Foundation of Constantinople — Political System of Constantine and His Successors —Military Discipline —The Palace —Finances
THE unfortunate Licinius was the last rival who opposed the greatness, and the last captive who adorned the triumph, of Constantine. After a tranquil and prosperous reign the conqueror bequeathed to his family the inheritance of the Roman empire; a new capital, a new policy, and a new religion; and the innovations which he established have been embraced and consecrated by succeeding generations. The age of the great Constantine and his sons is filled with important events; but the historian must be oppressed by their number and variety, unless he diligently separates from each other the scenes which are connected only by the order of time. He will describe the political institutions that gave strength and stability to the empire before he proceeds to relate the wars and revolutions which hastened its decline. He will adopt the division unknown to the ancients of civil and ecclesiastical affairs: the victory of the Christians and their intestine discord, will supply copious and distinct materials both for edification and for scandal.
Design of a new capital. A.D. 324
After the defeat and abdication of Licinius his victorious
rival proceeded to lay the foundations of a city destined to
reign in future times the mistress of the East, and to
survive the empire and religion of Constantine. The motives,
whether of pride or of policy, which first induced
Diocletian to withdraw himself from the ancient seat of
government, had acquired additional weight by the example of
his successors and the habits of forty years. Rome was
insensibly confounded with the dependent kingdoms which had
once acknowledged her supremacy; and the country of the
Caesars was viewed with cold indifference by a martial
prince, born in the neighbourhood of the Danube, educated in
the courts and armies of Asia, and invested with the purple
by the legions of Britain. The Italians, who had received
Constantine as their deliverer, submissively obeyed the
edicts which he sometimes condescended to address to the
senate and people of Rome; but they were seldom honoured
with the presence of their new sovereign. During the vigour
of his age Constantine, according to the various exigencies
of peace and war, moved with slow dignity or with active
diligence along the frontiers of his extensive dominions;
and was always prepared to take the field either against a
foreign or a domestic enemy. But as he gradually reached the
summit of prosperity and the decline of life, he began to
meditate the design of fixing in a more permanent station
the strength as well as majesty of the throne. In the choice
of an advantageous situation he preferred the confines of
Europe and Asia; to curb with a powerful arm the barbarians
who dwelt between the Danube and the Tanais; to watch with
an eye of jealousy the conduct of the Persian monarch, who
indignantly supported the yoke of an ignominious treaty.
With these views Diocletian had selected and embellished the
residence of Nicomedia: but the memory of Diocletian was
justly abhorred by the protector of the church; and
Constantine was not insensible to the ambition of founding a
city which might perpetuate the glory of his own name.
During the late operations of the war against Licinius he
had sufficient opportunity to contemplate, both as a soldier
and as a statesman, Situation of Byzantium the incomparable position of Byzantium;
and to observe how strongly it was guarded by nature against
an hostile attack, whilst it was accessible on every side to
the benefits of commercial intercourse. Many ages before
Constantine, one of the most judicious historians of
antiquity (1) had described the advantages of a situation from
whence a feeble colony of Greeks derived the command of the
sea, and the honours of a flourishing and independent
republic. (2)
Description of CONSTANTINOPLE
If we survey Byzantium in the extent which it acquired with
the august name of Constantinople, the figure of the
Imperial city may be represented under that of an unequal
triangle. The obtuse point, which advances towards the east
and the shores of Asia, meets and repels the waves of the
Thracian Bosphorus. The northern side of the city is bounded
by the harbour, and the southern is washed by the Propontis
or Sea of Marmora. The basis of the triangle is opposed to
the west, and terminates the continent of Europe. But the
admirable form and division of the circumjacent land and
water cannot, without a more ample explanation, be clearly
or sufficiently understood.
The Bosphorus
The winding channel through which the waters of the Euxine
flow with a rapid and incessant course towards the
Mediterranean received the appellation of Bosphorus, a name
not less celebrated in the history than in the fables of
antiquity. (3) A crowd of temples and of votive altars,
profusely scattered along its steep and woody banks,
attested the unskilfulness, the terrors, and the devotion of
the Grecian navigators who, after the example of the
Argonauts, explored the dangers of the inhospitable Euxine.
On these banks tradition long preserved the memory of the
palace of Phineus, infested by the obscene harpies; (4) and of
the sylvan reign of Amycus, who defied the son of Leda to
the combat of the Cestus. (5) The straits of the Bosphorus are
terminated by the Cyanean rocks, which, according to the
description of the poets, had once floated on the face of
the waters, and were destined by the gods to protect the
entrance of the Euxine against the eye of profane curiosity.
(6) From the Cyanean rocks to the point and harbour of
Byzantium the winding length of the Bosphorus extends about
sixteen miles, (7) and its most ordinary breadth may be
computed at about one mile and a half. The new castles of
Europe and Asia are constructed, on either continent, upon
the foundations of two celebrated temples, of Serapis and of
Jupiter Urius. The old castles, a work of the Greek emperors
command the narrowest part of the channel, in a place where
the opposite banks advance within five hundred paces of each
other. These fortresses were restored and strengthened by
Mahomet the Second when he meditated the siege of
Constantinople: (8) but the Turkish conqueror was most
probably ignorant that, near two thousand years before his
reign, Darius had chosen the same situation to connect the
two continents by a bridge of boats. (9) At a small distance
from the old castles we discover the little town of
Chrysopolis, or Scutari, which may almost be considered as
the Asiatic suburb of Constantinople. The Bosphorus, as it
begins to open into the Propontis, passes between Byzantium
and Chalcedon. The latter of those cities was built by the
Greeks a few years before the former; and the blindness of
its founders, who overlooked the superior advantages of the
opposite coast, has been stigmatised by a proverbial
expression of contempt. (10)
The Port
The harbour of Constantinople, which may be considered as an
arm of the Bosphorus, obtained, in a very remote period, the
denomination of the Golden Horn. The curve which it
describes might be compared to the horn of a stag, or as it
should seem, with more propriety, to that of an ox. (11) The
epithet of golden was expressive of the riches which every
wind wafted from the most distant countries into the secure
and capacious port of Constantinople. The river Lycus,
formed by the conflux of two little streams, pours into the
harbour a perpetual supply of fresh water, which serves to
cleanse the bottom and to invite the periodical shoals of
fish to seek their retreat in that convenient recess. As the
vicissitudes of tides are scarcely felt in those seas, the
constant depth of the harbour allows goods to be landed on
the quays without the assistance of boats; and it has been
observed that, in many places, the largest vessels may rest
their prows against the houses while their sterns are
floating in the water. (12) From the mouth of the Lycus to
that of the harbour this arm of the Bosphorus is more than
seven miles in length. The entrance is about five hundred
yards broad, and a strong chain could be occasionally drawn
across it to guard the port and city from the attack of an
hostile navy. (13)
The Propontis
Between the Bosphorus and the Hellespont, the shores of
Europe and Asia receding on either side inclose the Sea of
Marmora, which was known to the ancients by the denomination
of Propontis. The navigation from the issue of the Bosphorus
to the entrance of the Hellespont is about one hundred and
twenty miles. Those who steer their westward course through
the middle of the Propontis may at once descry the high
lands of Thrace and Bithynia, and never lose sight of the
lofty summit of Mount Olympus, covered with eternal snows.
(14) They leave on the left a deep gulf, at the bottom of
which Nicomedia was seated, the Imperial residence of
Diocletian; and they pass the small islands of Cyzicus and
Proconnesus before they cast anchor at Gallipoli, where the
sea, which separates Asia from Europe, is again contracted
into a narrow channel.
The Hellespont
The geographers who, with the most skilful accuracy, have
surveyed the form and extent of the Hellespont, assign about
sixty miles for the winding course, and about three miles
for the ordinary breadth, of those celebrated straits. (15)
But the narrowest part of the channel is found to the
northward of the old Turkish castles, between the cities of
Sestus and Abydus. It was here that the adventurous Leander
braved the passage of the flood for the possession of his
mistress. (16) It was here likewise, in a place where the
distance between the opposite banks cannot exceed five
hundred paces, that Xerxes imposed a stupendous bridge of
boats, for the purpose of transporting into Europe a hundred
and seventy myriads of barbarians. (17) A sea contracted
within such narrow limit may seem but ill to deserve the
singular epithet of broad, which Homer, as well as Orpheus,
has frequently bestowed on the Hellespont. But our ideas of
greatness are of a relative nature: the traveller, and
especially the poet, who sailed along the Hellespont, who
pursued the windings of the stream, and contemplated the
rural scenery, which appeared on every side to terminate the
prospect, insensibly lost the remembrance of the sea; and
his fancy painted those celebrated straits with all the
attributes of a mighty river, flowing with a swift current,
in the midst of a woody and inland country, and at length,
through a wide mouth, discharging itself into the Aegean or
Archipelago. (18) Ancient Troy, (19) seated on an eminence at
the foot of Mount Ida, overlooked the mouth of the
Hellespont, which scarcely received an accession of waters
from the tribute of those immortal rivulets the Simois and
Scamander. The Grecian camp had stretched twelve miles along
the shore, from the Sigean to the Rhoetean promontory; and
the flanks of the army were guarded by the bravest chiefs
who fought under the banners of Agamemnon. The first of
those promontories was occupied by Achilles with his
invincible myrmidons, and the dauntless Ajax pitched his
tents on the other. After Ajax had fallen a sacrifice to his
disappointed pride and to the ingratitude of the Greeks, his
sepulchre was created on the ground where he had defended
the navy against the rage of Jove and Hector; and the
citizens of the rising town of Rhoeteum celebrated his
memory with divine honours. (20) Before Constantine gave a
just preference to the situation of Byzantium, he had
conceived the design of erecting the seat of empire on this
celebrated spot, from whence the Romans derived their
fabulous origin. The extensive plain which lies below
ancient Troy, towards the Rhoetean promontory and the tomb
of Ajax, was first chosen for his new capital; and, though
the undertaking was soon relinquished, the stately remains
of unfinished walls and towers attracted the notice of all
who sailed through the straits of the Hellespont. (21)
Advantages of Constantinople
We are at present qualified to view the advantageous
position of Constantinople, which appears to have been
formed by nature for the centre and capital of a great
monarchy. Situated in the forty-first degree of latitude,
the Imperial city commanded, from her seven hills, (22) the
opposite shores of Europe and Asia; the climate was healthy
and temperate, the soil fertile, the harbour secure and
capacious, and the approach on the side of the continent was
of small extent and easy defence. The Bosphorus and the
Hellespont may be considered as the two gates of
Constantinople, and the prince who possessed those important
passages could always shut them against a naval enemy and
open them to the fleets of commerce. The preservation of the
eastern provinces may, in some degree, be ascribed to the
policy of Constantine, as the barbarians of the Euxine, who
in the preceding age had poured their armaments into the
heart of the Mediterranean, soon desisted from the exercise
of piracy, and despaired of forcing this insurmountable
barrier. When the gates of the Hellespont and Bosphorus were
shut, the capital still enjoyed within their spacious
enclosure every production which could supply the wants or
gratify the luxury of its numerous inhabitants. The
seacoasts of Thrace and Bithynia, which languish under the
weight of Turkish oppression, still exhibit a rich prospect
of vineyards, of gardens, and of plentiful harvests; and the
Propontis has ever been renowned for an inexhaustible store
of the most exquisite fish, that are taken in their stated
seasons, without skill, and almost without labour. (23) But
when the passages of the straits were thrown open for trade,
they alternately admitted the natural and artificial riches
of the north and south, of the Euxine and of the
Mediterranean. Whatever rude commodities were collected in
the forests of Germany and Scythia, as far as the sources of
the Tanais and the Borysthenes; whatsoever was manufactured
by the skill of Europe or Asia; the corn of Egypt, and the
gems and spices of the farthest India, were brought by the
varying winds into the port of Constantinople, which, for
many ages, attracted the commerce of the ancient world. (24)
Foundation of the city.
