the “posts” and “spies”—rapidity of the imperial couriers—their chief routes—superiority of the persians—reverses of the romans in lazica at the hands of chosroes—the army commissariat—spoliation of the lawyer evangelius—justinian’s sarcasm—he and theodora required their feet to be kissed by those who had audience of them—their titles of “master” and “mistress”—the palace crowded by applicants for audiences—the death of justinian alone will show how the vast wealth of the empire has been spent.
his regulations as to the public “posts” and “spies” will show how much he cared for the interests of the state. the earlier emperors, in order to gain the most speedy information concerning the movements of the enemy in each territory, seditions or unforeseen accidents in individual towns, and the actions of the governors and other officials in all parts of the empire, and also in order that those who conveyed the yearly tribute might do so without danger or delay, had established a rapid service of public couriers according to the following system:—as a day’s journey for an active man, they settled eight stages, sometimes fewer, but never less than five. there were forty horses in each stage and a number of grooms in proportion. the couriers who were intrusted with this duty, by making use of relays of excellent horses, frequently covered as much ground in one day by this means as they would otherwise have covered in ten, when carrying out the above commissions. in addition, the landed proprietors in each country, especially those whose estates were in the interior, reaped great benefit from these posts; for, by selling their surplus corn and fruit every year to the state for the support of the horses and grooms, they gained considerable revenue. by this means the state received, without interruption, the tribute due from each, and, in turn, reimbursed those who furnished it, and thus everything was to the advantage of the state. such was the old system. but justinian, having commenced by suppressing the post between chalcedon and dakibiza, compelled the couriers to carry all despatches from byzantium to helenopolis by sea. they unwillingly obeyed; for, being obliged to embark upon small skiffs, such as were generally used for crossing the strait, they ran great risk of being shipwrecked, if they met with stormy weather. for, since great speed was enjoined upon them, they were unable to wait for a favourable opportunity for putting out to sea, when the weather was calm. it is true that he maintained the primitive system on the road to persia, but for the rest of the east, as far as egypt, he reduced the number of posts to one, for a day’s journey, and substituted a few asses for the horses, so that the report of what was taking place in each district only reached byzantium with difficulty and long after the events had occurred, when it was too late to apply any remedy; and, on the other hand, the owners of estates found no benefit from their products, which were either spoilt or lay idle.
the spies were organized in the following manner:—a number of men used to be supported at the state’s expense, whose business it was to visit hostile countries, especially the court of persia, on pretence of business or some other excuse, and to observe accurately what was going on; and by this means, on their return, they were able to report to the emperors all the secret plans of their enemies, and the former, being warned in advance, took precautions and were never surprised. this system had long been in vogue amongst the medes. chosroes, by giving larger salaries to his spies, none of whom were born romans, reaped great benefit from this precaution. justinian, having discontinued this practice, lost considerable territory, especially the country of the lazes, which was taken by the enemy, since the romans had no information where the king and his army were. the state also formerly kept a large number of camels, which carried the baggage on the occasion of an expedition into an hostile country. by this means the peasants were relieved from the necessity of carrying burdens, and the soldiers were well supplied with necessaries. justinian, however, did away with nearly all the camels, so that, when the army is marching against an enemy, everything is in an unsatisfactory condition. such was the care he took of the most important state institutions. it will not be out of place to mention one of his ridiculous acts. there was at caesarea a lawyer named evangelius, a person of distinction, who, by the favour of fortune, had amassed great riches and considerable landed estates. he afterwards purchased, for three centenars of gold, a village on the coast named porphyreon. when justinian heard of this, he immediately took it from him, only returning him a small portion of the price he had paid for it, at the same time declaring that it was unseemly that such a village should belong to evangelius the lawyer. but enough of this. it remains to speak of certain innovations introduced by justinian and theodora. formerly, when the senate had audience of the emperor, it paid him homage in the following manner:—every patrician kissed him on the right breast, and the emperor, having kissed him on the head, dismissed him; all the rest bent the right knee before the emperor and retired. as for the empress, it was not customary to do homage to her. but those who were admitted to the presence of this royal pair, even those of patrician rank, were obliged to prostrate themselves upon their face, with hands and feet stretched out; and, after having kissed both his feet, they rose up and withdrew. nor did theodora refuse this honour. she received the ambassadors of the persians and other barbarian nations and (a thing which had never been done before) bestowed magnificent presents upon them, as if she had been absolute mistress of the empire. formerly, those who associated with the emperor called him imperator and the empress imperatrix, and the other officials according to their rank. but if anyone addressed either justinian or theodora without the addition of the title sovereign lord or sovereign lady, or without calling himself their slave, he was looked upon as ignorant and insolent in his language, and, as if he had committed a very grave offence and insulted those whom it least became him, he was dismissed. formerly, only a few were granted admission to the palace, and that with difficulty; but, from the time of the accession of justinian and theodora, the magistrates and all other persons were continually in the palace. the reason was, that formerly the magistrates freely administered justice and laws independently, and executed the customary sentences at their own residences, and the subjects, seeing and hearing that no injustice would be done to them, had little reason to trouble the emperor. but this pair, taking control of all business to themselves in order that they might ruin their subjects, forced them to humiliate themselves before them in a most servile manner. thus the courts of justice were empty nearly every day, and hardly a person was to be seen in them, while in the palace there were crowds of men pushing and abusing one another, all endeavouring to be foremost in showing their servility. those who were on the most intimate terms with the imperial pair remained the whole day and a great part of the night, without food or sleep, until they were worn out, and this apparent good fortune was their only reward. others, who were free from all these cares and anxieties, were puzzled to think what had become of the wealth and treasures of the empire. some declared that it had all fallen into the hands of the barbarians, while others asserted that the emperor kept it locked up in secret hiding-places of his own. when justinian—whether he be man or devil—shall have departed this life, those who are then living will be able to learn the truth.
