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it carves out the appellation for the citizens and for time, and frees transactions from error, no longer undertaking wars, but being like a mother of the Romans' freedom; for it is opposed to tyranny and, when that prevails, it does not exist; therefore, at the same time that Brutus, the avenger of chastity and champion of freedom, shone forth in the consular honor, Tarquin the tyrant perished. And our father and 96 most clement emperor is consul in his rectifications of affairs and gifts to his subjects, for as long as he exists, and becomes so in his robe whenever he should wish to adorn Fortune, defining the consular honor as a rank superior to the imperial power. 9 That, as was previously said, the office from the beginning yielded only to the scepter, having obtained honor equal to it, one can plainly understand from the imperial power itself. For when the council is assembled, anciently in the so-called senates, that is, councils of elders, but in our time at the palace, the commanders of the troops there, proceeding further from their own seats, receive the prefecture on their knees; and it deems them worthy of a kiss as they approach, to gratify the army; and Caesar himself, as if king of the Romans, leaving his throne, approaches on foot in person to receive the magistrate; and as soon as he is inside, the entire guard allows no other of the magistrates to enter after him, nor, when the assembly is dismissed, does it permit anyone from the council to depart before it. And this was strictly observed until the time of Theodosius the Younger, who, since he was young and was not strong enough to proceed in person to offer the honor to the office in the accustomed manner, set up an image and decreed that it should receive the prefect in his stead. And the correct pronunciation having been changed, the people call the scepter "persikion," because per se in Latin means "in person." And the guardian of the city also enjoys this honor through the greater magistrate, having been deemed worthy of equal honor by the homonymy. From the beginning the prefect was girt with a sword, as also having authority over the army; and it is possible at present to discover this with one's own eyes, if any antiquarian, having crossed over to Chalcedon, should observe the image of Philip the prefect. 98 Romans call the sword worn at the belt a sica, from which they call butchers sicarii, and food made of flesh chopped into small pieces sicata. 