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from the military rolls the emperor selected them for the guard of the Palace. For they were all 6.4 most handsome in body. But later in time when Anastasius had taken over the empire, a war arose against the Isau6.5 rian nation who had taken up arms against him. And he sent against them an army worthy of account, which John led, surnamed the Hunchback. This John imprisoned Justin on account of some offense, and on the following day was about to remove him from among men, had not a dream vision that occurred in the meantime 6.6 prevented it. For the general said that in a dream he had encountered a certain one immense in body and in other respects 6.7 too great to be likened to a man. And that this one had commanded him to release the man whom he happened to have imprisoned on that day; but he, upon waking from sleep, 6.8 had made light of the dream vision. And when another night came, it seemed to him in the dream that he again heard the words which he had heard before, but he was not even so 6.9 disposed to carry out the commands. And a third time the dream vision appeared to him and threatened irreparable harm, if he did not do what was commanded, and added that a great debt would be owed to him who would be angered in time to come, both for the man himself and for his kindred. 6.10 So then on that occasion it happened that Justin survived, and as time went on this Jus6.11 tin advanced to great power. For the emperor Anastasius had appointed him commander of the guards in the Palace. And when the emperor had departed from among men, he himself by the power of his office took over the empire, having already become a very old man, unlearned in all letters and, as the saying goes, illiterate, a thing which had certainly never before happened among 6.12 the Romans. And while it was customary for the emperor to affix his own letters to documents, whatever was done at his command, he, however, was able neither to command nor to comprehend what was being done. 6.13 But he who had the lot of being his assessor, holding the office of the so-called quaestor, Proclus by na6.14 me, himself did everything by his own judgement. So that they might have the testimony of the emperor's hand, those upon whom this task falls, 6.15 the following was devised. Having carved into a small piece of prepared wood a sort of form of four letters, which can be read in the Latin language, and having dipped a stylus in the ink with which emperors are accustomed to write, 6.16 they would place it in this emperor's hand. And placing the piece of wood, which I mentioned, on the document, and taking hold of the emperor's hand, they would guide it with the stylus to the pattern of the four letters, and having wound it through all the carvings of the wood, they would thus depart, bearing such letters of the emperor. 