The prospect of beauty, of safety, and of wealth, united in
a single spot, was sufficient to justify the choice of
Constantine. But as some decent mixture of prodigy and fable
has, in every age, been supposed to reflect a becoming
majesty on the origin of great cities, (25) the emperor was
desirous of ascribing his resolution not so much to the
uncertain counsels of human policy as to the infallible and
eternal decrees of divine wisdom. In one of his laws he has
been careful to instruct posterity that, in obedience to the
commands of God, he laid the everlasting foundations of
Constantinople; (26) and though he has not condescended to
relate in what manner the celestial inspiration was
communicated to his mind, the defect of his modest silence
has been liberally supplied by the ingenuity of succeeding
writers, who describe the nocturnal vision which appeared to
the fancy of Constantine as he slept within the walls of
Byzantium. The tutelar genius of the city, a venerable
matron sinking under the weight of years and infirmities,
was suddenly transformed into a blooming maid, whom his own
hands adorned with all the symbols of Imperial greatness. (27)
The monarch awoke, interpreted the auspicious omen, and
obeyed, without hesitation, the will of Heaven. The day
which gave birth to a city or colony was celebrated by the
Romans with such ceremonies as had been ordained by a
generous superstition; (28) and though Constantine might omit
some rites which savoured too strongly of their Pagan
origin, yet he was anxious to leave a deep impression of
hope and respect on the minds of the spectators. On foot,
with a lance in his hand, the emperor himself led the solemn
procession, and directed the line which was traced as the
boundary of the destined capital, till the growing
circumference was observed with astonishment by the
assistants, who, at length ventured to observe that he had
already exceeded the most ample measure of a great city.
"I shall still advance," replied Constantine, "till HE, the invisible guide who marches before me, thinks proper to stop." (29)
Without presuming to investigate the nature or motives of this extraordinary conductor, we shall content ourselves with the more humble task of describing the extent and limits of Constantinople. (30)
Extent
In the actual state of the city, the palace and gardens of
the Seraglio occupy the eastern promontory, the first of the
seven hills, and cover about one hundred and fifty acres of
our own measure. The seat of Turkish jealousy and despotism
is erected on the foundations of a Grecian republic; but it
may be supposed that the Byzantines were tempted by the
conveniency of the harbour to extend their habitations on
that side beyond the modern limits of the Seraglio. The new
wall of Constantine stretched from the port to the Propontis
across the enlarged breadth of the triangle, at the distance
of fifteen stadia from the ancient fortification, and with
the city of Byzantium they enclosed five of the seven hills
which, to the eyes of those who approach Constantinople,
appear to rise above each other in beautiful order. (31) About
a century after the death of the founder, the new buildings,
extending on one side up the harbour, and on the other along
the Propontis, already covered the narrow ridge of the sixth
and the broad summit of the seventh hill. The necessity of
protecting those suburbs from the incessant inroads of the
barbarians engaged the younger Theodosius to surround his
capital with an adequate and permanent enclosure of walls.
(32) From the eastern promontory to the golden gate, the
extreme length of Constantinople was about three Roman
miles, (33) the circumference measured between ten and eleven,
and the surface might be computed as equal to about two
thousand English acres. It is impossible to justify the vain
and credulous exaggerations of modern travellers, who have
sometimes stretched the limits of Constantinople over the
adjacent villages of the European and even of the Asiatic
coast. (34) But the suburbs of Pera and Galata, though situate
beyond the harbour, may deserve to be considered as a part
of the city; (35) and this addition may perhaps authorise the
measure of a Byzantine historian, who assigns sixteen Greek
(about fourteen Roman) miles for the circumference of his
native city. (36) Such an extent may seem not unworthy of an
Imperial residence. Yet Constantinople must yield to Babylon
and Thebes, (37) to ancient Rome, to London, and even to
Paris. (38)
Progress of the work.
The master of the Roman world, who aspired to erect an
eternal monument of the glories of his reign, could employ
in the prosecution of that great work the wealth, the
labour, and all that yet remained of the genius, of obedient
millions. Some estimate may be formed of the expense
bestowed with Imperial liberality on the foundation of
Constantinople by the allowance of about two millions five
hundred thousand pounds for the construction of the walls,
the porticoes, and the aqueducts. (39) The forests that
overshadowed the shores of the Euxine, and the celebrated
quarries of white marble in the little island of
Proconnesus, supplied an inexhaustible stock of materials,
ready to be conveyed, by the convenience of a short
water-carriage, to the harbour of Byzantium. (40) A multitude
of labourers and artificers urged the conclusion of the work
with incessant toil; but the impatience of Constantine soon
discovered that, in the decline of the arts, the skill as
well as numbers of his architects bore a very unequal
proportion to the greatness of his designs. The magistrates
of the most distant provinces were therefore directed to
institute schools, to appoint professors, and, by the hopes
of rewards and privileges, to engage in the study and
practice of architecture a sufficient number of ingenious
youths who had received a liberal education. (41) The
buildings of the new city were executed by such artificers
as the reign of Constantine could afford; but they were
decorated by the hands of the most celebrated masters of the
age of Pericles and Alexander. To revive the genius of
Phidias and Lysippus surpassed indeed the power of a Roman
emperor; but the immortal productions which they had
bequeathed to posterity were exposed without defence to the
rapacious vanity of a despot. By his commands the cities of
Greece and Asia were despoiled of their most valuable
ornaments. (42) The trophies of memorable wars, the objects of
religious veneration, the most finished statues of the gods
and heroes, of the sages and poets of ancient times,
contributed to the splendid triumph of Constantinople; and
gave occasion to the remark of the historian Cedrenus, (43)
who observes, with some enthusiasm, that nothing seemed
wanting except the souls of the illustrious men whom these
admirable monuments were intended to represent. But it is
not in the city of Constantine, nor in the declining period
of an empire, when the human mind was depressed by civil and
religious slavery, that we should seek for the souls of
Homer and of Demosthenes.
