procopius: JUSTINIAN SUPPRESSES THE NIKA REVOLT, 532 On the following day at sunrise it became known to the people that both men bad At this time [January 1, 532] an insurrection broke out unexpectedly in Byzantium quit the palace where they had been staying. So the whole population ran to among the populace, and, contrary to expectation, it proved to be a very serious them, and they declared emperor and prepared to lead him to the affair, and ended in great harm to the people and to the senate, as the following market place to assume the power. But the wife of Hypatius, Mary, a discreet account will show. woman, who had the greatest reputation for prudence, laid hold of her husband and would not let go, but cried out with loud lamentation and with entreaties to all In every city the population has been divided for a long time past into the Blue and her kinsmen that the people were leading him on the road to death. But since the the Green factions; but within comparatively recent times it has come about that, throng overpowered her, she unwillingly released her husband, and he by no will for the sake of these names and the seats which the rival factions occupy in of his own came to the of Constantine, where they summoned him to the watching the games, they spend their money and abandon their bodies to the throne; . . . most cruel tortures, and even do not think it unworthy to die a most shameful death. And they fight against their opponents knowing not for what end they The emperor and his court were deliberating as to whether it would be better for imperil themselves, but knowing well that, even if they overcome their enemy the them if they remained or if they took to flight in the ships. And many opinions were fight, the conclusion of the matter for them will be to be carried off straight away to expressed favouring either course. And the Empress Theodora also spoke to the the prison, and finally, after suffering extreme torture, to be destroyed. So there following effect: "My opinion then is that the present time, above all others, is grows up in them against their fellow men a hostility which has no cause, and at inopportune for flight, even though it bring safety. . . . For one who has been an no time does it cease or disappear, for it gives place neither to the ties of emperor it is unendurable to be a fugitive. May I never be separated from this marriage nor of relationship nor of friendship, and the case is the same even purple, and may I not live that day on which those who meet me shall not address though those who differ with respect to these colours be brothers or any other kin. me as mistress. If, now, it is your wish to save yourself, O Emperor, there is no . . . I, for my part, am unable to call this anything except a disease of the soul. . . . difficulty. For we have much money, and there is the sea, here the boats. However consider whether it will not come about after you have been saved that At this time the officers of the city administration in Byzantium were leading away you would gladly exchange that safety for death. For as for myself, I approve a to death some of the rioters. But the members of the two factions conspiring certain ancient saying that royalty is a good burial-shroud." When the queen had together and declaring a truce with each other, seized the prisoners and then spoken thus, all were filled with boldness, and, turning their thoughts towards straightway entered the prison and released all those who were in confinement resistance, they began to consider how they might be able to defend themselves there. . . . Fire was applied to the city as if it had fallen under the hand of an if any hostile force should come against them. . . .All the hopes of the emperor enemy. . . . The emperor and his consort , with a few members of the senate shut were centred upon Belisarius and Mundus, of whom the former, Belisarius, had themselves up in the palace and remained quietly there. Now the watch-word recently returned from the Persian war bringing with him a following which was which the populace passed to one another was Nika [i.e., "Conquer"]. . . . both powerful and imposing, and in particular he had a great number of spearmen ….On the fifth day of the insurrection in the late afternoon the Emperor Justinian and guards who bad received their training in battles and the perils of warfare. . . . gave orders to Hypatius and , nephews of the late emperor, , When Hypatius reached the hippodrome, he went up immediately to where the to go home as quickly as possible, either because he suspected that some plot emperor is accustomed to take his place and seated himself on the royal throne was being matured by them against his own person, or, it may be, because from which the emperor was always accustomed to view the equestrian and destiny brought them to this. But they feared that the people would force them to athletic contests. And from the palace Mundus went out through the gate which, the throne (as in fact fell out), and they said that they would be doing wrong if they from the circling descent, has been given the name of the Snail. . . . Belisarius, should abandon their sovereign when he found himself in such danger. When the with difficulty and not without danger and great exertion, made his way over Emperor Justinian heard this, he inclined still more to his suspicion, and he bade ground covered by ruins and half-burned buildings, and ascended to the stadium. them quit the palace instantly. . . . Sources on the Internal and External Conflicts of the Early Byzantine Empire 5

