ruin of private properties—abolition of the remission of arrears of taxes, even in the case of cities taken by the barbarians—the imposts called synonē, epibolē, and diagraphē—soldiers billeted in private houses.

i will now relate how he everywhere ruined the possessors of estates, although, to show their misery, it would really be sufficient to refer to what has been said, just before this, concerning the governors dispatched to all the provinces and cities, for it was they who plundered those who possessed landed estates, as before related.

it had long been an established custom that the roman emperor should, not only once, but on several occasions, remit to his subjects all the arrears that were owing to the treasury, so that those who were in difficulties and had no means of settling these arrears might not be continually pressed, and that the tax collectors might not have an excuse for vexatiously attempting to exact money from those liable to tribute, where in many cases it was not due. justinian, however, for thirty-two years made no concession of the kind to his subjects, the result of which was that the poor people were forced to quit the country without any hope of return. the more honest were perpetually harassed by these false accusers, who threatened to charge them with having paid less than the amount at which they were rated. these unhappy individuals were less afraid of the imposition of new taxes than of the insupportable weight of the unjust exactions which for many years they had been compelled to pay, whereupon many of them abandoned their property to their accusers or to the rise.

the medes and saracens had ravaged the greater part of asia, and the huns and slavs had plundered the whole of europe. cities had been razed to the ground or subjected to severe exactions; the inhabitants had been carried away into slavery with all they possessed, and every district had been deserted by its inhabitants in consequence of the daily inroads. justinian, however, remitted no tax or impost to any one of them, except in the case of cities that had been taken by the enemy, and then only for a year, although, had he granted them exemption for seven years, as the emperor anastasius had done, i do not think that even then he would have done enough: for cabades retired after having inflicted but little damage upon the buildings, but chosroes, by ravaging the country with fire and sword and razing all its dwellings to the ground, brought greater calamities upon the inhabitants. justinian only granted this absurd remission of tribute to these people and to others who had several times submitted to an invasion of the medes and the continuous depredations of the huns and saracen barbarians in the east, while the romans, settled in the different parts of europe, who had equally suffered by the attacks of the barbarians, found justinian more cruel than any of their foreign foes; for, immediately after the enemy withdrew, the proprietors of estates found themselves overwhelmed with requisitions for provisions,13 impositions,14 and edicts15 of various kinds, the meaning of which i will now explain. those who possessed landed property were obliged to furnish provisions for the soldiers in proportion to the amount imposed upon each, and these dues were fixed, not in consideration of the necessities of the moment, but according to an authorised imperial assessment; and, if at any time they had not a sufficient supply upon their lands for the needs of the horses and soldiers, these unhappy persons were forced to purchase them even at a price far above their proper value, and to convey them in many cases from a considerable distance to the place where the troops were encamped, and to distribute them to the adjutants in what quantity and at what rate the latter pleased, not at a fair and reasonable price. this import was called “the import of victualling,” which, as it were, cut the sinews of all the landed proprietors; for they had to pay an annual tribute ten times greater than before, and were obliged not only to furnish supplies the soldiers, but on several occasions to convey corn to byzantium. barsyames was not the only man who had the audacity to introduce this cursed exaction, john of cappadocia had set the example, and the successors of barsyames in his office followed it. such was the nature of the synonē, as it was called.

the “epibolē” was a kind of unforeseen ruin, which suddenly attacked the landed proprietors and utterly deprived them of the hope of subsistence; for, in the case of estates that were deserted and unproductive, the owners or tenants of which had either died or abandoned their country and hidden themselves after the misfortunes they had undergone, justinian did not hesitate to impose a tax. such were these “impositions,” which were of frequent occurrence during that time.

a few words will suffice for the impost called “diagraphē.” at this time especially, the cities were afflicted with heavy losses, the causes and extent of which i will say nothing about, for it would be an endless tale. these losses had to be repaired by the landed proprietors in proportion to the rate at which they were assessed. their misery, however, did not stop there, but, although pestilence had attacked the whole world, and, especially, the roman empire; although most of the farmers had fallen victims, and their properties had become deserted, justinian did not show the least clemency towards the owners. he continued to exact the yearly tribute from them, not only their own proportion, but that of their neighbours who had died of the plague.16 further, they were obliged to treat the soldiers with the greatest civility, and to allow them to take up their quarters in their finest and richest apartments, while they themselves all the time had to content themselves with the poorest and meanest rooms. such were the calamities that without intermission befell mankind during the reign of justinian and theodora, for there was no cessation of war or any other most terrible calamities. since i have mentioned the word “quarters,” i must not forget to say that at one time there were 70,000 barbarians at constantinople, whom house owners were obliged to quarter, being thus shut out from all enjoyment of their own, and in many other ways inconvenienced.