6.17 So things concerning Justin stood thus for the Romans. He was married to a woman named Lupicina. She, being both a slave and a barbarian, had been the concubine of the one who had previously bought her. And she herself with Justin held the empire at the sunset of their lives. 6.18 Justin, then, was able to do his subjects neither any harm nor any good. For he was possessed of great simple-mindedness, being altogether inarticulate and exceedingly 6.19 boorish. But his nephew Justinian, being still young, administered the entire empire and became for the Romans the cause of calamities, of such a kind and so great as no one, I suppose, had ever before heard of in all ti6.20 me. For he most readily proceeded to the unjust murder of men and the seizure of others' property, and it was nothing to him for many myriads of people to perish, even though they had given him no 6.21 cause. And he did not deign to preserve any of the established customs, but always wanted to innovate in all things, and, to put it simply, he was the greatest 6.22 corrupter of good institutions. Now the plague, which was mentioned by me in the previous account, although it afflicted the entire earth, was escaped by no fewer people than those who happened to perish, either by not being seized by the disease at all or by recovering after 6.23 it happened that they were seized. But to escape this man was not the lot of any one of all who were Roman men, but

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ἐν τοῖς στρατιωτικοῖς καταλόγοις βασιλεὺς αὐτοὺς ἐς τοῦ Παλατίου τὴν φυλακὴν ἐπελέξατο. κάλλιστοι γὰρ 6.4 ἅπαντες τὰ σώματα ἦσαν. χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερονἈναστασίῳ τὴν βασιλείαν παραλαβόντι πόλεμος πρὸς τὸἸσαύ6.5 ρων ἔθνος ὅπλα ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἀραμένους κατέστη. στρατιάν τε λόγου ἀξίαν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἔπεμψεν, ἧσπερἸωάννης ἡγεῖτο, ἐπίκλησιν Κυρτός. οὗτοςἸωάννης τὸνἸουστῖνον ἁμαρτάδος τινὸς ἕνεκα ἐν δεσμωτηρίῳ καθεῖρξεν, ἡμέρᾳ τε τῇ ἐπιούσῃ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων αὐτὸν ἀφανιεῖν ἔμελλεν, εἰ μή τις μεταξὺ ἐπιγενομένη ὄψις 6.6 ὀνείρου ἐκώλυσεν. ἔφη γάρ οἱ ἐν ὀνείρῳ ὁ στρατηγὸς ἐντυχεῖν τινα παμμεγέθη τε τὸ σῶμα καὶ τἄλλα 6.7 κρείσσω ἢ ἀνθρώπῳ εἰκάζεσθαι. καὶ τὸν μέν οἱ ἐπισκῆψαι μεθεῖναι τὸν ἄνδρα, ὅνπερ καθείρξας ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐτύγχανεν· αὐτὸν δὲ τοῦ ὕπνου ἐξαναστάντα 6.8 ἐν ἀλογίᾳ τὴν τοῦ ὀνείρου ὄψιν ποιήσασθαι. ἐπιλαβούσης δὲ καὶ ἑτέρας νυκτὸς ἐδόκει μέν οἱ ἐν τῷ ὀνείρῳ καὶ αὖθις τῶν λόγων ἀκούειν ὧνπερ ἠκηκόει τὸ πρότερον, ἐπιτελέσαι δὲ τὰ ἐπιτεταγμένα οὐδ' ὣς 6.9 βεβουλῆσθαι. τρίτον τέ οἱ ἐπιστᾶσαν τὴν τοῦ ὀνείρου ὄψιν ἀπειλῆσαι μὲν τὰ ἀνήκεστα, ἢν μὴ τὰ ἐπηγγελμένα ποιοίη, ἐπειπεῖν τε