. . . Concluding that he must go against the populace who had taken their stand in the hippodrome-a vast multitude crowding each other in great disorder-he drew his sword from its sheath and, commanding the others to do likewise, with a shout be advanced upon them at a run. But the populace, who were standing in a mass and not in order, at the sight of armoured soldiers who had a great reputation for bravery and experience in war, and seeing that they struck out with their swords unsparingly, beat a hasty retreat. . . . [Mundus] straightway made a sally into the hippodrome through the entrance which they call the Gate of Death. Then indeed from both sides the partisans of Hypatius were assailed with might and main and destroyed. . . . There perished among the populace on that day more than thirty Procopius: The Roman Industry, c. 550 thousand. . . . The soldiers killed both [Hypatius and Pompeius] on the following Procopius shows how the silk industry was first introduced into Europe from the day and threw bodies into the sea. . . . This was the end of the insurrection in Orient Byzantium. About the same time there came from certain ; and when they had SOURCE. satisfied Justinian that the Romans no longer should buy silk from the Procopius, History of the Wars, I, xxiv, translated by H.B. Dewing (New York: Macmillan, 1914), pp. Persians, they promised the emperor in an interview that they would provide the 219-230, slightly abridged and reprinted in Leon Barnard and Theodore B. Hodges, Readings in materials for making silk so that never should the Romans seek business of this European History, (New York: Macmillan, 1958), 52-55 kind from their enemy the Persians, or from any other people whatsoever. They ALL DOCUMENTS said that they were formerly in Serinda, which they call the region frequented by Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton. The text has been modernized by Prof. Arkenberg. the people of the Indies, and there they learned perfectly the art of making silk. This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy- permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history. Moreover, to the emperor who plied them with many questions as to whether he Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright. Permission is granted for might have the secret, the monks replied that certain worms were manufacturers electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the of silk, nature itself forcing them to keep always at work; the worms could certainly document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial use. not be brought here alive, but they could be grown easily and without difficulty; the © Paul Halsall, October 1998 eggs of single hatchings are innumerable; as soon as they are laid men cover [email protected] them with dung and keep them warm for as long as it is necessary so that they produce insects. When they had announced these tidings, led on by liberal promises of the emperor to prove the fact, they returned to India. When they had brought the eggs to Byzantium, the method having been learned, as I have said, they changed them by metamorphosis into worms which feed on the leaves of mulberry. Thus began the art of making silk from that time on in the Roman Empire.

SOURCE. From: Procopii Caesariensis Historiarum Temporis Sui Tetras Altera. De Bello Gothico, trans. Claudius Maltretus (, 1729), Lib. IV, cap. XVII, p. 212; reprinted in Roy C. Cave & Herbert H. Coulson, eds., A Source Book for Medieval Economic History, (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1936; reprint ed., New York: Biblo & Tannen, 1965), pp. 244-245.

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Medieval Sourcebook: Corpus Juris Civilis,

Although Law as practiced in had grown up as a type of case law, this was not the "" known to the Medieval, or modern world. Now Roman law claims to be based on abstract principles of justice that were made into actual rules of law by legislative authority of the emperor or the . These ideas were transmitted to the Middle Ages in the great codification of Roman law carried throughout by the emperor Justinian (527-565). The Corpus Juris Civilis was issued in Latin in three parts, The Digest, the Institutes and a textbook. Currently in the World there are just three widespread legal systems: the "Common Law" of the Anglo-American legal tradition, Islamic Sharia, and Roman Law [in, for instance, most of Europe, , Quebec and Louisiana]. Each was spread by different sorts of imperialism in the past.

