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causing those explaining and suggesting to him. 99 Since those appointed to the offices and administrations are often accustomed, wishing to hint at their goodwill, as it were, and perhaps also thinking to make their office more permanent for themselves thereby, to suggest things for the increase of contributions and what contributes to the surplus of revenues, with such an intention he who then directed the office of the general tax collector once reminded this noble emperor that the so-called inspectors and equalizers should be sent to all the themes under Roman authority, so that, he says, they might assign to others the fields and lands whose masters time, through some misfortune, had overwhelmed with its own streams, and thus procure no small revenue for the royal treasury. But the emperor, pretending to accept the suggestion, urged him to select and prepare and bring to him those who ought to carry out the work well. But after the general tax collector had considered and taken thought, and having selected the best men as seemed best, and having brought their names to him, he was deemed worthy of much blame and was subjected to sharper reproaches, 347 for proposing such men for such a task. And when he said that he did not have better men among the public officials, the emperor replied that in my judgment the work of the proposed service is such that, if it were possible, I myself would go out to administer these things. But since I know that this happens to seem unseemly and impossible, of necessity I anchor my hopes on the two magistri of the state, who both by time and experience and by the many administrations of civil offices in their long life, in which they were tested, have produced an unadulterated and pure proof of their virtue, and I am confident that the service will be duly accomplished by them. Go then, he said, and you yourself announce to them the benefit of the service and my will. And if they are willing to go, I myself also approve and I seal the decision. But when the men heard this they were astonished, and offering their old age in place of supplication and their many toils and labors on behalf of the common good, they begged that the cup of such a service be passed from them, of necessity the one who was sent returned without success, and reported to the emperor the response from the magistri. Having heard this the emperor said that if it seems and is said to be impossible for me to go out, and the most illustrious magistri refuse the ministry, having no one trustworthy to administer the matter, I wish the proposal to be left unexamined and uninvestigated. For it is better, he said, that some should profit from my possessions 348 improperly than that someone should fall into a damaging evil and a calamity that crushes him. And for this reason, for the entire time of his reign, the whole populace of all the themes under Roman authority remained uninspected, as one might say, and unequalized, or rather to say, free and untroubled, and the lands and the fields were left for the enjoyment of the neighboring poor. Such was the good emperor, showing fatherly care and forethought for all his subjects, but especially for the country-dwelling population. 100 But again envy raised another squall and storm around the palace, disturbing and stirring up nature against itself. For just as the emperor's most beloved son Constantine had departed this life, and affection and hopes had shifted to the second son Leo, the envious race of demons did not bear calmly the gentle and quiet and pious and at the same time harmonious character, as it seems, seeing that of the one who was about to succeed to this imperial office, and guessing at the consequent prosperity of the subjects during his reign and towards all things