Edifices
During the siege of Byzantium the conqueror had pitched his
tent on the commanding eminence of the second hill. To
perpetuate the memory of his success, he chose the same
advantageous position for the principal Forum, (44) which
appears to have been of a circular or rather elliptical
form. The two opposite entrances formed triumphal arches;
the porticoes, which enclosed it on every side, were filled
with statues, and the centre of the Forum was occupied by a
lofty column, of which a mutilated fragment is now degraded
by the appellation of the burnt pillar. This column was
erected on a pedestal of white marble twenty feet high, and
was composed of ten pieces of porphyry, each of which
measured about ten feet in height, and about thirty-three in
circumference. (45) On the summit of the pillar, above one
hundred and twenty feet from the ground, stood the colossal
statue of Apollo. It was of bronze, had been transported
either from Athens or from a town of Phrygia, and was
supposed to be the work of Phidias. The artist had represented the god of day, or, as it was afterwards interpreted, the emperor Constantine himself, with a sceptre in his right hand, the globe of the world in his left, and a crown of rays glittering on his head. (46) The Circus, or Hippodrome, was a stately building about four hundred paces in length, and one hundred in breadth. (47) The space between the two metæ or goals was filled with statues and obelisks; and we may still remark a very singular fragment of antiquity, the bodies of three serpents twisted into one pillar of brass. Their triple heads had once supported the golden tripod which, after the defeat of Xerxes, was consecrated in the temple of Delphi by the victorious Greeks. (48) The beauty of the Hippodrome has been long since defaced by the rude hands of the Turkish conquerors, but, under the similar appellation of Atmeidan, it still serves as a place of exercise for their horses. From the throne, whence the emperor viewed the Circensian games a winding staircase (49) descended to the palace, a magnificent edifice, which scarcely yielded to the residence of Rome itself, and which, together with the dependent courts, gardens, and porticoes, covered a considerable extent of ground upon the banks of the Propontis, between the Hippodrome and the church of St. Sophia. (50) We might likewise celebrate the baths, which still retained the name of Zeuxippus, after they had been enriched by the munificence of Constantine, with lofty columns, various marbles, and above three-score statues of bronze. (51) But we should deviate from the design of this history if we attempted minutely to describe the different buildings or quarters of the city. It may be sufficient to observe that whatever could adorn the dignity of a great capital, or contribute to the benefit or pleasure of its numerous inhabitants, was contained within the walls of Constantinople. A particular description composed about a century after its foundation, enumerates a capitol or school
of learning, a circus, two theatres, eight public and one
hundred and fifty-three private baths, fifty-two porticoes,
five granaries, eight aqueducts or reservoirs of water, four
spacious halls for the meetings of the senate or courts of
justice, fourteen churches, fourteen palaces, and four
thousand three hundred and eighty-eight houses which, for
their size or beauty, deserved to be distinguished from the
multitude of plebeian habitations. (52)
Population
The populousness of his favoured city was the next and most
serious object of the attention of its founder. In the dark
ages which succeeded the translation of the empire, the
remote and the immediate consequences of that memorable
event were strangely confounded by the vanity of the Greeks
and the credulity of the Latins. (53) It was asserted and
believed that all the noble families of Rome, the senate,
and the equestrian order, with their innumerable attendants,
had followed their emperor to the banks of the Propontis;
that a spurious race of strangers and plebeians was left to
possess the solitude of the ancient capital; and that the
lands of Italy, long since converted into gardens, were at
once deprived of cultivation and inhabitants. (54) In the
course of this history such exaggerations will be reduced to
their just value; yet since the growth of Constantinople
cannot be ascribed to the general increase of mankind and of
industry, it must be admitted that this artificial colony
was raised at the expense of the ancient cities of the
empire. Many opulent senators of Rome and of the eastern
provinces were probably invited by Constantine to adopt for
their country the fortunate spot which he had chosen for his
own residence. The invitations of a master are scarcely to
be distinguished from commands, and the liberality of the
emperor obtained a ready and cheerful obedience. He bestowed
on his favourites the palaces which he had built in the
several quarters of the city, assigned them lands and
pensions for the support of their dignity, (55) and alienated
the demesnes of Pontus and Asia to grant hereditary estates
by the easy tenure of maintaining a house in the capital. (56)
But these encouragements and obligations soon became
superfluous, and were gradually abolished. Wherever the seat
of government is fixed, a considerable part of the public
revenue will be expended by the prince himself, by his
ministers, by the officers of justice, and by the domestics
of the palace. The most wealthy of the provincials will be
attracted by the powerful motives of interest and duty, of
amusement and curiosity. A third and more numerous class of
inhabitants will insensibly be formed, of servants, of
artificers, and of merchants, who derive their subsistence
from their own labour, and from the wants or luxury of the
superior ranks. In less than a century Constantinople
disputed with Rome itself the pre-eminence of riches and
numbers. New piles of buildings, crowded together with too
little regard to health or convenience, scarcely allowed the
intervals of narrow streets for the perpetual throng of men,
of horses, and of carriages. The allotted space of ground
was insufficient to contain the increasing people, and the
additional foundations, which on either side were advanced
into the sea, might alone have composed a very considerable
city. (57)
Privileges
The frequent and regular distributions of wine and oil, of
corn or bread, of money or provisions, had almost exempted
the poorer citizens of Rome from the necessity of labour.
The magnificence of the first Caesars was in some measure
imitated by the founder of Constantinople: (58) but his
liberality, however it might excite the applause of the
people, has incurred the censure of posterity. A nation of
legislators and conquerors might assert their claim to the
harvests of Africa, which had been purchased with their
blood; and it was artfully contrived by Augustus, that, in
the enjoyment of plenty, the Romans should lose the memory
of freedom. But the prodigality of Constantine could not be
excused by any consideration either of public or private
interest; and the annual tribute of corn imposed upon Egypt
for the benefit of his new capital was applied to feed a
lazy and insolent populace, at the expense of the husbandmen
of an industrious province. (59) Some other regulations of
this emperor are less liable to blame, but they are less
deserving of notice. He divided Constantinople into fourteen
regions or quarters, (60) dignified the public council with
the appellation of senate, (61) communicated to the citizens
the privileges of Italy, (62) and bestowed on the rising city
the title of Colony, the first and most favoured daughter of
ancient Rome. The venerable parent still maintained the
legal and acknowledged supremacy, which was due to her age,
to her dignity, and to the remembrance of her former
greatness. (63)
Dedication. A.D. 330 or 334.
As Constantine urged the progress of the work with the
impatience of a lover, the walls, the porticoes, and the
principal edifices were completed in a few years, or,
according to another account, in a few months: (64) but this
extraordinary diligence should excite the less admiration,
since many of the buildings were finished in so hasty and
imperfect a manner, that, under the succeeding reign, they
were preserved with difficulty from impending ruin. (65) But
while they displayed the vigour and freshness of youth, the
founder prepared to celebrate the dedication of his city. (66)
The games and largesses which crowned the pomp of this
memorable festival may easily be supposed; but there is one
circumstance of a more singular and permanent nature, which
ought not entirely to be overlooked. As often as the
birthday of the city returned, the statue of Constantine,
framed by his order, of gilt wood, and bearing in its right
hand a small image of the genius of the place, was erected
on a triumphal car. The guards, carrying white tapers, and
clothed in their richest apparel, accompanied the solemn
procession as it moved through the Hippodrome. When it was
opposite to the throne of the reigning emperor, he rose from
his seat, and with grateful reverence adored the memory of
his predecessor. (67) At the festival of the dedication, an
edict, engraved on a column of marble, bestowed the title of
SECOND or NEW ROME on the city of Constantine. (68) But the name of Constantinople (69) has prevailed over that honourable epithet, and after the revolution of fourteen centuries
still perpetuates the fame of its author. (70)
Form of government.
The foundation of a new capital is naturally connected with
the establishment of a new form of civil and military
administration. The distinct view of the complicated system
of policy introduced by Diocletian, improved by Constantine,
and completed by his immediate successors, may not only
amuse the fancy by the singular picture of a great empire,
but will tend to illustrate the secret and internal causes
of its rapid decay. In the pursuit of any remarkable
institution, we may be frequently led into the more early or
the more recent times of the Roman history; but the proper
limits of this inquiry will be included within a period of
about one hundred and thirty years, from the accession of
Constantine to the publication of the Theodosian code; (71)
from which, as well as from the Notitia of the East and
West, (72) we derive the most copious and authentic
information of the state of the empire. This variety of
objects will suspend, for some time, the course of the
narrative; but the interruption will be censured only by
those readers who are insensible to the importance of laws
and manners, while they peruse, with eager curiosity, the
transient intrigues of a court, or the accidental event of a
battle.
Hierachy of the state.
The manly pride of the Romans, content with substantial
power, had left to the vanity of the East the forms and
ceremonies of ostentatious greatness. (73) But when they lost
even the semblance of those virtues which were derived from
their ancient freedom, the simplicity of Roman manners was
insensibly corrupted by the stately affectation of the
courts of Asia. The distinctions of personal merit and
influence, so conspicuous in a republic, so feeble and
obscure under a monarchy, were abolished by the despotism of
the emperors; who substituted in their room a severe
subordination of rank and office, from the titled slaves who
were seated on the steps of the throne, to the meanest
instruments of arbitrary power. This multitude of abject
dependents was interested in the support of the actual
government, from the dread of a revolution which might at
once confound their hopes and intercept the reward of their
services. In this divine hierarchy (for such it is
frequently styled) every rank was marked with the most scrupulous exactness, and its dignity was displayed in a variety of trifling and solemn ceremonies, which it was a study to learn and a sacrilege to neglect. (74) The purity of the Latin language was debased, by adopting, in the intercourse of pride and flattery, a profusion of epithets which Tully would scarcely have understood, and which Augustus would have rejected with indignation. The principal officers of the empire were saluted, even by the sovereign himself, with the deceitful titles of your Sincerity, your Gravity, your Excellency, your Eminence, your sublime and wonderful Magnitude, your illustrious and magnificent Highness. (75) The codicils or patents of their office were curiously emblazoned with such emblems as were best adapted to explain its nature and high dignity — the image or portrait of the reigning emperors; a triumphal car; the book of mandates placed on a table, covered with a rich carpet, and illuminated by four tapers; the allegorical figures of the provinces which they governed; or the appellations and standards of the troops whom they commanded. Some of these official ensigns were really exhibited in their hall of audience; others preceded their pompous march whenever they appeared in public; and every circumstance of their demeanour, their dress, their ornaments, and their train, was calculated to inspire a deep reverence for the representatives of supreme majesty. By a philosophic observer the system of the Roman government might have been mistaken for a splendid theatre, filled with players of every character and degree, who repeated the language, and imitated the passions, of their original model. (76)
Three ranks of honour.