The Digest: Prologue authors which no one else has here before ventured to hope for or to expect and it has indeed been considered by Ourselves a most difficult undertaking, nay, one The Emperor , Flavius, Justinianus, Pious, Fortunate, Renowned, that was almost impossible; but with Our hands raised to heaven and having Conqueror, and Triumpher, Ever Augustus, to Tribonianus His ., invoked the Divine aid, We have kept this object in Our mind, confiding in God Greeting: who can grant the accomplishment of things which are almost desperate, and can With the aid of God governing Our Empire which was delivered to Us by His Himself carry them into effect by virtue of the greatness of His power. Celestial Majesty, We carry on war successfully. We adorn peace and maintain *** the Constitution of the State, and have such confidence in the protection of Almighty God that We do not depend upon Our arms, or upon Our soldiers, or We desire you to be careful with regard to the following: if you find in the old upon those who conduct Our Wars, or upon Our own genius, but We solely, place books anything that is not suitably arranged, superfluous, or incomplete, you must Our reliance upon the providence of the Holy Trinity, from which are derived the remove all superfluities, supply what is lacking, and present the entire work in elements of the entire world and their disposition throughout the globe. regular form, and with as excellent an appearance as possible. You must also observe the following, namely: if you find anything which the ancients have Therefore, since there is nothing to be found in all things s worthy of attention as inserted in their old laws or constitutions that is incorrectly worded, you must the authority of the law, which properly regulates all affairs both divine and correct this, and place it in its proper order, so that it may appear to be true, human, and expels all injustice; We have found the entire arrangement of the law expressed in the best language, and written in this way in the first place; so that which has come down to us from the foundation of the City of Rome and the times by comparing it with the original text, no on can venture to call in question as of , to be so confused that it is extended to an infinite length and is not defective what you have selected and arranged. Since by an ancient law, which is within the grasp of human capacity; and hence We were first induced to begin by styled the Lex Regia, all the rights and power of the Roman people were examining what had been enacted b former most venerated princes, to correct transferred to the Emperor, We do not derive Our authority from that of other their constitutions, and make them more easily understood; to the end that being different compilations, but wish that it shall all be entirely Ours, for how can included in a single Code, and having had removed all that is superfluous in antiquity abrogate our laws? resemblance and all iniquitous discord, they may afford to all men the ready assistance of true meaning. From The Digest of Justinian, C. H. Monro, ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge Unversity Press, 1904). After having concluded this work and collected it all in a single volume under Our illustrious name, raising Ourself above small and comparatively insignificant matters, We have hastened to attempt the most complete and thorough amendment of the entire law, to collect and revise the whole body of Roman jurisprudence, and to assemble in one book the scattered treatises of so many Sources on the Internal and External Conflicts of the Early Byzantine Empire 7

Our law is partly written, partly unwritten, as among the Greeks. The written law The Institutes: Sources of Laws consists of statutes, plebiscites, senatus consults, enactments of the Emperors, Justice is the set and constant purpose which gives to every man his due. edicts of the magistrates, and answers of those learned in the law. A statute is an jurisprudence is the knowledge of things divine and human, the science of the just enactment of the Roman people, which it used to make on the motion of a and the unjust.... senatorial magistrate, as for instance a consul. A plebiscite is an enactment of the The precepts of the law are these: to live honestly, to injure no one, and to give commonalty, such as was made on the motion of one of their own magistrates, as every man his due. The study of law consists of two branches, law public and law a .... A senatus consult is a command and ordinance of the senate, for when the Roman people had been so increased that it was difficult to assemble it private. The former relates to the welfare of the Roman State; the latter to the advantage of the individual citizen. Of private law then we may say that it is of together for the purpose of enacting statutes, it seemed right that the senate should be consulted instead of the people. Again, what the Emperor determines threefold origin, being collected from the precepts of nature, from those of the law of nations, or from those of the civil law of Rome. has the force of a statute, the people having conferred on him all their authority and power by the lex regia, which was passed concerning his office and authority. The law of nature is that which she has taught all animals; a law not peculiar to Consequently, whatever the Emperor settles by rescript, or decides in his judicial the human race, but shared by all living creatures, whether denizens of the air, capacity, or ordains edicts, is clearly a statute: and these are what are called the dry land, or the sea. Hence comes the union of male and female, which we constitutions. call marriage; hence the procreation and rearing of children, for this is a law by From The Institutes of Justinian, B. Moyle, trans.3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, the knowledge of which we see even the lower animals are distinguished. The 1896), pp. 3-5. civil law of Rome, and the law of all nations, differ from each other thus. The laws of every people governed by statutes and customs are partly peculiar to itself, partly common to all mankind. Those rules which a state enacts for its own This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of members are peculiar to itself, and are called civil law: those rules prescribed by public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history. natural reason for all men are observed by all people alike, and are called the law Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright. of nations. Thus the laws of the Roman people are partly peculiar to itself, partly Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational common to all nations; a distinction of which we shall take notice as occasion purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No offers.... permission is granted for commercial use.