10 But "whatever things have a beginning have an end," to use the poet's phrase. For when Constantine, along with Fortune, abandoned Rome, and the forces that guarded the Ister were scattered to Lower Asia by decree of the emperor, the treasury was deprived of Scythia and Moesia and the tribute from them, as the barbarians beyond the Ister overran Europe with no one resisting; and since the regions toward the east were burdened, contrary to former times, with no moderate taxes, it became necessary for the prefect no longer to command the court and the armed forces—the former having been handed over to the so-called magister, the latter assigned to the newly appointed generals—but to administer the East together with Lower Asia and whatever belongs to it, and for the rest to be styled prefect of the East. But the power of the office was dragged down, no less deadly each day, until the time of Arcadius, the father of Theodosius the Younger, in whose reign it happened that Rufinus, surnamed the insatiable, who was his prefect, after plotting tyranny, failed in his purpose for the benefit of the commonwealth, but cast the office into an abyss. For immediately the emperor stripped the office of its military power, then of the care of the so-called fabricae, that is, the arms-manufactories, and of the public post and everything else from which the so-called magisterium was constituted. But since it was difficult for the prefect to maintain the public horses and their supervisors throughout the provinces, while others possessed the authority and administration over them, a law was enacted decreeing that the prefect should retain the care of the public post, the first

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ἐξαυλακίζει τοῖς πολίταις καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ τὴν προσηγορίαν χαρίζεται κἀκ πλάνης ἀπαλλάττει τὰ συναλλάγματα, πολέμους μὲν τὸ λοιπὸν οὐκ ἀναδεχομένη, μήτηρ δὲ ὥσπερ τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἐλευθερίας τυγχάνουσα· ἐναντίως γὰρ ἔχει πρὸς τυραννίδα καί, κρατούσης ἐκείνης, οὐχ ὑφίσταται· τοιγαροῦν ἅμα Βροῦτος ὁ τῆς σωφροσύνης ἔκδικος καὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίας ὑπέρμαχος τὴν ὕπατον ἐξέλαμψε τιμήν, ἅμα Ταρκύνιος ὁ τύραννος ἀπωλώλει. ὁ δὲ ἡμέτερος πατήρ τε ἅμα 96 καὶ βασιλεὺς ἡμερώτατος ταῖς μὲν ἐπανορθώσεσι τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ δωρεαῖς τῶν ὑπηκόων ὕπατός ἐστιν ἐφ' ὅσον ἐστίν, τῇ δὲ στολῇ γίνεται ὅταν κοσμεῖν τὴν τύχην ἐθελήσοι, βαθμὸν ἀνώτερον βασιλείας τὴν ὕπατον τιμὴν ὁριζόμενος. 9 Ὅτι δὲ κατὰ τὸ πρόσθεν εἰρημένον μόνῳ τῷ σκήπτρῳ ἀνέκαθεν ἡ ἀρχὴ παρεχώρησεν, τὴν ἴσην ἐκείνῳ λαχοῦσα τιμήν, ἄντικρυς ἐκ τῆς βασιλείας ἔστι λαβεῖν. συναγομένης γὰρ τῆς βουλῆς πάλαι μὲν ἐν τοῖς καλουμένοις σενάτοις, οἷον εἰ γερουσίαις, καθ' ἡμᾶς δ' ἐπὶ τοῦ παλατίου, οἱ τῶν ἐκεῖ πρωτεύοντες στρατευμάτων, προϊόντες πορρωτέρω τῶν οἰκείων ἐδρῶν, ἀποδέχονται γονυπετεῖς τὴν ἐπαρχότητα· ἡ δὲ φιλήματος ἀξιοῖ προσιόντας αὐτοὺς εἰς θεραπείαν τοῦ στρατοῦ· καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Καῖσαρ, οἷον εἰ τῶν