All the magistrates of sufficient importance to find a place
in the general state of the empire were accurately divided
into three classes - 1, The Illustrious; 2, The
Spectabiles, or Respectable; and, 3, The Clarissimi,
whom we may translate by the word Honourable. In the times
of Roman simplicity, the last-mentioned epithet was used
only as a vague expression of deference, till it became at
length the peculiar and appropriated title of all who were
members of the senate, (77) and consequently of all who, from that venerable body, were selected to govern the provinces. The vanity of those who, from their rank and office, might
claim a superior distinction above the rest of the
senatorial order, was long afterwards indulged with the new
appellation of Respectable: but the title of Illustrious
was always reserved to some eminent personages who were
obeyed or reverenced by the two subordinate classes. It was
communicated only, Four divisions of officeI. To the consuls and patricians; II. To
the Praetorian praefects, with the praefects of Rome and
Constantinople; III. To the masters general of the cavalry
and the infantry; and, IV. To the seven ministers of the
palace, who exercised their 'sacred' functions about the
person of the emperor. (78) Among those illustrious
magistrates who were esteemed coordinate with each other,
the seniority of appointment gave place to the union of
dignities. (79) By the expedient of honorary codicils, the
emperors, who were fond of multiplying their favours, might
sometimes gratify the vanity, though not the ambition, of
impatient courtiers. (80)
The consuls
I. As long as the Roman consuls were the first magistrates
of a free state, they derived their right to power from the
choice of the people. As long as the: emperors condescended
to disguise the servitude which they imposed, the consuls
were still elected by the real or apparent suffrage of the
senate. From the reign of Diocletian even these vestiges of
liberty were abolished, and the successful candidates, who
were invested with the annual honours of the consulship,
affected to deplore the humiliating condition of their
predecessors. The Scipios and the Catos had been reduced to
solicit the votes of plebians, to pass through the tedious
and expensive forms of a popular election, and to expose
their dignity to the shame of a public refusal; while their
own happier fate had reserved them for an age and government
in which the rewards of virtue were assigned by the unerring
wisdom of a gracious sovereign. (81) In the epistles which the
emperor addressed to the two consuls elect, it was declared
that they were created by his sole authority. (82) Their names
and portraits, engraved on gilt tablets of ivory, were
dispersed over the empire as presents to the provinces, the
cities, the magistrates, the senate and the people. (83) Their
solemn inauguration was performed at the place of the
Imperial residence; and during a period of one hundred and
twenty years Rome was constantly deprived of the presence of
her ancient magistrates. (84) On the morning of the first of
January the consuls assumed the ensigns of their dignity.
Their dress was a robe of purple, embroidered in silk and
gold, and sometimes ornamented with costly gems. (85) On this
solemn occasion they were attended by the most eminent
officers of the state and army in the habit of senators; and
the useless fasces, armed with the once formidable axes,
were borne before them by the lictors. (86) The procession
moved from the palace (87) to the Forum or principal square of
the city; where the consuls ascended their tribunal, and
seated themselves in the curule chairs, which were framed
after the fashion of ancient times. They immediately
exercised an act of jurisdiction, by the manumission of a
slave who was brought before them for that purpose; and the
ceremony was intended to represent the celebrated action of
the elder Brutus, the author of liberty and of the
consulship, when he admitted among his fellow-citizens the
faithful Vindex, who had revealed the conspiracy of the
Tarquins. (88) The public festival was continued during
several days in all the principal cities; in Rome, from
custom; in Constantinople, from imitation; in Carthage,
Antioch, and Alexandria, from the love of pleasure and the
superfluity of wealth. (89) In the two capitals of the empire
the annual games of the theatre, the circus, and the
amphitheatre (90) cost four thousand pounds of gold, (about)
one hundred and sixty thousand pounds sterling; and if so
heavy an expense surpassed the faculties or the inclination
of the magistrates themselves, the sum was supplied from the
Imperial treasury. (91) As soon as the consuls had discharged
these customary duties, they were at liberty to retire into
the shade of private life, and to enjoy during the remainder
of the year the undisturbed contemplation of their own
greatness. They no longer presided in the national councils;
they no longer executed the resolutions of peace or war.
Their abilities (unless they were employed in more effective
offices) were of little moment; and their names served only
as the legal date of the year in which they had filled the
chair of Marius and of Cicero. Yet it was still felt and
acknowledged, in the last period of Roman servitude, that
this empty name might be compared, and even preferred, to
the possession of substantial power. The title of consul was
still the most splendid object of ambition, the noblest
reward of virtue and loyalty. The emperors themselves who
disdained the faint shadow of the republic, were conscious
that they acquired an additional splendour and majesty as
often as they assumed the annual honours of the consular
dignity. (92)
The patricians
The proudest and most perfect separation which can be found
in any age or country between the nobles and the people is
perhaps that of the Patricians and the Plebeians, as it was
established in the first age of the Roman republic. Wealth
and honours, the offices of the state, and the ceremonies of
religion, were almost exclusively possessed by the former
who, preserving the purity of their blood with the most
insulting jealousy, (93) held their clients in a condition of
specious vassalage. But these distinctions, so incompatible
with the spirit of a free people, were removed, after a long
struggle, by the persevering efforts of the Tribunes. The
most active and successful of the Plebeians accumulated
wealth, aspired to honours, deserved triumphs, contracted
alliances, and, after some generations, assumed the pride of
ancient nobility. (94) The Patrician families, on the other
hand, whose original number was never recruited till the end
of the commonwealth, either failed in the ordinary course of
nature, or were extinguished in so many foreign and domestic
wars, or, through a want of merit or fortune, insensibly
mingled with the mass of the people. (95) Very few remained
who could derive their pure and genuine origin from the
infancy of the city, or even from that of the republic, when
Caesar and Augustus, Claudius and Vespasian, created from
the body of the senate a competent number of new Patrician
families, in the hope of perpetuating an order which was
still considered as honourable and sacred. (96) But these
artificial supplies (in which the reigning house was always
included) were rapidly swept away by the rage of tyrants, by
frequent revolutions, by the change of manners, and by the
intermixture of nations. (97) Little more was left when
Constantine ascended the throne than a vague and imperfect
tradition that the Patricians had once been the first of the
Romans. To form a body of nobles, whose influence may
restrain while it secures the authority of the monarch,
would have been very inconsistent with the character and
policy of Constantine; but, had he seriously entertained
such a design, it might have exceeded the measure of his
power to ratify by an arbitrary edict an institution which
must expect the sanction of time and of opinion. He revived,
indeed, the title of PATRICIANS, but he revived it as a
personal, not as an hereditary distinction. They yielded
only to the transient superiority of the annual consuls; but
they enjoyed the pre-eminence over all the great officers of
state, with the most familiar access to the person of the
prince. This honourable rank was bestowed on them for life;
and, as they were usually favourites and ministers who had
grown old in the Imperial court, the true etymology of the
word was perverted by ignorance and flattery; and the
Patricians of Constantine were reverenced as the adopted
'Fathers' of the emperor and the republic. (98)
The praetorian praefects
II. The fortunes of the Praetorian praefects were
essentially different from those of the consuls and
Patricians. The latter saw their ancient greatness evaporate
in a vain title. The former, rising by degrees from the most
humble condition, were invested with the civil and military
administration of the Roman world. From the reign of Severus
to that of Diocletian, the guards and the palace, the laws
and the finances, the armies and the provinces, were
intrusted to their superintending care; and, like the vizirs
of the East, they held with one hand the seal, and with the
other the standard, of the empire. The ambition of the
praefects, always formidable, and sometimes fatal to the
masters whom they served, was supported by the strength of
the Praetorian bands; but, after those haughty troops had
been weakened by Diocletian and finally suppressed by
Constantine, the praefects, who survived their fall, were
reduced without difficulty to the station of useful and
obedient ministers. When they were no longer responsible for
the safety of the emperor's person, they resigned the
jurisdiction which they had hitherto claimed and exercised
over all the departments of the palace. They were deprived
by Constantine of all military command as soon as they had
ceased to lead into the field, under their immediate orders,
the flower of the Roman troops; and, at length, by a
singular revolution, the captains of the guards were
transformed into the civil magistrates of the provinces.
According to the plan of government instituted by
Diocletian, the four princes had each their Praetorian
praefect; and after the monarchy was once more united in the
person of Constantine, he still continued to create the same
number of FOUR PRAEFECTS, and intrusted to their care the
same provinces which they already administered. 1. The
praefect of the East stretched his ample jurisdiction into
the three parts of the globe which were subject to the
Romans, from the cataracts of the Nile to the banks of the
Phasis, and from the mountains of Thrace to the frontiers of
Persia. 2. The important provinces of Pannonia, Dacia,
Macedonia, and Greece once acknowledged the authority of the
praefect of Illyricum. 3. The power of the praefect of
Italy was not confined to the country from whence he derived
his title; it extended over the additional territory of
Rhaetia as far as the banks of the Danube, over the
dependent islands of the Mediterranean, and over that part
of the continent of Africa which lies between the confines
of Cyrene and those of Tingitania. 4. The praefect of the
Gauls comprehended under that plural denomination the
kindred provinces of Britain and Spain, and his authority
was obeyed from the wall of Antoninus to the foot of Mount
Atlas. (99)
After the Praetorian praefects had been dismissed from all military command, the civil functions which they were ordained to exercise over so many subject nations were adequate to the ambition and abilities of the most consummate ministers. To their wisdom was committed the supreme administration of justice and of the finances, the two objects which, in a state of peace, comprehend almost all the respective duties of the sovereign and of the people; of the former, to protect the citizens who are obedient to the laws; of the latter, to contribute the share of their property which is required for the expenses of the state. The coin, the highways, the posts, the granaries, the manufactures, whatever could interest the public prosperity, was moderated by the authority of the Praetorian praefects. As the immediate representatives of the Imperial majesty, they were empowered to explain, to enforce, and on some occasions to modify, the general edicts by their discretionary proclamations. They watched over the conduct of the provincial governors, removed the negligent, and inflicted punishments on the guilty. From all the inferior jurisdictions an appeal in every matter of importance, either civil or criminal, might be brought before the tribunal of the praefect: but his sentence was final and absolute; and the emperors themselves refused to admit any complaints against the judgment or the integrity of a magistrate whom they honoured with such unbounded confidence. (100) His appointments were suitable to his dignity; (101) and, if avarice was his ruling passion, he enjoyed frequent opportunities of collecting a rich harvest of fees, of presents, and of perquisites. Though the emperors no longer dreaded the ambition of their praefects, they were attentive to counterbalance the power of this great office by the uncertainty and shortness of its duration. (102)
The praefects of Rome and Constantinople.