Sources on the Internal and External Conflicts of the Early Byzantine Empire 8

Justinian: Novella 146: On Jews 8.ii.553. Nov.146. Justinian to Areobindas, P.P. the prophetic grace was illuminating them. This therefore they shall primarily use, but that we may not seem to be forbidding all other texts we allow the use A Permission granted to the Hebrews to read the Sacred Scriptures according to of that of Aquila, though he was not of their people, and his translation differs Tradition, in Greek, Latin or any other Language, and an Order to expel from their not slightly from that of the Septuagint. community those who do not believe in the judgment, the Resurrection, and the Creation of Angels. ii. But the Mishnah [oral Torah tradition], or as they call it the second tradition, we prohibit entirely. For it is not part of the sacred books, nor is it handed down by Preface. divine inspiration through the prophets, but the handiwork of man, speaking Necessity dictates that when the Hebrews listen to their sacred texts they should only of earthly things, and having nothing of the divine in it. But let them read not confine themselves to the meaning of the letter, but should also devote their the holy words themselves, rejecting the commentaries, and not concealing attention to those sacred prophecies which are hidden from them, and which what is said in the sacred writings, and disregarding the vain writings which do announce the mighty Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And though, by surrendering not form a part of them, which have been devised by them themselves for the themselves to senseless interpretations, they still err from the true doctrine, yet, destruction of the simple. By these instructions we ensure that no one shall be learning that they disagree among themselves, we have not permitted this penalised or prohibited who reads the Greek or any other language. And their disagreement to continue without a ruling on our part. From their own complaints elders, Archiphericitae and presbyters, and those called magistrates, shall not which have been brought to us, we have understood that some only speak by any machinations or anathemas have power to refuse this right, unless by Hebrew, and wish to use it for the sacred books, and others think that a Greek chance they wish to suffer corporal punishment and the confiscation of their translation should be added, and that they have been disputing about this for a goods, before they yield to our will and to the commands which are better and long time. Being apprised of the matter at issue, we give judgment in favour of clearer to God which we enjoin. those who wish to use Greek also for the reading of the sacred scriptures, or any other tongue which in any district allows the hearers better to understand the text. Ch.II. If any among them seek to introduce impious vanities, denying the resurrection Ch. I. or the judgment, or the work of God, or that angels are part of creation, we We therefore sanction that, wherever there is a Hebrew congregation, those require them everywhere to be expelled forthwith; that no backslider raise his who wish it may, in their synagogues, read the sacred books to those who are impious voice to contradict the evident purpose of God. Those who utter such present in Greek, or even Latin, or any other tongue. For the language changes sentiments shall be put to death, and thereby the Jewish people shall be in different places, and the reading changes with it, so that all present may purged of the errors which they introduced. understand, and live and act according to what they hear. Thus there shall be no opportunity for their interpreters, who make use only of the Hebrew, to Ch. III. corrupt it in any way they like, since the ignorance of the public conceals their We pray that when they hear the reading of the books in one or the other depravity. We make this proviso that those who use Greek shall use the text of language, they may guard themselves against the depravity of the interpreters, the seventy interpreters, which is the most accurate translation, and the one and, not clinging to the literal words, come to the point of the matter, and most highly approved, since it happened that the translators, divided into two perceive their diviner meaning, so that they may start afresh to learn the better groups, and working in different places, all produced exactly the same text. way, and may cease to stray vainly, and to err in that which is most essential, we mean hope in God. For this reason we have opened the door for the reading i. Moreover who can fail to admire those men, who, writing long before the saving of the scriptures in every language, that all may henceforth receive its teaching, revelation of our mighty Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, yet as though they saw and become fitter for learning better things. For it is acknowledged that he, who its coming with their eyes completed the translation of the sacred books as if Sources on the Internal and External Conflicts of the Early Byzantine Empire 9