ὡς αὐτοῦ τε τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ τῆς ξυγγενείας χρέος οἱ μέγα ὀργισθησομένῳ ἐς χρόνον τὸν ὄπισθεν εἴη. 6.10 Τότε μὲν οὖν οὕτωςἸουστίνῳ περιεῖναι ξυνέβη, προϊόντος δὲ τοῦ χρόνου ἐς μέγα δυνάμεως οὗτοςἸου6.11 στῖνος ἐχώρησεν. ἄρχοντα γὰρ αὐτὸνἈναστάσιος βασιλεὺς κατεστήσατο τῶν ἐν Παλατίῳ φυλάκων. ἐπειδή τε ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἠφάνιστο, αὐτὸς τῇ τῆς ἀρχῆς δυνάμει τὴν βασιλείαν παρέλαβε, τυμβογέρων μὲν γεγονὼς ἤδη, ἀμάθητος δὲ γραμμάτων ἁπάντων καὶ τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον ἀναλφάβητος ὢν, οὐ γεγονὸς ἔν 6.12 γεῬωμαίοις πρότερον τοῦτό γε. εἰθισμένον δὲ γράμματα οἰκεῖα τοῖς βιβλίοις ἐντιθέναι τὸν βασιλέα, ὅσα ἂν ἐπαγγέλλοντος αὐτοῦ γίνοιτο, αὐτὸς μέντοι οὔτε ἐπαγγέλλειν οὔτε τοῖς πρασσομένοις ξυνεπίστασθαι 6.13 οἷός τε ἦν. ὃς δὲ παρεδρεύειν αὐτῷ ἔλαχεν, ἀρχὴν ἔχων τὴν τοῦ καλουμένου κοιαίστωρος Πρόκλος ὄνο6.14 μα, αὐτὸς δὴ αὐτονόμῳ γνώμῃ ἅπαντα ἔπρασσεν. ὅπως δὲ μαρτυρίαν τῆς βασιλέως χειρὸς ἔχοιεν, οἷς δὴ 6.15 ἐπίκειται τὸ ἔργον τοῦτο, ἐπενοήθη τάδε. ξύλῳ εἰργασμένῳ βραχεῖ ἐγκολάψαντες μορφήν τινα γραμμάτων τεττάρων, ἅπερ ἀναγνῶναι τῇ Λατίνων φωνῇ δύναται, γραφίδα τε βαφῇ βάψαντες, ᾗ βασιλεῖς γράφειν εἰώ6.16 θασιν, ἐνεχειρίζοντο τῷ βασιλεῖ τούτῳ. καὶ τὸ ξύλον, οὗπερ ἐμνήσθην, τῷ βιβλίῳ ἐνθέμενοι, λαβόμενοί τε τῆς βασιλέως χειρὸς, περιῆγον μὲν ξὺν τῇ γραφίδι ἐς τῶν τεττάρων γραμμάτων τὸν τύπον, ἐς πάσας τε τὰς τοῦ ξύλου αὐτὴν περιελίξαντες ἐντομὰς οὕτω δὴ ἀπηλλάσσοντο, τοιαῦτα βασιλέως γράμματα φέροντες. 6.17 Τὰ μὲν ἀμφὶ τῷἸουστίνῳ ταύτῃῬωμαίοις εἶχε. γυναικὶ δὲ ὄνομα Λουππικίνῃ ξυνῴκει. αὕτη δὲ δούλη τε καὶ βάρβαρος οὖσα τοῦ πρόσθεν αὐτὴν ἐωνημένου παλλακὴ γέγονε. καὶ αὐτὴ μὲν ξὺνἸουστίνῳ ἐπὶ βίου δυσμαῖς τὴν βασιλείαν ἔσχεν. 6.18Ἰουστῖνος μὲν οὖν οὔτε τι πονηρὸν τοὺς ὑπηκόους ἐργάζεσθαι οὔτε ἀγαθὸν ἴσχυεν. εὐηθείᾳ γὰρ πολλῇ εἴχετο, ἄγλωττός τε παντάπασιν ὢν καὶ ἀγροικιζόμενος 6.19 μάλιστα. ἀδελφιδοῦς δὲ αὐτῷἸουστινιανὸς νέος ὢν ἔτι διῳκεῖτο τὴν ἀρχὴν ξύμπασαν καὶ γέγονεῬωμαίοις ξυμφορῶν αἴτιος, οἵας τε καὶ ὅσας ἐς τὸν ἅπαντα αἰῶ6.20 να οὐδείς που πρότερον ἀκοῇ ἔλαβεν. ἔς τε γὰρ ἀνθρώπων ἄδικον φόνον καὶ χρημάτων ἁρπαγὴν ἀλλοτρίων ῥᾷστα ἐχώρει, καὶ οὐδὲν ἦν αὐτῷ μυριάδας πολλὰς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀφανισθῆναι, καίπερ αὐτῷ αἰτίαν 6.21 οὐδεμίαν παρασχομένων. καὶ φυλάσσειν μὲν τῶν καθεσταμένων οὐδὲν ἠξίου, ἅπαντα δὲ νεοχμοῦν ἐς ἀεὶ ἤθελε, καὶ τὸ ξύμπαν εἰπεῖν, μέγιστος δὴ οὗτος ἦν 6.22 διαφθορεὺς τῶν εὖ καθεστώτων. τὸν μὲν οὖν λοιμὸν, ὅσπερ μοι ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν λόγοις ἐρρήθη, καίπερ ἐπισκήψαντα εἰς τὴν γῆν ξύμπασαν, διέφυγον ἄνθρωποι οὐχ ἥσσους ἢ ὅσοις διαφθαρῆναι τετύχηκεν, ἢ οὐδαμῆ τῇ νόσῳ ἁλόντες ἢ περιγενόμενοι, ἐπειδὴ 6.23 σφίσιν ἁλῶναι ξυνέβη. ἄνδρα δὲ τοῦτον διαφυγεῖν ἀνθρώπῳ γε ὄντιῬωμαίῳ τῶν πάντων οὐδενὶ ξυνηνέχθη, ἀλλ'