Ῥωμαίων βασιλεύς, τῆς βασιλείας ἐκλείπων, πρόσεισιν ἐκ ποδὸς δι' ἑαυτοῦ ἀποδεχόμενος τὸν ἄρχοντα· οὗ ἔνδον ἅμα αὐτοῦ γενομένου, φυλακὴ πᾶσα μηδεμίαν μετ' αὐτὸν εἴσω γενέσθαι τῶν ἀρχῶν συγχωροῦσα, ἀλλ' οὐδέ, διαλυθέντος τοῦ συλλόγου, πρὸ αὐτῆς ἀναχωρεῖν τινα τῶν ἐκ τῆς βουλῆς ἐπιτρέπουσα. καὶ τοῦτο ἐγκρατῶς ἐφυλάχθη ἄχρι τῶν Θεοδοσίου τοῦ Νέου καιρῶν, ὅς, ἐπεὶ νέος ἦν καὶ δι' ἑαυτοῦ προϊὼν κατὰ τὸ συνειθισμένον τὴν τιμὴν προσφέρειν οὐκ ἴσχυε τῇ ἀρχῇ, εἰκόνα στήσας ὥρισεν ἀντ' αὐτοῦ ἀποδέχεσθαι τὸν ὕπαρχον. καὶ τραπείσης τῆς ὀρθῆς ἐκφωνήσεως περσίκιον τὸ σκῆπτρον ὁ δῆμος καλεῖ, ὅτι πέρ ση κατὰ Ῥωμαίους τὸ «δι' ἑαυτοῦ» λέγεται. ταύτης δὲ τῆς τιμῆς καὶ ὁ τῆς πόλεως φύλαξ ἀπολαύει διὰ τοῦ μείζονος ἄρχοντος τῇ ὁμωνυμίᾳ τῆς ἰσοτιμίας ἀξιωθείς. ξίφος δὲ διεζώννυτο ἀνέκαθεν ὁ ὕπαρχος, οἷα καὶ τῶν ὅπλων ἔχων τὴν δύναμιν· καὶ τοῦτο δυνατὸν αὐταῖς ὄψεσιν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος εὑρεῖν εἴ γέ τις φιλάρχαιος ὢν ἐπὶ τὴν Καλχηδόνα περαιωθεὶς τὴν Φιλίππου τοῦ ὑπάρχου εἰκόνα καταμάθοι. 98 σῖκαν δὲ τὸ ὑποζώνιον ξίφος Ῥωμαῖοι καλοῦσιν, ἐξ οὗ σικαρίους τοὺς κρεουργούς, καὶ σικᾶτα τὴν ἐκ σαρκῶν εἰς λεπτὰ κατακοπεῖσαν ἐδωδήν. 10 Ἀλλ' «ἀρχὴν ὅσσα λέλογχεν ἔχει τέλος,» τὸ ποιητικὸν εἰπεῖν. Κωνσταντίνου γὰρ μετὰ τῆς Τύχης τὴν Ῥώμην ἀπολιπόντος καὶ τῶν δυνάμεων ὅσαι τὸν Ἴστρον ἐφρούρουν ἐπὶ τὴν κάτω Ἀσίαν ψήφῳ τοῦ βασιλέως διασπαρεισῶν, Σκυθίαν μὲν καὶ Μυσίαν καὶ τοὺς ἐξ ἐκείνων φόρους ἐζημιώθη τὸ δημόσιον, τῶν ὑπὲρ Ἴστρον βαρβάρων μηδενὸς ἀνθισταμένου κατατρεχόντων τὴν Εὐρώπην· τῶν δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἔω παρὰ τὸ πάλαι δασμοῖς οὐ μετρίοις βαρυνθέντων, ἀνάγκη γέγονε τὸν ὕπαρχον μηκέτι μὲν τῆς αὐλῆς καὶ τῶν ἐν ὅπλοις ἄρχειν δυνάμεων τῆς μὲν τῷ λεγομένῳ μαγίστρῳ παραδοθείσης, τῶν δὲ τοῖς ἄρτι κατασταθεῖσι στρατηγοῖς ἐκτεθεισῶν, τὴν δὲ ἀνατολὴν πρὸς τῇ κάτω Ἀσίᾳ καὶ ὅσα ταύτης διοικοῦντα, τὸ λοιπὸν τῆς ἀνατολῆς χρηματίζειν ὕπαρχον. διεσύρη δὲ οὐδὲν ἧττον θανατῶσα καθ' ἑκάστην ἡ τῆς ἀρχῆς δυναστεία ἄχρι τῶν Ἀρκαδίου, τοῦ πατρὸς Θεοδοσίου τοῦ Νέου, καιρῶν, ἐφ' οὗ συμβέβηκεν Ῥουφῖνον τὸν ἐπίκλην ἀκόρεστον, ὃς ἦν ὕπαρχος αὐτῷ, τυραννίδα μελετήσαντα τοῦ μὲν σκοποῦ ὑπὲρ λυσιτελείας τῶν κοινῶν ἐκπεσεῖν, εἰς βάραθρον δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν καταρρῖψαι. αὐτίκα μὲν γὰρ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς ἐκ τῶν ὅπλων ἰσχύος ἀφαιρεῖται τὴν ἀρχήν, εἶτα τῆς τῶν λεγομένων φαβρικῶν, οἷον εἰ ὁπλοποιϊῶν, φροντίδος, τῆς τε τοῦ δημοσίου δρόμου καὶ πάσης ἑτέρας δι' ὧν τὸ λεγόμενον συνέστη μαγιστέριον. ὡς δὲ δύσεργον ἦν ἀποτρέφειν μὲν τὸν ὕπαρχον ἀνὰ τὰς ἐπαρχίας τοὺς δημοσίους ἵππους καὶ τοὺς αὐτοῖς ἐφεστῶτας, ἑτέρους δὲ κεκτῆσθαι τὴν ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τε καὶ διοίκησιν, νόμος ἐτέθη θεσπίζων, ἀντέχεσθαι μὲν τὸν ὕπαρχον τῆς τοῦ δημοσίου δρόμου φροντίδος, τὸν πρῶτον