is nourished upon the sacred scriptures and has little need of direction, is much The Mysterious Onwards - by Pocopius of Caesarea readier to discern the truth, and to choose the better path, than he who IX. AND HOW THEODORA, MOST DEPRAVED OF ALL COURTESANS, WON understands nothing of them, but clings to the name of his faith alone, and is HIS LOVE held by it as by a sacred anchor, and believes that what can be called heresy in its purest form is divine teaching. HE took a wife: and in what manner she was born and bred, and, wedded to this man, tore up the Roman Empire by the very roots, I shall now relate. Epilogue. This is our sacred will and pleasure, and your Excellency and your present Acacius was the keeper of wild beasts used in the amphitheater in colleague and your staff shall see that it is carried out, and shall not allow the Constantinople; he belonged to the Green faction and was nicknamed the Hebrews to contravene it. Those who resist it or try to put any obstruction in its Bearkeeper. This man, during the rule of Anastasius, fell sick and died, leaving way, shall first suffer corporal punishment, and then be compelled to live in three daughters named Comito, Theodora and Anastasia: of whom the eldest was exile, forfeiting also their property, that they flaunt not their impudence against not yet seven years old. His widow took a second husband, who with her God and the empire. You shall also circulate our law to the provincial undertook to keep up Acacius's family and profession. But Asterius, the dancing governors, that they learning its contents may enforce it in their several cities, master of the Greens, on being bribed by another, removed this office from them knowing that it is to be strictly carried out under pain of our displeasure. and assigned it to the man who gave him the money. For the dancing masters had the power of distributing such positions as they wished. When this woman saw the populace assembled in the amphitheater, she placed Source. laurel wreaths on her daughters' heads and in their hands, and sent them out to from James Parkes: The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue: A Study in the Origins of Anti-semitism, sit on the ground in the attitude of suppliants. The Greens eyed this mute appeal (New York: JPS, 1934), 392-393 with indifference; but the Blues were moved to bestow on the children an equal This text in multiple later printings by Atheneum has no indication of renewed copyright. office, since their own animal-keeper had just died. This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and When these children reached the age of girlhood, their mother put them on the copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history. local stage, for they were fair to look upon; she sent them forth, however, not all at Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the the same time, but as each one seemed to her to have reached a suitable age. document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial use. Comito, indeed, had already become one of the leading hetaerae of the day. © Paul Halsall, August 1998 Theodora, the second sister, dressed in a little tunic with sleeves, like a slave girl, waited on Comito and used to follow her about carrying on her shoulders the bench on which her favored sister was wont to sit at public gatherings. Now Theodora was still too young to know the normal relation of man with maid, but consented to the unnatural violence of villainous slaves who, following their masters to the theater, employed their leisure in this infamous manner. And for some time in a brothel she suffered such misuse.