From their superior importance and dignity,
Rome and Constantinople were alone excepted from the
jurisdiction of the Praetorian praefects. The immense size
of the city, and the experience of the tardy, ineffectual
operation of the laws, had furnished the policy of Augustus
with a specious pretence for introducing a new magistrate,
who alone could restrain a servile and turbulent populace by
the strong arm of arbitrary power. (103) Valerius Messalla was
appointed the first praefect of Rome, that his reputation
might countenance so invidious a measure; but at the end of
a few days that accomplished citizen (104) resigned his
office, declaring, with a spirit worthy of the friend of
Brutus, that he found himself incapable of exercising a
power incompatible with public freedom. (105) As the sense of
liberty became less exquisite, the advantages of order were
more clearly understood; and the praefect, who seemed to
have been designed as a terror only to slaves and vagrants,
was permitted to extend his civil and criminal jurisdiction
over the equestrian and noble families of Rome. The
praetors, annually created as the judges of law and equity,
could not long dispute the possession of the Forum with a
vigorous and permanent magistrate who was usually admitted
into the confidence of the prince. Their courts were
deserted; their number, which had once fluctuated between
twelve and eighteen, (106) was gradually reduced to two or
three; and their important functions were confined to the
expensive obligation (107) of exhibiting games for the
amusement of the people. After the office of Roman consuls
had been changed into a vain pageant, which was rarely
displayed in the capital, the praefects assumed their vacant
place in the senate, and were soon acknowledged as the
ordinary presidents of that venerable assembly. They
received appeals from the distance of one hundred miles; and
it was allowed as a principle of jurisprudence that all
municipal authority was derived from them alone. (108) In the
discharge of his laborious employment the governor of Rome
was assisted by fifteen officers, some of whom had been
originally his equals, or even his superiors. The principal
departments were relative to the command of a numerous
watch, established as a safeguard against fires, robberies,
and nocturnal disorders; the custody and distribution of the
public allowance of corn and provisions; the care of the
port, of the aqueducts, of the common sewers, and of the
navigation and bed of the Tiber; the inspection of the
markets, the theatres, and of the private as well as public
works. Their vigilance ensured the three principal objects
of a regular police - safety, plenty, and cleanliness; and,
as a proof of the attention of government to preserve the
splendour and ornaments of the capital, a particular
inspector was appointed for the statues; the guardian, as it
were, of that inanimate people, which, according to the
extravagant computation of an old writer, was scarcely
inferior in number to the living inhabitants of Rome. About
thirty years after the foundation of Constantinople a
similar magistrate was created in that rising metropolis,
for the same uses and with the same powers. A perfect
equality was established between the dignity of the two
municipal and that of the four Praetorian praefects. (109)
The proconsuls, vice-praefects, etc
Those who in the Imperial hierarchy were distinguished by
the title of Respectable formed an intermediate class
between the illustrious praefects and the honourable
magistrates of the provinces. In this class the proconsuls
of Asia, Achaia, and Africa claimed a pre-eminence, which
was yielded to the remembrance of their ancient dignity; and
the appeal from their tribunal to that of the praefects was
almost the only mark of their dependence. (110) But the civil
government of the empire was distributed into thirteen great
DIOCESES, each of which equalled the just measure of a
powerful kingdom. The first of these dioceses was subject to
the jurisdiction of the court of the East; and we may convey
some idea of the importance and variety of his functions by
observing that six hundred apparitors, who would be styled
at present either secretaries, or clerks, or ushers, or
messengers, were employed in his immediate office. (111) The
place of Augustal praefect of Egypt was no longer filled
by a Roman knight, but the name was retained; and the
extraordinary powers which the situation of the country and
the temper of the inhabitants had once made indispensable
were still continued to the governor. The eleven remaining
dioceses - of Asiana, Pontica, and Thrace; of Macedonia,
Dacia, and Pannonia, or Western Illyricum; of Italy and
Africa; of Gaul, Spain, and Britain - were governed by
twelve vicars or vice-praefects, (112) whose name sufficiently explains the nature and dependence of their
office. It may be added that the lieutenant-generals of the
Roman armies, the military counts and dukes, who will be
hereafter mentioned, were allowed the rank and title of
Respectable.
The governors of the provinces
As the spirit of jealousy and ostentation prevailed in the
councils of the emperors, they proceeded with anxious
diligence to divide the substance and to multiply the titles
of power. The vast countries which the Roman conquerors had
united under the same simple form of administration were
imperceptibly crumbled into minute fragments, till at length
the whole empire was distributed into one hundred and
sixteen provinces, each of which supported an expensive and
splendid establishment. Of these, three were governed by
proconsuls, thirty-seven by consulars, five by
correctors, and seventy-one by presidents. (113) The
appellations of these magistrates were different; they
ranked in successive order, the ensigns of their dignity
were curiously varied, and their situation, from accidental
circumstances, might be more or less agreeable or
advantageous. But they were all (excepting only the
proconsuls) alike included in the class of honourable
persons; and they were alike intrusted, during the pleasure
of the prince, and under the authority of the praefects or
their deputies, with the administration of justice and the
finances in their respective districts. The ponderous
volumes of the Codes and Pandects (114) would furnish ample
materials for a minute inquiry into the system of provincial
government, as in the space of six centuries it was improved
by the wisdom of the Roman statesmen and lawyers. It may be
sufficient for the historian to select two singular and
salutary provisions, intended to restrain the abuse of
authority. 1. For the preservation of peace and order, the governors of the provinces were armed with the sword of
justice. They inflicted corporal punishments and they exercised, in capital offences, the power of life and death. But they were not authorized to indulge the condemned criminal with the choice of his own execution or to pronounce a sentence of the mildest and most honourable kind of exile. These prerogatives were reserved to the praefects, who alone could impose the heavy fine of fifty pounds of gold: their vicegerents were confined to the trifling weight of a few ounces. (115) This distinction, which seems to grant the larger while it denies the smaller degree ofauthority, was founded on a very rational motive. The smaller degree
was infinitely more liable to abuse. The passions of a provincial magistrate might frequently provoke him into acts of oppression. which affected only the freedom or the fortunes of the subject; though, from a principle of prudence, perhaps of humanity, he might still be terrified by the guilt of innocent blood. It may likewise be considered that exile, considerable fines, or the choice of an easy death, relate more particularly to the rich and the
noble; and the persons the most exposed to the avarice or resentment of a provincial magistrate were thus removed from his obscure persecution to the more august and impartial tribunal of the Praetorian praefect. 2. As it was reasonably apprehended that the integrity of the judge might be biased, if his interest was concerned or his affections were engaged, the strictest regulations were established to exclude any person, without the special dispensation of the emperor, from the government of the province where he was born, (116) and to prohibit the governor or his son from contracting marriage with a native or an inhabitant, (117) or
from purchasing slaves, lands, or houses within the extent of his jurisdiction. (118) Notwithstanding these rigorous precautions, the emperor Constantine, after a reign of
twenty-five years still deplores the venal and oppressive administration of justice, and expresses the warmest indignation that the audience of the judge, his despatch of business, his seasonable delays, and his final sentence, were publicly sold, either by himself or by the officers of his court. The continuance, and perhaps the impunity, of these crimes is attested by the repetition of impotent laws and ineffectual menaces. (119)
The profession of the law.
All the civil magistrates were drawn from the profession of
the law. The celebrated Institutes of Justinian are
addressed to the youth of his dominions who had devoted
themselves to the study of Roman jurisprudence; and the
sovereign condescends to animate their diligence by the
assurance that their skill and ability would in time be
rewarded by an adequate share in the government of the
republic. (120) The rudiments of this lucrative science were
taught in all the considerable cities of the East and West;
but the most famous school was that of Berytus, (121) on the
coast of Phoenicia, which flourished above three centuries
from the time of Alexander Severus, the author perhaps of an
Institution so advantageous to his native country. After a
regular course of education, which lasted five years, the
students dispersed themselves through the provinces in
search of fortune and honours; nor could they want an
inexhaustible supply of business in a great empire already
corrupted by the multiplicity of laws, of arts, and of
vices. The court of the Praetorian praefect of the East
could alone furnish employment for one hundred and fifty
advocates, sixty-four of whom were distinguished by peculiar
privileges, and two were annually chosen with a salary of
sixty pounds of gold to defend the causes of the treasury.
The first experiment was made of their judicial talents by
appointing them to act occasionally as assessors to the
magistrates; from thence they were often raised to preside
in the tribunals before which they had pleaded. They
obtained the government of a province; and, by the aid of
merit, of reputation, or of favour, they ascended, by
successive steps, to the illustrious dignities of the
state. (122) In the practice of the bar these men had
considered reason as the instrument of dispute; they
interpreted the laws according to the dictates of private
interest; and the same pernicious habits might still adhere
to their characters in the public administration of the
state. The honour of a liberal profession has indeed been
vindicated by ancient and modern advocates, who have filled
the most important stations with pure integrity and
consummate wisdom; but in the decline of Roman jurisprudence
the ordinary promotion of lawyers was pregnant with mischief
and disgrace. The noble art, which had once been preserved
as the sacred inheritance of the patricians, was fallen into
the hands of freedmen and plebeians, (123) who, with cunning
rather than with skill, exercised a sordid and pernicious
trade. Some of them procured admittance into families for
the purpose of fomenting differences, of encouraging suits,
and of preparing a harvest of gain for themselves or their
brethren. Others, recluse in their chambers, maintained the
gravity of legal professors, by furnishing a rich client
with subtleties to confound the plainest truth, and with
arguments to colour the most unjustifiable pretensions. The
splendid and popular class was composed of the advocates,
who filled the Forum with the sound of their turgid and
loquacious rhetoric. Careless of fame and of justice, they
are described for the most part as ignorant and rapacious
guides, who conducted their clients through a maze of
expense, of delay, and of disappointment from whence, after
a tedious series of years, they were at length dismissed,
when their patience and fortune were almost exhausted. (124)
The military officers.
III. In the system of policy introduced by Augustus, the
governors, those at least of the Imperial provinces, were
invested with the full powers of the sovereign himself.
