downfall and death of zeno, grandson of anthemius, emperor of the west—robbery of tatian, demosthenes, the wealthy hilara, dionysus of libanus and john of edessa—forged wills—theodora and justinian evil spirits, not simple human beings—justinian the putative son of sabbatius—his mother’s intimate relations with a spirit—the adventure of a monk—justinian’s temperate manner of living—his fondness for women—theodora’s intercourse with a spirit—reputation of macedonia during justin’s time—her prediction to theodora—dream of her marriage with the prince of the demons.
those who were considered the wealthiest persons in byzantium and the other cities of the empire, next after members of the senate, were robbed of their wealth by justinian and theodora in the manner which i have described above. i shall now describe how they managed to take away all the property of members of the senate.
there was at constantinople one zeno, the grandson of that anthemius who formerly had been emperor of the west. they sent this man to egypt as governor. he delayed his departure, while he loaded his ship with precious valuables; for he had silver beyond any man’s counting, and gold plate set with pearls and emeralds, and with other like precious stones. but justinian and theodora bribed some of those who passed for his most faithful servants, to take everything out of the ship as fast as they could, set it on fire in the hold, and then go and tell zeno that his ship had taken fire of its own accord, and that all his property was lost. some time after this zeno died suddenly, and they took possession of his property as his heirs, producing a will which, it is currently reported, was never made by him.
in like manner they made themselves the heirs of tatian, of demosthenes, and of hilara, persons who at that time held the first rank in the roman senate. they obtained other persons’ fortunes by the production, not of formal wills, but of counterfeit conveyances. this was how they became the heirs of dionysius, who dwelt in libanus, and of john the son of basil, who was the leading man in edessa, and had been delivered up to the persians as a hostage against his will by belisarius, as i have told already. chosroes kept this john a prisoner, and refused to let him go, declaring that the romans had not performed all the terms of the treaty for which john had been given in pledge by belisarius, but he was prepared to let him be ransomed as a prisoner of war. his grandmother, who was still alive, got together the money for his ransom, not less than two thousand pounds of silver, and would have ransomed her grandson; but when this money arrived at dara, the emperor heard of the transaction and forbade it, that the wealth of romans might not be conveyed to barbarians. not long after this john fell ill and died; whereupon the governor of the city forged a letter which he said john had written to him as a friend not long before, to the effect that he desired the emperor to succeed to his property.
i could not give the list of all the other people whose heirs justinian and theodora became by the free will of the testators. however, up to the time of the insurrection called nika, they only plundered rich men of their property one by one; but when this broke out, as i have described in my former works, they then sequestrated nearly all the property of the senate. they laid their hands upon all movables and the finest parts of the estates, but set apart such lands as were burdened with grievous imposts, and, under pretence of kindness, restored them to their former possessors. so these people, oppressed by the tax-gatherers, and tormented by the never-ceasing interest to be paid upon their debts, became weary of their lives.
for the reasons which i have stated, i, and many of my position, never believed that they were really two human beings, but evil demons, and what the poets call scourges of mankind, who laid their heads together to see how they could fastest and most easily destroy the race and the works of man, but who had assumed human forms, and become something between men and demons, and thus convulsed the whole world. one can find proofs of this theory more particularly in the superhuman power with which they acted.
there is a wide distinction between the human and the supernatural. many men have been born in every age who, either by circumstances or their own character, have shown themselves terrible beings, who became the ruin of cities, countries, and whatever else fell into their hands; but to destroy all men and to ruin the whole earth has been granted to none save these two, who have been helped by fortune in their schemes to destroy the whole human race. for, about this time, much ruin was caused by earthquakes, pestilences and inundations of rivers, as i shall immediately tell you. thus it was not by mere human power, but by something greater, that they were enabled to work their evil will.
it is said that justinian’s mother told some of her intimates that justinian was not the son of sabbatius, her husband, or of any human being; but that, at the time when she became pregnant, an unseen demon companied with her, whom she only felt as when a man has connection with a woman, and who then vanished away as in a dream.
some who have been in justinian’s company in the palace very late at night, men with a clear conscience, have thought that in his place they have beheld a strange and devilish form. one of them said that justinian suddenly arose from his royal throne and walked about (although, indeed, he never could sit still for long), and that at that moment his head disappeared, while the rest of his body still seemed to move to and fro. the man who beheld this stood trembling and troubled in mind, not knowing how to believe his eyes. afterwards the head joined the body again, and united itself to the parts from which it had so strangely been severed.
another declared that he stood beside justinian as he sat, and of a sudden his face turned into a shapeless mass of flesh, without either eyebrows or eyes in their proper places, or anything else which makes a man recognisable; but after a while he saw the form of his face come back again. what i write here i did not see myself, but i heard it told by men who were positive that they had seen it.
they say, too, that a certain monk, highly in favour with god, was sent to byzantium by those who dwelt with him in the desert, to beg that favour might be shown to their neighbours, who had been wronged and outraged beyond endurance. when he arrived at byzantium, he straightway obtained an audience of the emperor; but just as he was about to enter his apartment, he started back, and, turning round, suddenly withdrew. the eunuch, who was escorting him, and also the bystanders, besought him earnestly to go forward, but he made no answer, but like one who has had a stroke of the palsy, made his way back to his lodging. when those who had come with him asked why he acted thus, they say that he distinctly stated that he saw the chief of the devils sitting on his throne in the midst of the palace, and he would not meet him or ask anything of him. how can one believe this man to have been anything but an evil demon, who never took his fill of drink, food, or sleep, but snatched at the meals which were set before him anyhow, and roamed about the palace at untimely hours of the night, and yet was so passionately addicted to venery.
some of theodora’s lovers, when she was still on the stage, declare that a demon had fallen upon them and driven them out of her bedchamber that it might pass the night with her. there was a dancer named macedonia, who belonged to the blue faction at antioch, and had very great influence with justinian. this woman used to write letters to him while justin was still on the throne, and thus easily made away with any great man in the east whom she chose, and caused their property to be confiscated for the public use. they say that this macedonia once greeted theodora, when she saw her very much troubled and cast down at the ill-treatment which she had received at the hands of hecebolius, and at the loss of her money on her journey, and encouraged and cheered her, bidding her remember the fickleness of fortune, which might again grant her great possessions. they say that theodora used to tell how, that night, she had a dream which bade her take no thought about money, for that when she came to byzantium, she would share the bed of the chief of the demons; that she must manage by all means to become his wedded wife, and that afterwards she would have all the wealth of the world at her disposal.
this was the common report in regard to these matters.