But as soon as she arrived at the age of youth, and was now ready for the world, her mother put her on the stage. Forthwith, she became a courtesan, and such as the ancient Greeks used to call a common one, at that: for she was not a flute or harp player, nor was she even trained to dance, but only gave her youth to anyone she met, in utter abandonment. Her general favors included, of course, the actors in the theater; and in their productions she took part in the low comedy Sources on the Internal and External Conflicts of the Early Byzantine Empire 10 scenes. For she was very funny and a good mimic, and immediately became experience of her and to those who had not yet had that privilege her trained popular in this art. There was no shame in the girl, and no one ever saw her suppleness. dismayed: no role was too scandalous for her to accept without a blush. So perverse was her wantonness that she should have hid not only the customary She was the kind of comedienne who delights the audience by letting herself be part of her person, as other women do, but her face as well. Thus those who were cuffed and slapped on the cheeks, and makes them guffaw by raising her skirts to intimate with her were straightway recognized from that very fact to be perverts, reveal to the spectators those feminine secrets here and there which custom veils and any more respectable man who chanced upon her in the Forum avoided her from the eyes of the opposite sex. With pretended laziness she mocked her and withdrew in haste, lest the hem of his mantle, touching such a creature, might lovers, and coquettishly adopting ever new ways of embracing, was able to keep be thought to share in her pollution. For to those who saw her, especially at dawn, in a constant turmoil the hearts of the sophisticated. And she did not wait to be she was a bird of ill . And toward her fellow-actresses she was as savage as asked by anyone she met, but on the contrary, with inviting jests and a comic a scorpion: for she was very malicious. flaunting of her skirts herself tempted all men who passed by, especially those Later, she followed Hecebolus, a Tyrian who had been made governor of who were adolescent. Pentapolis, serving him in the basest of ways; but finally she quarreled with him On the field of pleasure she was never defeated. Often she would go picnicking and was sent summarily away. Consequently, she found herself destitute of the with ten young men or more, in the flower of their strength and virility, and dallied means of life, which she proceeded to earn by prostitution, as she had done with them all, the whole night through. When they wearied of the sport, she would before this adventure. She came thus to , and then traversing all the approach their servants, perhaps thirty in number, and fight a duel with each of East, worked her way to Constantinople; in every city plying a trade (which it is these; and even thus found no allayment of her craving. Once, visiting the house safer, I fancy, in the sight of God not to name too clearly) as if the Devil were of an illustrious gentleman, they say she mounted the projecting corner of her determined there be no land on earth that should not know the sins of Theodora. dining couch, pulled up the front of her dress, without a blush, and thus carelessly Thus was this woman born and bred, and her name was a byword beyond that of showed her wantonness. And though she flung wide three gates to the other common wenches on the tongues of all men. ambassadors of Cupid, she lamented that nature had not similarly unlocked the straits of her bosom, that she might there have contrived a further welcome to his But when she came back to Constantinople, Justinian fell violently in love with emissaries. her. At first he kept her only as a mistress, though he raised her to rank. Through him Theodora was able immediately to acquire an unholy power and Frequently, she conceived, but as she employed every artifice immediately, a exceedingly great riches. For she seemed to him the sweetest thing in the world, miscarriage was straightway effected. Often, even in the theater, in the sight of all and like all lovers, he desired to please his charmer with every possible favor and the people, she removed her costume and stood nude in their midst, except for a requite her with all his wealth. The extravagance added fuel to the flames of girdle about the groin: not that she was abashed at revealing that, too, to the passion. With her now to help spend his money he plundered the people more audience, but because there was a law against appearing altogether naked on the than ever, not only in the capital, but throughout the Roman Empire. As both of stage, without at least this much of a fig-leaf. Covered thus with a ribbon, she them had for a long time been of the Blue party, they gave this faction almost would sink down to the stage floor and recline on her back. Slaves to whom the complete control of the affairs of state. It was long afterward that the worst of this duty was entrusted would then scatter grains of barley from above into the calyx evil was checked in the following manner. of this passion flower, whence geese, trained for the purpose, would next pick the grains one by one with their bills and eat. When she rose, it was not with a blush, Justinian had been ill for several days, and during this illness was in such peril of but she seemed rather to glory in the performance. For she was not only his life that it was even said he had died; and the Blues, who had been committing impudent herself, but endeavored to make everybody else as audacious. Often such crimes as I have mentioned, went so far as to kill Hypatius, a gentleman of when she was alone with other actors, she would undress in their midst and arch no mean importance, in broad daylight in the Church of St. . The cry of her back provocatively, advertising like a peacock both to those who had horror at this crime came to the Emperor's ears, and everyone about him seized Sources on the Internal and External Conflicts of the Early Byzantine Empire 11 the opportunity of pointing out the enormity of what was going on in Justinian's against him, and in no way merited death. Thanks to him, Theodotus was absence from public affairs; and they enumerated from the beginning how many permitted by the Emperor to be exiled to Jerusalem. But learning there that men crimes had been committed. The Emperor then ordered the Prefect of the city to were being sent to do away with him, he hid himself in the church for the rest of punish these offenses. This man was one Theodotus, nicknamed the Pumpkin. his life until he died. And this was the fate of Theodotus. He made a thorough investigation and was able to apprehend many of the guilty But after this, the Blues became the most prudent of men. For they ventured no and sentence them to death, though many others were not found out, and longer to continue their offenses, even though they might have transgressed more escaped. They were destined to perish later, together with the Roman Empire. fearlessly than before. And the proof of this is, that when a few of them later Justinian, unexpectedly restored to health, straightway undertook to put showed such courage, no punishment at all befell them. For those who had the Theodotus to death as a poisoner and a magician. But since he had no proof on power to punish, always gave these gangsters time to escape, tacitly encouraging which to condemn the man, he tortured friends of his until they were compelled to the rest to trample upon the laws. say the words that would wrongfully ruin him. When everyone else stood to one side and only in silence lamented the plot against Theodotus, one man, Proclus the Quaestor, dared to say openly that the man was innocent of the charge The Secret History of Procopius, tr. by Richard Atwater, [1927], at sacred-texts.com