Ministers of peace and war, the distribution of rewards and
punishments depended on them alone, and they successively
appeared on their tribunal in the robes of civil magistracy,
and in complete armour at the head of the Roman legions. (125)
The influence of the revenue, the authority of law, and the
command of a military force, concurred to render their power
supreme and absolute; and whenever they were tempted to
violate their allegiance, the loyal province which they
involved in their rebellion was scarcely sensible of any
change in its political state. From the time of Commodus to
the reign of Constantine near one hundred governors might be
enumerated, who, with various success, erected the standard
of revolt; and though the innocent were too often
sacrificed, the guilty might be sometimes prevented, by the
suspicious cruelty of their master. (126) To secure his throne
and the public tranquillity from these formidable servants,
Constantine resolved to divide the military from the civil
administration, and to establish, as a permanent and
professional distinction, a practice which had been adopted
only as an occasional expedient. The supreme jurisdiction
exercised by the Praetorian praefects over the armies of the
empire was transferred to the two masters general whom he
instituted, the one for the cavalry, the other for the
infantry; and though each of these illustrious officers was
more peculiarly responsible for the discipline of those
troops which were under his immediate inspection, they both
indifferently commanded in the field the several bodies,
whether of horse or foot, which were united in the same
army. (127) Their number was soon doubled by the division of
the East and West; and as separate generals of the same rank
and title were appointed on the four important frontiers of
the Rhine, of the Upper and the Lower Danube, and of the
Euphrates, the defence of the Roman empire was at length
committed to eight masters general of the cavalry and
infantry. Under their orders, thirty-five military
commanders were stationed in the provinces: three in
Britain, six in Gaul, one in Spain, one in Italy, five on
the Upper and four on the Lower Danube, in Asia eight, three
in Egypt, and four in Africa. The titles of counts and
dukes,(128) by which they were properly distinguished, have obtained in modern languages so very different a sense that
the use of them may occasion some surprise. But it should be
recollected that the second of those appellations is only a
corruption of the Latin word which was indiscriminately
applied to any military chief. All these provincial generals
were therefore dukes; but no more than ten among them were
dignified with the rank of counts or companions, a title
of honour, or rather of favour, which had been recently
invented in the court of Constantine. A gold belt was the
ensign which distinguished the office of the counts and
dukes; and, besides their pay, they received a liberal
allowance sufficient to maintain one hundred and ninety
servants and one hundred and fifty-eight horses. They were
strictly prohibited from interfering in any matter which
related to the administration of justice or the revenue; but
the command which they exercised over the troops of their
department was independent of the authority of the
magistrates. About the same time that Constantine gave a
legal sanction to the ecclesiastical order, he instituted in
the Roman empire the nice balance of the civil and the
military powers. The emulation, and sometimes the discord,
which reigned between two professions of opposite interests
and incompatible manners, was productive of beneficial and
of pernicious consequences. It was seldom to be expected
that the general and the civil governor of a province should
either conspire for the disturbance, or should unite for the
service, of their country. While the one delayed to offer
the assistance which the other disdained to solicit, the
troops very frequently remained without orders or without
supplies, the public safety was betrayed, and the
defenceless subjects were left exposed to the fury of the
barbarians. The divided administration, which had been
formed by Constantine, relaxed the vigour of the state,
while it secured the tranquillity of the monarch.
Distinction of the troops.
The memory of Constantine has been deservedly censured for
another innovation which corrupted military discipline, and
prepared the ruin of the empire. The nineteen years which
preceded his final victory over Licinius had been a period
of licence and intestine war. The rivals who contended for
the possession of the Roman world had withdrawn the greatest
part of their forces from the guard of the general frontier;
and the principal cities which formed the boundary of their
respective dominions were filled with soldiers, who
considered their countrymen as their most implacable
enemies. After the use of these internal garrisons had
ceased with the civil war, the conqueror wanted either
wisdom or firmness to revive the severe discipline of
Diocletian, and to suppress a fatal indulgence which habit
had endeared and almost confirmed to the military order.
From the reign of Constantine a popular and even legal
distinction was admitted between the Palatines (129) and the Borderers; the troops of the court, as they were
improperly styled, and the troops of the frontier. The
former, elevated by the superiority of their pay and
privileges, were permitted, except in the extraordinary
emergencies of war, to occupy their tranquil stations in the
heart of the provinces. The most flourishing cities were
oppressed by the intolerable weight of quarters. The soldiers insensibly forgot the virtues of their profession, and contracted only the vices of civil life.
They were either degraded by the industry of mechanic
trades, or enervated by the luxury of baths and theatres.
They soon became careless of their martial exercises,
curious in their diet and apparel, and, while they inspired
terror to the subjects of the empire, they trembled at the
hostile approach of the barbarians. (130) The chain of fortifications which Diocletian and his colleagues had extended along the banks of the great rivers
was no longer maintained with the same care, or defended
with the same vigilance. The numbers which still remained
under the name of the troops of the frontier might be
sufficient for the ordinary defence. But their spirit was
degraded by the humiliating reflection that they, who were
exposed to the hardships and dangers of a perpetual warfare,
were rewarded only with about two-thirds of the pay and
emoluments which were lavished on the troops of the court.
Even the bands or legions that were raised the nearest to
the level of those unworthy favourites were in some measure
disgraced by the title of honour which they were allowed to
assume. It was in vain that Constantine repeated the most
dreadful menaces of fire and sword against the Borderers who
should dare to desert their colours, to connive at the
inroads of the barbarians, or to participate in the spoil. (131)
The mischiefs which flow from injudicious counsels are
seldom removed by the application of partial severities; and
though succeeding princes laboured to restore the strength
and numbers of the frontier garrisons he empire, till the
last moment of its dissolution, continued to languish under
the mortal wound which had been so rashly or so weakly
incited by the hand of Constantine.
Reduction of the legions
The same timid policy, of dividing whatever is united, of
reducing whatever is eminent, of dreading every active
power, and of expecting that the most feeble will prove the
most obedient, seems to pervade the institutions of several
princes, and particularly those of Constantine. The martial
pride of the legions, whose victorious camps had so often
been the scene of rebellion, was nourished by the memory of
their past exploits, and the consciousness of their actual
strength. As long as they maintained their ancient
establishment of six thousand men, they subsisted, under the
reign of Diocletian, each of them singly, a visible and
important object in the military history of the Roman
empire. A few years afterwards these gigantic bodies were
shrunk to a very diminutive size; and when seven legions,
with some auxiliaries, defended the city of Amida against
the Persians, the total garrison, with the inhabitants of
both sexes, and the peasants of the deserted country, did
not exceed the number of twenty thousand persons. (132) From this fact, and from similar examples, there is reason to
believe that the constitution of the legionary troops, to
which they partly owed their valour and discipline, was
dissolved by Constantine; and that the bands of Roman
infantry, which still assumed the same names and the same
honours, consisted only of one thousand or fifteen hundred
men. (133) The conspiracy of so many separate detachments,
each of which was awed by the sense of its own weakness,
could easily be checked; and the successors of Constantine
might indulge their love of ostentation, by issuing their
orders to one hundred and thirty-two legions, inscribed on
the muster-roll of their numerous armies. The remainder of
their troops was distributed into several hundred cohorts of
infantry, and squadrons of cavalry. Their arms, and titles,
and ensigns were calculated to inspire terror, and to
display the variety of nations who marched under the
Imperial standard. And not a vestige was left of that severe
simplicity which, in the ages of freedom and victory, had
distinguished the line of battle of a Roman army from the
confused host of an Asiatic monarch. (134) A more particular
enumeration, drawn from the Notitia, might exercise the
diligence of an antiquary; but the historian will content
himself with observing that the number of permanent stations
or garrisons established on the frontiers of the empire
amounted to five hundred and eighty-three; and that, under
the successors of Constantine, the complete force of
military establishment was computed at six hundred and
forty-five thousand soldiers. (135) An effort so prodigious
surpassed the wants of a more ancient and the faculties of a
later period.
Difficulty of levies.
In the various states of society armies are recruited from
very different motives. Barbarians are urged by their love
of war; the citizens of a free republic may be prompted by a
principle of duty; the subjects, or at least the nobles, of
a monarchy are animated by a sentiment of honour; but the
timid and luxurious inhabitants of a declining empire must
be allured into the service by the hopes of profit, or
compelled by the dread of punishment. The resources of the
Roman treasury were exhausted by the increase of pay, by the
repetition of donatives, and by the invention of new
emoluments and indulgences, which, in the opinion of the
provincial youth, might compensate the hardships and dangers
of a military life. Yet, although the stature was lowered,
(136) although slaves, at least by a tacit connivance, were
indiscriminately received into the ranks, the insurmountable
difficulty of procuring a regular and adequate supply of
volunteers obliged the emperors to adopt more effectual and
coercive methods. The lands bestowed on the veterans, as the
free reward of their valour, were henceforward granted under
a condition which contains the first rudiments of the feudal
tenures - that their sons, who succeeded to the inheritance,
should devote themselves to the profession of arms as soon
as they attained the age of manhood; and their cowardly
refusal was punished by the loss of honour, of fortune, or
even of life. (137) But as the annual growth of the sons of
the veterans bore a very small proportion to the demands of
the service, levies of men were frequently required from the
provinces, and every proprietor was obliged either to take
up arms, or to procure a substitute, or to purchase his
exemption by the payment of a heavy fine. The sum of
forty-two pieces of gold, to which it was reduced,
ascertains the exorbitant price of volunteers, and the
reluctance with which the government admitted of this
alternative. (138) Such was the horror for the profession of a
soldier which had affected the minds of the degenerate
Romans that many of the youth of Italy and the provinces
chose to cut off the fingers of their right hand to escape
from being pressed into the service; and this strange
expedient was so commonly practised as to deserve the severe
animadversion of the laws, (139) and a peculiar name in the
Latin language. (140)
Increase of Barbarian auxillaries
The introduction of barbarians into the
Roman armies became every day more universal, more
necessary, and more fatal. The most daring of the Scythians,
of the Goths, and of the Germans, who delighted in war, and
who found it more profitable to defend than to ravage the
provinces, were enrolled not only in the auxiliaries of
their respective nations, but in the legions themselves, and
among the most distinguished of the Palatine troops. As they
freely mingled with the subjects of the empire, they
gradually learned to despise their manners and imitate their
arts. They abjured the implicit reverence which the pride of
Rome had exacted from their ignorance, while they acquired
the knowledge and possession of those advantages by which
alone she supported her declining greatness. The barbarian
soldiers who displayed any military talents were advanced,
without exception, to the most important commands; and the
names of the tribunes, of the counts and dukes, and of the
generals themselves, betray a foreign origin, which they no
longer condescended to disguise. They were often intrusted
with the conduct of a war against their countrymen; and
though most of them preferred the ties of allegiance to
those of blood, they did not always avoid the guilt, or at
least the suspicion, of holding a treasonable correspondence
with the enemy, of inviting his invasion, or of sparing his
retreat. The camps and the palace of the son of Constantine
were governed by the powerful faction of the Franks, who
preserved the strictest connection with each other and with
their country, and who resented every personal affront as a
national indignity. (141) When the tyrant Caligula was
suspected of an intention to invest a very extraordinary
candidate with the consular robes, the sacrilegious
profanation would have scarcely excited less astonishment
if, instead of a horse, the noblest chieftain of Germany or
Britain had been the object of his choice. The revolution of
three centuries had produced so remarkable a change in the
prejudices of the people, that, with the public approbation,
Constantine showed his successors the example of bestowing
the honours of the consulship on the barbarians who, by
their merit and services, had deserved to be ranked among
the first of the Romans. (142) But as these hardy veterans,
who had been educated in the ignorance or contempt of the
laws were incapable of exercising any civil offices, the
powers of the human mind were contracted by the
irreconcilable separation of talents as well as of
professions. The accomplished citizens of the Greek and
Roman republics, whose characters could adapt themselves to
the bar, the senate, to the camp, or the schools, had
learned to write, to speak, and to act with the same spirit,
and with equal abilities.
