justinian, a devil in the form of a man, causes the destruction of millions of men—his policy towards the vandals, goths, and other barbarians—chosroes and the persians—invasion of the huns, saracens, and others—justinian’s theological studies—religious persecution—divine anger—inundations, earthquakes, and the plague.
that justinian was not a man, but a demon in human shape, as i have already said, may be abundantly proved by considering the enormity of the evils which he inflicted upon mankind, for the power of the acting cause is manifested in the excessive atrocity of his actions. i think that god alone could accurately reckon the number of those who were destroyed by him, and it would be easier for a man to count the grains of sand on the sea-shore than the number of his victims. considering generally the extent of country which was depopulated by him, i assert that more than two millions of people perished. he so devastated the vast tract of libya that a traveller, during a long journey, considered it a remarkable thing to meet a single man; and yet there were eighty thousand vandals who bore arms, besides women, children and servants without number. in addition to these, who amongst men could enumerate the ancient inhabitants who dwelt in the cities, tilled the land, and traded on the coast, of whom i myself have seen vast numbers with my own eyes? the natives of mauretania were even still more numerous, and they were all exterminated, together with their wives and children. this country also proved the tomb of numbers of roman soldiers and of their auxiliaries from byzantium. therefore, if one were to assert that five millions perished in that country, i do not feel sure that he would not under-estimate the number. the reason of this was that justinian, immediately after the defeat of the vandals, did not take measures to strengthen his hold upon the country, and showed no anxiety to protect his interests by securing the goodwill of his subjects, but immediately recalled belisarius on a charge of aspiring to royal power (which would by no means have suited him) in order that he might manage the affairs of the country at his own discretion, and ravage and plunder the whole of libya. he sent commissioners to value the province, and imposed new and most harsh taxes upon the inhabitants. he seized the best and most fertile estates, and prohibited the arians from exercising the rites of their religion. he was dilatory in keeping his army well supplied and in an effective condition, while in other respects he was a severe martinet, so that disturbances arose which ended in great loss. he was unable to abide by what was established, but was by nature prone to throw everything into a state of confusion and disturbance.
italy, which was three times larger than libya, was depopulated far more than the latter throughout its whole extent, whence a computation may be made of the number of those who perished there, for i have already spoken of the origin of the events that took place in italy. all his crimes in africa were repeated in italy; having despatched logothetae to this country also, he immediately overthrew and ruined everything.
before the italian war, the empire of the goths extended from the territory of the gauls to the boundaries of dacia, and the city of sirmium; but, when the roman army arrived in italy, the greater part of cisalpine gaul and of the territory of the venetians was in the occupation of the germans. sirmium and the adjacent country was in the hands of the gepidae. the entire tract of country, however, was utterly depopulated; war and its attendant evils, disease and famine, had exterminated the inhabitants. illyria and the whole of thrace, that is to say, the countries between the ionian gulf and the suburbs of byzantium, including hellas and the chersonese, were overrun nearly every year after the accession of justinian by the huns, slavs and antes, who inflicted intolerable sufferings upon the inhabitants. i believe that, on the occasion of each of these inroads, more than two hundred thousand romans were either slain or carried away into slavery, so that the solitude of scythia overspread these provinces.
such were the results of the wars in libya and europe. during all this time, the saracens also made perpetual inroads upon the eastern romans, from egypt to the persian frontiers, and harassed them so persistently, that those districts gradually became depopulated. i believe it would be impossible for anyone to estimate correctly the number of men who perished there.
the persians under chosroes thrice invaded the rest of the roman territory, destroyed the cities, slew or carried off those whom they found in the captured towns in each district, and depopulated the country wherever they attacked it. from the time they entered colchis, the losses were divided between themselves, the lazes, and the romans, as up to the present day.
however, neither persians, saracens, huns, slavs, nor any other barbarians were themselves able to evacuate roman territory without considerable loss, for, in their inroads, and still more in their sieges and engagements, they often met with numerous reverses which inflicted equal disasters upon them. thus not only the romans, but almost all the barbarians, felt the bloodthirstiness of justinian. chosroes (as i have stated in the proper place) was certainly a man of depraved character, but it was justinian who always took the initiative in bringing about war with this prince, for he took no care to adapt his policy to circumstances, but did everything at the wrong moment. in time of peace or truce, his thoughts were ever craftily engaged in endeavouring to find pretexts for war against his neighbours. in war, he lost heart without reason, and, owing to his meanness, he never made his preparations in good time; and, instead of devoting his earnest attention to such matters, he busied himself with the investigation of heavenly phenomena and with curious researches into the nature of god. nevertheless, he would not abandon war, being by nature tyrannical and bloodthirsty, although he was unable to overcome his enemies, since his meanness prevented him from making the necessary preparations. thus, during the reign of this prince, the whole world was deluged with the blood of nearly all the romans and barbarians.
such were the events that took place, during the wars abroad, throughout the whole of the roman empire; but the disturbances in byzantium and every other city caused equal bloodshed; for, since no regard was had to justice or impartiality in meting out punishment for offences, each faction being eager to gain the favour of the emperor, neither party was able to keep quiet. they alternately abandoned themselves to the madness of despair or presumptuous vanity, according as they failed or succeeded in ingratiating themselves with him. sometimes they attacked one another en masse, sometimes in small bands, sometimes in single combat, or set ambuscades for each other at every opportunity. for thirty-two years without intermission they inflicted horrible cruelties upon one another. they were frequently put to death by the praefect of the city, although punishment for offences fell most heavily upon the green faction. the punishment of the samaritans also, and other so-called heretics, deluged the roman empire with blood. let it suffice, on the present occasion, to recall briefly what i have already narrated in greater detail. these calamities, which afflicted the whole world, took place during the reign of this demon in the form of a man, for which he himself, when emperor, was responsible. i will now proceed to relate the evils he wrought by some hidden force and demoniacal power.
during his control of the empire, numerous disasters of various kinds occurred, which some attributed to the presence and artifices of his evil genius, while others declared that the divinity, in detestation of his works, having turned away in disgust from the roman empire, had given permission to the avenging deities to inflict these misfortunes. the river scirtus overflowed edessa, and brought the most grievous calamities upon the inhabitants of the district, as i have already related. the nile, having overflown its banks as usual, did not subside at the ordinary time, and caused great suffering among the people. the cydnus was swollen, and nearly the whole of tarsus lay for several days under water; and it did not subside until it had wrought irreparable damage to the city.
several cities were destroyed by earth-quake—antioch, the chief city of the east, seleucia, and anazarbus, the most famous town in cilicia. who could calculate the numbers of those who were thereby destroyed? to these cities we may add ibora, amasea (the chief city of pontus), polybotus in phrygia (called polymede by the pisidians), lychnidus in epirus, and corinth, cities which from ancient times had been thickly populated. all these cities were overthrown at that time by an earthquake, during which nearly all their inhabitants perished. afterwards the plague (which i have spoken of before) began to rage, and swept away nearly half the survivors. such were the disasters that afflicted mankind, from the day when justinian first commenced to manage the affairs of the kingdom to the time, and after he had ascended the imperial throne.