Sources on the Internal and External Conflicts of the Early Byzantine Empire 12

eighth century. Along the way, they conquered all of Persia, completing the and the Byzantine Theme System conquest by 651. At the end of the seventh century and again in 717, Islamic Justinian’s campaign to re-establish the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean forces besieged Constantinople. The empire fought back with “,” came at a high cost. Diverting resources to this effort and heavily increasing taxes explosives projected from tubes creating blazes on the later surface and in the process, left the eastern borders of the empire vulnerable. The Persians, destroying ships. led by the Sassanid Dynasty, rivaled the Romans in trade and were a constant threat at the eastern borders. Diplomacy, territorial concessions, and bribes, Constant wars, pressures on the borders, and the loss of some of the wealthiest which had successfully held the Persians at bay, were becoming less and less of cities and provinces, including and Egypt, compelled emperors to an option in such an economic climate. The eastern empire faced another threat, reorganize the empire once again. Although historians disagree about which too: the Avars and the Slavs. Migrating south of the River into the emperor initiated it, by the year 650 the provinces were reorganized into , the Avars mixed with groups of Slavs and in the region between defensive military districts called themes. A general, a strategos, appointed by the the Danube and Black Sea. By 600, these groups were present from the Danube emperor who governed with full military and civil control, governed each theme. to Greece. The strategos maintained his own army, attracting soldiers with the lure of land, resulting in soldiers’ estates. He also drew ranks from the local population, or Beginning in 602, the Persian king, Chosroes II, turned his sights on eastern peasantry, with the male head of a family offering military service while the Roman provinces. In 614, the Persians captured the city of in Syria, which remainder of the family farmed small plots of land. The focus of life shifted from was quickly followed by the capture of Jerusalem in Palestine. It was from the markets and bustle of the cities to the home in the country, church, and Jerusalem that the Persians took one of the holiest in : a agriculture, especially when land became a form of payment to soldiers. Most fragment of the cross upon which Christians believed Jesus was crucified, or the decisions were made locally between farmers, who interacted less with imperial . Set on recovering this and avenging the empire’s losses, in 622 officials than they did with members of . Although themes developed Emperor Heraclius (r. 610-641) decided to leave Constantinople in the care of the regional traditions and loyalties and gained greater autonomy with time, especially Patriarch, the highest church official in the eastern empire, and head into Persian through their armies, the key Roman institutions—laws, taxes, and the emperor— lands with his army. In 626, the Persians joined with the Avars to launch a joint remained in place. attack on Constantinople in Heraclius’s absence, but the city, protected by massive walls, held out. Two years later, Heraclius defeated the Persian King Chosroes II in Persian territory, reclaiming the lost provinces and the relic of the The Saylor Foundation Saylor.org True Cross. He also subdued the Avars on the Balkan Peninsula, making the Saylor URL: www.saylor.org/courses/hist302/#1.3.1 Avar kingdom a vassal state.

Although victorious, the battles against the Persians and Avars left the empire in a weakened state precisely when a new invader arrived at its borders: Arab Muslims. Spreading the faith and revelations of the prophet (c. 570- 632), Islamic forces swept through the Arabian Peninsula following the death of Muhammad in 632 and attacked Palestine and Syria, subduing both provinces. In 641 they captured Egypt and pushed across North Africa by the beginning of the