Seven ministers of the palace.
IV. Besides the magistrates and generals, who at a distance
from the court diffused their delegated authority over the
provinces and armies, the emperor conferred the rank of
Illustrious on seven of his more immediate servants, to
whose fidelity he intrusted his safety, or his counsels, or
his treasures. The chamberlain 1. The private apartments of the palace were
governed by a favourite eunuch, who, in the language of that
age, was styled the praepositus or praefect of the sacred
bed-chamber. His duty was to attend the emperor in his hours
of state or in those of amusement, and to perform about his
person all those menial services which can only derive their
splendour from the influence of royalty. Under a prince who
deserved to reign, the great chamberlain (for such we may
call him) was an useful and humble domestic; but an artful
domestic, who improves every occasion of unguarded
confidence, will insensibly acquire over a feeble mind that
ascendant which harsh wisdom and uncomplying virtue can
seldom obtain. The degenerate grandsons of Theodosius, who
were invisible to their subjects, and contemptible to their
enemies, exalted the praefects of their bed-chamber above
the heads of all the ministers of the palace; (143) and even
his deputy, the first of the splendid train of slaves who
waited in the presence, was thought worthy to rank before the respectable proconsuls of Greece or Asia. The jurisdiction of the chamberlain was acknowledged by the counts, or superintendents, who regulated the two important provinces of the magnificence of the wardrobe, and of the luxury of the Imperial table. (144) The master of the offices.2. The principal administration of public affairs was committed to the diligence and abilities of the master of the 0ffices. (145) He was the supreme magistrate of the palace, inspected the discipline of the civil and military schools, and received appeals from all parts of the empire, in the causes which related to that numerous army of privileged persons who, as the servants of the court, had obtained for themselves and families a right to decline the authority of the ordinary judges. The correspondence between the prince and his subjects was managed by the four scrinia, or offices of
this minister of state. The first was appropriated to memorials, the second to epistles, the third to petitions, and the fourth to papers and orders of a miscellaneous kind. Each of these was directed by an inferior master of respectable dignity, and the whole business was despatched by an hundred and forty-eight secretaries, chosen for the most part from the profession of the law, on account of the variety of abstracts of reports and references which frequently occurred in the exercise of their several functions. From a condescension which in former ages would have been deemed unworthy of the Roman majesty, a particular secretary was allowed for the Greek language; and
interpreters were appointed to receive the ambassadors of the barbarians; but the department of foreign affairs, which constitutes so essential a part of modern policy, seldom diverted the attention of the master of the offices. His mind was more seriously engaged by the general direction of the posts and arsenals of the empire. There were thirty-four cities, fifteen in the East and nineteen in the West, in which regular companies of workmen were perpetually employed in fabricating defensive armour, offensive weapons of all sorts, and military engines, which were deposited in the arsenals, and occasionally delivered for the service of the troops. The quaestor3. In the course of nine centuries the office of quaestor had experienced a very singular revolution. In the infancy of Rome, two inferior magistrates were annually elected by the people, to relieve the consuls from the invidious management of the public treasure; (146) a similar assistant was granted to every proconsul and to every praetor who exercised a military or provincial command; with the extent of conquest, the two quaestors were gradually multiplied to the number of four, of eight, of twenty, and
for a short time, perhaps, of forty; (147) and the noblest citizens ambitiously solicited an office which gave them a seat in the senate, and a just hope of obtaining the honours of the republic. Whilst Augustus affected to maintain the freedom of election, he consented to accept the annual privilege of recommending, or rather indeed of nominating, a certain proportion of candidates; and it was his custom to select one of these distinguished youths to read his orations or epistles in the assemblies of the senate. (148) The practice of Augustus was imitated by succeeding princes; the occasional commission was established as a permanent office; and the favoured quaestor, assuming a new and more illustrious character, alone survived the suppression of his ancient and useless colleagues. (149) As the orations which he composed in the name of the emperor (150) acquired the force, and at length the form, of absolute edicts, he was considered as the representative of the legislative power, the oracle of the council, and the original source of the civil jurisprudence. He was sometimes invited to take his seat in the supreme judicature of the Imperial consistory, with the Praetorian praefects and the master of the offices; and he was frequently requested to resolve the doubts of inferior judges: but as he was not oppressed with a variety of subordinate business, his leisure and talents were employed to cultivate that dignified style of eloquence which, in the corruption of taste and language, still preserves the majesty of the Roman laws. (151) In some respects the office of the Imperial quaestor may be compared with that of a modern chancellor; but the use of a great seal, which seems to have been adopted by the illiterate barbarians, was never introduced to attest the public acts of the emperors. The public treasurer4. The extraordinary title of count of the sacred largesses was bestowed on the treasurer-general of the revenue, with the intention perhaps of inculcating that every payment flowed from the voluntary bounty of the
monarch. To conceive the almost infinite detail of the annual and daily expense of the civil and military administration in every part of a great empire would exceed the powers of the most vigorous imagination. The actual
account employed several hundred persons, distributed into eleven different offices, which were artfully contrived to examine and control their respective operations. The multitude of these agents had a natural tendency to increase; and it was more than once thought expedient to dismiss to their native homes the useless supernumeraries, who, deserting their honest labours, had pressed with too
much eagerness into the lucrative profession of the
finances. (152) Twenty-nine provincial receivers, of whom
eighteen were honoured with the title of count, corresponded
with the treasurer, and he extended his jurisdiction over
the mines from whence the precious metals were extracted,
over the mints in which they were converted into the current
coin, and over the public treasuries of the most important
cities, where they were deposited for the service of the
state. The foreign trade of the empire was regulated by this
minister, who directed likewise all the linen and woollen
manufactures, in which the successive operations of
spinning, weaving, and dyeing were executed, chiefly by
women of a servile condition, for the use of the palace and
army. Twenty-six of these institutions are enumerated in the
West, where the arts had been more recently introduced, and
a still larger proportion may be allowed for the industrious
provinces of the East. (153)The private treasurer5. Besides the public revenue, which an absolute monarch might levy and expend according to
his pleasure, the emperors, in the capacity of opulent
citizens, possessed a very extensive property, which was
administered by the count or treasurer of the private
estate. Some part had perhaps been the ancient demesnes of
kings and republics; some accessions might be derived from
the families which were successively invested with the
purple; but the most considerable portion flowed from the
impure source of confiscations and forfeitures. The Imperial
estates were scattered through the provinces from Mauritania
to Britain; but the rich and fertile soil of Cappadocia
tempted the monarch to acquire in that country his fairest
possessions, (154) and either Constantine or his successors
embraced the occasion of justifying avarice by religious
zeal. They suppressed the rich temple of Comana, where the
high-priest of the goddess of war supported the dignity of a
sovereign prince; and they applied to their private use the
consecrated lands, which were inhabited by six thousand
subjects or slaves of the deity and her ministers. (155) But
these were not the valuable inhabitants: the plains that
stretch from the foot of Mount Argaeus to the banks of the
Sarus bred a generous race of horses, renowned above all
others in the ancient world for their majestic shape and
incomparable swiftness. These sacred animals, destined for
the service of the palace and the Imperial games, were
protected by the laws from the profanation of a vulgar
master. (156) The demesnes of Cappadocia were important enough
to require the inspection of a count, (157) officers of an inferior rank were stationed in the other parts of the empire; and the deputies of the private, as well as those of the public treasurer, were maintained in the exercise of
their independent functions, and encouraged to control the authority of the provincial magistrates. (158) The counts of the domestics.6, 7. The chosen bands of cavalry and infantry, which guarded the person of the emperor, were under the immediate command of the two counts of the domestics. The whole number consisted of three thousand and five hundred men, divided into seven schools, or troops, of five hundred each; and in the East this honourable service was almost entirely appropriated to the Armenians. Whenever, on public ceremonies, they were drawn up in the courts and porticos of the palace, their lofty stature, silent order, and splendid arms of silver and gold, displayed a martial pomp not unworthy of the Roman majesty. (159) From the seven schools
two companies of horse and foot were selected, of the protectors, whose advantageous station was the hope and reward of the most deserving soldiers. They mounted guard in the interior apartments, and were occasionally despatched into the provinces, to execute with celerity and vigour the
orders of their master. (160) The counts of the domestics had succeeded to the office of the Praetorian praefects; like the praefects, they aspired from the service of the palace to the command of armies.
