utility were erected or promoted either in Athens or throughout
Greece. Justinian, however, hastened to give his sanction to all the
acts of Forficula.

We must now speak of the poor of Alexandria. Amongst the lawyers of
that city was one Hephaestus, who, having been appointed governor,
suppressed popular disturbances by the terror he inspired, but at the
same time reduced the citizens to the greatest distress. He
immediately established a monopoly of all wares, which he forbade
other merchants to sell. He reserved everything for himself alone,
sold everything himself, and fixed the price by the capricious
exercise of his authority. Consequently, the city was in the greatest
distress from want of provisions; the poor no longer had a sufficient
supply of what was formerly sold at a low rate, and especially felt
the difficulty of obtaining bread; for the governor alone bought up
all the corn that came from Egypt, and did not allow anyone else to
purchase even so much as a bushel; and in this manner, he taxed the
loaves and put upon them what price he pleased. By this means he
amassed an enormous fortune, and was likewise careful to satisfy the
greed of the Emperor. So great was the terror inspired by Hephaestus,
that the people of Alexandria endured their ill-treatment in silence;
and the Emperor, out of gratitude for the money which flowed into his
exchequer from that quarter, conceived a great affection for
Hephaestus. The latter, in order to secure in a still greater degree
the favour of the Emperor, carried out the following plan. When
Diocletian became Emperor of the Romans, he ordered a yearly
distribution of corn to be made to the necessitous poor of Alexandria;
and the people, settling its distribution amongst themselves,
transmitted the right to their descendants. Hephaestus deprived the
necessitous of 2,000,000 bushels yearly, and deposited it in the