I will now proceed to mention another mode in which he plundered his
subjects. Those who, at Byzantium, serve the Emperor or magistrates,
either as secretaries, or in a military or any other capacity, are
placed last upon the list of officials. As time goes on, they are
gradually promoted to the place of those who have died or retired,
until they reach the highest rank and supreme dignity. Those who had
attained to this honour, in accordance with an ancient institution, had
the right to the enjoyment of a fund of not less than 100 centenars of
gold yearly, so that they might have a comfortable means of subsistence
for their old age, and might be able to assist others as much as
possible; and this was of great influence in bringing about a
successful administration of the affairs of state. But Justinian
deprived them of all their privileges, and did great harm, not only to
them, but to many others besides, for the poverty which attacked them
extended to all those who formerly shared their prosperity. If anyone
were to calculate the sums of which they were thus deprived during
these thirty-two years, he would find that the amount was very
considerable. Such was the shameful manner in which the tyrant treated
his soldiers.
I will now relate how he behaved towards merchants, mariners,
artisans, shopkeepers and others. There are two narrow straits on
either side of Byzantium, the one in the Hellespont, between Sestos and
Abydos, the other at the mouth of the Euxine Sea, close to the chapel
of the Holy Mother. In the strait upon the Hellespont, there was no
public custom-house, but an officer was sent by the Emperor to Abydos,
to see that no ship loaded with arms should pass on the way to
Byzantium without the Emperor's leave, and also that no person should
put out to sea from Byzantium without letters of licence signed by the
proper official, no ship being allowed to leave the city without the
permission of the secretaries of the Master of Offices. The amount
which the praetor exacted from the shipmasters under the name of toll
was so insignificant that it was disregarded. A praetor was also sent
to the other strait, who received his salary regularly from the
Emperor, and whose duties were the same—to take care that no one
transported to the barbarians on the Euxine any wares, the export of
which to hostile countries was forbidden; but he was not allowed to
exact any duties from these navigators. But, from the day that
Justinian succeeded to the government of affairs, he established a
custom-house on both straits, and sent thither two officials to collect
the dues at a fixed salary, who were ordered to get in as much money as
they could. These officials, who desired nothing better than to show
their devotion to him, extorted duty upon all kinds of merchandise In
regard to the port of Byzantium, he made the following arrangement:—He
put it in charge of one of his confidants, a Syrian by birth, named
Addeus, whom he ordered to exact duty from all vessels which put in
there. This Addeus would not allow those ships which had been any
length of time in the harbour to leave it, until the masters had paid a
sum of money to free them, or else he compelled them to take on board a
freight for Libya or Italy. Some, resolved not to take in a return
cargo or to remain at sea any longer, burned their ships and thus
escaped all anxiety, to their great rejoicing. But all those who were
obliged to continue their profession in order to live, for the future
demanded three times the usual amount from merchants for the hire of
the ships, and thus the merchants had no means of covering their losses
except by requiring a higher price from purchasers; and thus, by every
possible contrivance, the Romans were reduced to the danger of
starvation. Such was the general state of affairs. I must not, however,
omit to state the manner in which the rulers dealt with the small
coinage. The money-changers had formerly been accustomed to give 210
obols (called Pholes) for a single gold stater. Justinian and Theodora,
for their own private gain, ordered that only 180 obols should be given
for the stater, and by this means deprived the public of a sixth part
of each piece of gold. Having established “monopolies” upon most wares,
they incessantly harassed would-be purchasers. The only thing left free
from duty was clothes, but, in regard to these also, the imperial pair
contrived to extort money. Silken garments had for a long time been
made in Berytus and Tyre, cities of Phoenicia. The merchants and
workmen connected with the trade had been settled there from very early
times, and from thence the business had spread throughout the world.
During the reign of Justinian, those who lived in Byzantium and other
cities raised the price of their silks, on the plea that at the present
time they were dearer in Persia, and that the import tithes were
higher. The Emperor pretended to be exceedingly indignant at this, and
subsequently published an edict forbidding a pound of silk to be sold
for more than eight gold pieces; anyone who disobeyed the edict was to
be punished by the confiscation of his property. This measure appeared
altogether impracticable and absurd. For it was not possible for the
merchants, who had bought their wares at a much higher price, to sell
it to customers at a lower rate. They accordingly resolved to give up
this business, and secretly and without delay disposed of their
remaining wares to certain well-known persons, who took delight in
wasting their money upon such adornments, and to whom it had become in
a manner an absolute necessity. Theodora heard of this from certain
persons who whispered it confidentially, and, without taking the
trouble to verify the report, she immediately deprived these persons of
their wares, and, in addition, inflicted upon them a fine of a centenar
of gold. At the present time, the imperial treasurer is charged with
the superintendence of this trade. When Peter Barsyames held the
office, they soon allowed him all manner of licence in carrying out his
nefarious practices. He demanded that all the rest should carefully
observe the law, and compelled those who were engaged in the silk
factories to work for himself alone. Without taking any trouble to
conceal it, he sold an ounce of any ordinary coloured silk in the
public market-place for six pieces of gold, but if it was of the royal
dye, called Holovere, he asked more than four-and-twenty for it. In
this manner he procured vast sums of money for the Emperor, and even
larger sums, which he kept privately for himself; and this practice,
begun by him, continued. The grand treasurer is at this moment avowedly
the only silk merchant and sole controller of the market. All those who
formerly carried on this business, either in Byzantium or any other
city, workers on sea or land, felt the loss severely. Nearly the whole
population of the cities which existed by such manufactories were
reduced to begging. Artisans and mechanics were forced to struggle
against hunger, and many of them, quitting their country, fled to
Persia. None but the chief treasurer was allowed to have anything to do
with that branch of industry, and, while he handed over part of his
gains to the Emperor, he kept the greater part for himself, and thus
grew wealthy at the expense of the unfortunate public.