fortunes of his subjects like an ever-flowing river, daily absorbing
them in order to disgorge them amongst the barbarians. Having thus
squandered the wealth of the State, he cast his eyes upon his private
subjects. Most of them he immediately deprived of their possessions
with unbounded rapacity and violence, at the same time bringing
against the wealthy inhabitants of Byzantium, and those of other
cities who were reputed to be so, charges utterly without foundation.
Some were accused of polytheism, others of heresy; some of sodomy,
others of amours with holy women; some of unlawful intercourse, others
of attempts at sedition; some of favouring the Green faction, others
of high treason, or any other charge that could be brought against
them. On his own responsibility he made himself heir not only of the
dead, but also of the living, as opportunity offered. In such matters
he showed himself an accomplished diplomatist. I have already
mentioned above how he profited by the sedition named Nika which was
directed against him, and immediately made himself heir of all the
members of the Senate, and how, shortly before the sedition broke out,
he obtained possession of the fortunes of private individuals. On
every occasion he bestowed handsome presents upon all the barbarians
alike, those of East and West, and North and South, as far as the
inhabitants of the British Islands and of the whole world, nations of
whom we had not even heard before, and whose names we did not know,
until we became acquainted with them through their ambassadors. When
these nations found out Justinian's disposition, they flocked to
Byzantium from all parts of the world to present themselves to him.
He, without any hesitation, overjoyed at the occurrence, and regarding
it as a great piece of good luck to be able to drain the Roman
treasury and fling its wealth to barbarians or the waves of the sea,
dismissed them every day loaded with handsome presents. In this
manner the barbarians became absolute masters of the wealth of the