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προξενοῦντα ἐξη- γουμένων καὶ ὑποτιθεμένων αὐτῷ. 99 ̓Επεὶ δὲ εἰώθασι πολλάκις οἱ καθεστηκότες ἐπὶ τῶν ἀρχῶν καὶ τῶν διοικήσεων, τὴν ευνοιαν δῆθεν ὑπεμφαίνειν ἐθέ- λοντες, τάχα δὲ καὶ μονιμωτέραν ἐντεῦθεν οἰόμενοι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἑαυτοῖς καταστήσασθαι, ὑποτιθέναι τὰ πρὸς αυξησιν τῶν εἰσφο- ρῶν καὶ τὸν τῶν προσόδων συντελοῦντα πλεονασμόν, ὑπέμνησέ ποτε καὶ τῷ γενναίῳ τούτῳ βασιλεῖ ἀπὸ τοιαύτης γνώμης ὁ τὴν τοῦ γενικοῦ τὸ τηνικαῦτα διέπων ἀρχὴν ἀποσταλῆναι εἰς τὰ ὑπὸ τὴν ̔Ρωμαϊκὴν ἐξουσίαν απαντα θέματα τοὺς λεγομένους ἐπόπτας τούτους καὶ ἐξισωτάς, ὡς αν, φησί, τοὺς ἀγροὺς καὶ τὰ χωρία, ων ὁ χρόνος τοὺς δεσπότας διά τινα περιπέτειαν τοῖς οἰκείοις ἐπέ- κλυσε ῥεύμασι, πρὸς ἑτέρους διάθωνται καὶ πρόσοδον ἐντεῦθεν οὐχὶ μικρὰν τῷ ταμιείῳ τῷ βασιλικῷ προσπορίσωσιν. ὁ δὲ βα- σιλεὺς ἀποδέχεσθαι προσποιησάμενος τὴν ὑπόμνησιν, ἐκλέξασθαι καὶ εὐτρεπίσαι καὶ αὐτῷ προσαγαγεῖν τοὺς ὀφείλοντας τὸ εργον ἐπιτελέσαι καλῶς προετρέψατο. σκεψάμενος δὲ καὶ φροντίσας ὁ γενικός, καὶ ὡς ἐδόκει κάλλιστα τοὺς ἀρίστους ἐπιλεξάμενος, καὶ τὰς τῶν ἐκλεγέντων κλήσεις εἰσαγαγὼν πρὸς αὐτόν, πολλῆς ἐνομίσθη μέμψεως αξιος καὶ σφοδροτέροις ὑπεβλήθη ὀνειδισμοῖς, 347 εἰ τοιούτους εἰς τὸ τοιοῦτον εργον προβάλλεται. τοῦ δὲ μὴ εχειν ἐν τοῖς πολιτευομένοις κρείττονας λέγοντος, ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀπεκρίνατο οτι παρ' ἐμοὶ τοιοῦτον τὸ τῆς προκειμένης διακονίας εργον κρίνε- ται ωστε, ειπερ οιόν τε ην, αὐτὸν ἐμὲ πρὸς τὴν τούτων διοίκησιν ἐξελθεῖν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο οιδα οτι δοκεῖ τυχὸν ἀπρεπὲς καὶ ἀδύνα- τον, ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἐπὶ τοῖς δυσὶ τῆς πολιτείας μαγίστροις, οι καὶ χρόνῳ καὶ πείρᾳ καὶ ταῖς πολλαῖς ἐν τῷ μακρῷ βίῳ τῶν πολιτι- κῶν ἀρχῶν διοικήσεσιν, ἐν αις ἐξητάσθησαν, ἀκίβδηλον καὶ κα- θαρὸν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐξενηνόχασι τὸ δοκίμιον, τὰς ἐλπίδας ἀποσα- λεύω, καὶ τὴν διακονίαν ὑπὸ τούτων ἀνυσθῆναι δεόντως θαρρῶ. ἀπελθὼν ουν, φησίν, αὐτὸς σὺ τούτοις ἀπάγγειλον τὸ τῆς διακο- νίας ἐπωφελὲς καὶ τὸ θέλημα τὸ ἐμόν. καὶ βουλομένων αὐτῶν ἐξελθεῖν ἐπευδοκῶ καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ ἐπισφραγίζω τὸ βούλευμα. ὡς δὲ ἀκούσαντες οἱ ανδρες ηλθον εἰς εκπληξιν, καὶ τὸ γῆρας ἀνθ' ἱκετηρίας καὶ τοὺς πολλοὺς ὑπὲρ τοῦ κοινοῦ καμάτους καὶ πόνους αὐτῶν προβαλλόμενοι παρενεχθῆναι τὸ τῆς τοιαύτης διακονίας πο- τήριον ἐξ αὐτῶν καθικέτευον, ἐξ ἀνάγκης ὑπέστρεψεν απρακτος ὁ πεμφθείς, καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ τὰ παρὰ τῶν μαγίστρων ἀπήγγειλεν. απερ ἀκούσας ειπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς οτι εἰ τὸ ἐμὲ ἐξελθεῖν δοκεῖ τε καὶ λέγεται ειναι ἀδύνατον, παραιτοῦνται δὲ τὴν ὑπουργίαν καὶ οἱ λαμ- πρότατοι μάγιστροι, οὐδένα εχων τοῦ πράγματος διοικητὴν ἀξιόχρεων καταλειφθῆναι τὸ ὑποβαλλόμενον βούλομαι ἀνεπίσκεπτον καὶ ἀδιε- ρεύνητον. κρεῖττον γάρ, φησί, παρακερδαίνειν τινὰς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐμῶν 348 οὐ καλῶς η κακῶς ὑποπεσεῖν τινὰ ζημιώδει κακῷ καὶ ἐπιτριβούσῃ αὐτὸν συμφορᾷ. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τὸν απαντα χρόνον τῆς αὐτοκρα- τορίας αὐτοῦ εμεινεν ἀνέποπτος, ὡς αν τις ειποι, καὶ ἀνεξίσωτος, η μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν ἐλεύθερός τε καὶ ἀδιάπρακτος, ὁ ὑπὸ τὴν ̔Ρωμαϊ- κὴν ἐξουσίαν απας τῶν ολων θεμάτων λαὸς καὶ τὰ χωρία καὶ οἱ ἀγροὶ τοῖς γειτονοῦσι τῶν πενήτων προκείμενοι εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν. τοιοῦτος ην περὶ πᾶν τὸ ὑπήκοον, μάλιστα δὲ τὸν οχλον τὸν ἀγρο- δίαιτον, πατρικὴν ἐπιδεικνύμενος κηδεμονίαν καὶ πρόνοιαν ὁ ἀγα- θὸς βασιλεύς. 100 ̓Αλλὰ καὶ πάλιν ὁ φθόνος ἑτέραν ηγειρε περὶ τὰ βασίλεια ζάλην καὶ θύελλαν, καθ' ἑαυτῆς τὴν φύσιν συντα- ράσσων τε καὶ κυκῶν. αρτι γὰρ τοῦ φιλτάτου τῷ βασιλεῖ υἱοῦ Κωνσταντίνου τὸν βίον ἀπολιπόντος, καὶ μεταπεσόντος τοῦ φίλ- τρου καὶ τῶν ἐλπίδων ἐπὶ τὸν δεύτερον υἱὸν Λέοντα, οὐκ ηνεγκε πράως τὸ βάσκανον τῶν δαιμόνων φῦλον τὸ πρᾶον καὶ ησυχον καὶ εὐσεβὲς αμα καὶ ἐμμελές, ὡς εοικεν, ὁρῶν τοῦ διαδέχεσθαι μέλλοντος τὴν βασίλειον ταύτην ἀρχήν, καὶ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν τοῦ ὑπηκόου στοχαζομένην ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας εὐετηρίαν καὶ πρὸς πάντα τὰ