Agents, or official spies.
The perpetual intercourse between the court and the provinces was facilitated by the construction of roads and the institution of posts. But these beneficial establishments were accidentally connected with a pernicious
and intolerable abuse. Two or three hundred agents or messengers were employed, under the jurisdiction of the master of the offices, to announce the names of the annual consuls, and the edicts or victories of the emperors. They
insensibly assumed the licence of reporting whatever they
could observe of the conduct either of magistrates or of
private citizens; and were soon considered as the eyes of
the monarch (161) and the scourge of the people. Under the
warm influence of a feeble reign they multiplied to the
incredible number of ten thousand, disdained the mild though
frequent admonitions of the laws, and exercised in the
profitable management of the posts a rapacious and insolent
oppression. These official spies, who regularly corresponded
with the palace, were encouraged, by favour and reward,
anxiously to watch the progress of every treasonable design,
from the faint and latent symptoms of disaffection, to the
actual preparation of an open revolt. Their careless or
criminal violation of truth and justice was covered by the
consecrated mask of zeal and they might securely aim their
poisoned arrows at the breast either of the guilty or the
innocent, who had provoked their resentment, or refused to
purchase their silence. A faithful subject, of Syria
perhaps, or of Britain, was exposed to the danger, or at
least to the dread, of being dragged in chains to the court
of Milan or Constantinople, to defend his life and fortune
against the malicious charge of these privileged informers.
The ordinary administration was conducted by those methods
which extreme necessity can alone palliate; and the defects
of evidence were diligently supplied by the use of torture.
(162)
Use of torture
The deceitful and dangerous experiment of the criminal
question, as it is emphatically styled, was admitted,
rather than approved, in the jurisprudence of the Romans.
They applied this sanguinary mode of examination only to
servile bodies, whose sufferings were seldom weighed by
those haughty republicans in the scale of justice or
humanity; but they would never consent to violate the sacred
person of a citizen till they possessed the clearest
evidence of his guilt. (163) The annals of tyranny, from the
reign of Tiberius to that of Domitian, circumstantially
relate the executions of many innocent victims; but, as long
as the faintest remembrance was kept alive of the national
freedom and honour, the last hours of a Roman were secure
from the danger of ignominious torture. (164) The conduct of
the provincial magistrates was not, however, regulated by
the practice of the city, or the strict maxims of the
civilians. They found the use of torture established not
only among the slaves of oriental despotism, but among the
Macedonians, who obeyed a limited monarch; among the
Rhodians, who flourished by the liberty of commerce; and
even among the sage Athenians, who had asserted and adorned
the dignity of human kind. (165) The acquiescence of the
provincials encouraged their governors to acquire, or
perhaps to usurp, a discretionary power of employing the
rack, to extort from vagrants or plebeian criminals the
confession of their guilt, till they insensibly proceeded to
confound the distinctions of rank, and to disregard the
privileges of Roman citizens. The apprehensions of the
subjects urged them to solicit, and the interest of the
sovereign engaged him to grant, a variety of special
exemptions, which tacitly allowed, and even authorised, the
general use of torture. They protected all persons of
illustrious or honourable rank bishops and their
presbyters, professors of the liberal arts, soldiers and
their families, municipal officers, and their posterity to
the third generation, and all children under the age of
puberty. (166) But a fatal maxim was introduced into the new
jurisprudence of the empire, that in the case of treason,
which included every offence that the subtlety of lawyers
could derive from an hostile intention towards the prince or
republic, (167) all privileges were suspended, and all
conditions were reduced to the same ignominious level. As
the safety of the emperor was avowedly preferred to every
consideration of justice or humanity, the dignity of age and
the tenderness of youth were alike exposed to the most cruel
tortures; and the terrors of a malicious information, which
might select them as the accomplices, or even as the
witnesses, perhaps, of an imaginary crime, perpetually hung
over the heads of the principal citizens of the Roman world.
(168)
Finances
These evils, however terrible they may appear, were confined
to the smaller number of Roman subjects whose dangerous
situation was in some degree compensated by the enjoyment of
those advantages, either of nature or of fortune, which
exposed them to the jealousy of the monarch. The obscure
millions of a great empire have much less to dread from the
cruelty than from the avarice of their masters; and their
humble happiness is principally affected by the grievance of
excessive taxes, which, gently pressing on the wealthy,
descend with accelerated weight on the meaner and more
indigent classes of society. An ingenious philosopher (169)
has calculated the universal measure of the public
impositions by the degrees of freedom and servitude; and
ventures to assert that, according to an invariable law of
nature, it must always increase with the former, and
diminish in a just proportion to the latter. But this
reflection, which would tend to alleviate the miseries of
despotism, is contradicted at least by the history of the
Roman empire; which accuses the same princes of despoiling
the senate of its authority, and the provinces of their
wealth. Without abolishing all the various customs and
duties on merchandises, which are imperceptibly discharged
by the apparent choice of the purchaser, the policy of
Constantine and his successors preferred a simple and direct
mode of taxation, more congenial to the spirit of an
arbitrary government. (170)
The general tribute, or indiction.
The name and use of the indictions, (171) which serve to ascertain the chronology of the middle ages, was derived
from the regular practice of the Roman tributes. (172) The
emperor subscribed with his own hand, and in purple ink, the
solemn edict, or indiction, which was fixed up in the
principal city of each diocese during two months previous to
the first day of September. And, by a very easy connection
of ideas, the word indiction was transferred to the measure
of tribute which it prescribed, and to the annual term which
it allowed for the payment. This general estimate of the
supplies was proportioned to the real and imaginary wants of
the state; but as often as the expense exceeded the revenue,
or the revenue fell short of the computation, an additional
tax, under the name of superindiction, was imposed on the
people, and the most valuable attribute of sovereignty was
communicated to the Praetorian praefects, who, on some
occasions, were permitted to provide for the unforeseen and
extraordinary exigencies of the public service. The
execution of these laws (which it would be tedious to pursue
in their minute and intricate detail) consisted of two
distinct operations: the resolving the general imposition
into its constituent parts, which were assessed on the
provinces, the cities, and the individuals of the Roman
world; and the collecting the separate contributions of the
individuals, the cities, and the provinces, till the
accumulated sums were poured into the Imperial treasuries.
But as the account between the monarch and the subject was
perpetually open, and as the renewal of the demand
anticipated the perfect discharge of the preceding
obligation, the weighty machine of the finances was moved by
the same hands round the circle of its yearly revolution.
Whatever was honourable or important in the administration
of the revenue was committed to the wisdom of the praefects
and their provincial representatives; the lucrative
functions were claimed by a crowd of subordinate officers,
some of whom depended on the treasurer, others on the
governor of the province; and who, in the inevitable
conflicts of a perplexed jurisdiction, had frequent
opportunities of disputing with each other the spoils of the
people. The laborious offices, which could be productive
only of envy and reproach, of expense and danger, were
imposed on the Decurions, who formed the corporations of
the cities, and whom the severity of the Imperial laws had
condemned to sustain the burdens of civil society. (173) The
whole landed property of the empire (without excepting the
patrimonial estates of the monarch) was the object of
ordinary taxation; and every new purchaser contracted the
obligations of the former proprietor. An accurate census,
(174) or survey, was the only equitable mode of ascertaining
the proportion which every citizen should be obliged to
contribute for the public service; and from the well-known
period of the indictions, there is reason to believe that
this difficult and expensive operation was repeated at the
regular distance of fifteen years. The lands were measured
by surveyors, who were sent into the provinces; their
nature, whether arable or pasture, or vineyards or woods,
was distinctly reported; and an estimate was made of their
common value from the average produce of five years. The
numbers of slaves and cattle constituted an essential part
of the report; an oath was administered to the proprietors
which bound them to disclose the true state of the affairs;
and their attempts to prevaricate, or elude the intention of
the legislator, were severely watched, and punished as a
capital crime, which included the double guilt of treason
and sacrilege. (175) A large portion of the tribute was paid
in money; and of the current coin of the empire, gold alone
could be legally accepted. (176) The remainder of the taxes,
according to the proportions determined by the annual
indiction, was furnished in a manner still more direct, and
still more oppressive. According to the different nature of
lands, their real produce in the various articles of wine or
oil, corn or barley, wood or iron, was transported by the
labour or at the expense of the provincials to the Imperial
magazines, from whence they were occasionally distributed,
for the use of the court, of the army, and of the two
capitals, Rome and Constantinople. The commissioners of the
revenue were so frequently obliged to make considerable
purchases, that they were strictly prohibited from allowing
any compensation, or from receiving in money the value of
those supplies which were exacted in kind. In the primitive
simplicity of small communities this method may be well
adapted to collect the almost voluntary offerings of the
people; but it is at once susceptible of the utmost latitude
and of the utmost strictness, which in a corrupt and
absolute monarchy must introduce a perpetual contest between
the power of oppression and the arts of fraud. (177) The
agriculture of the Roman provinces was insensibly ruined,
and, in the progress of despotism, which tends to disappoint
its own purpose, the emperors were obliged to derive some
merit from the forgiveness of debts, or the remission of
tributes, which their subjects were utterly incapable of
paying. According to the new division of Italy, the fertile
and happy province of Campania, the scene of the early
victories and of the delicious retirements of the citizens
of Rome, extended between the sea and the Apennine from the
Tiber to the Silarus. Within sixty years after the death of
Constantine, and on the evidence of an actual survey, an
exemption was granted in favour of three hundred and thirty
thousand English acres of desert and uncultivated land,
which amounted to one-eighth of the whole surface of the
province. As the footsteps of the barbarians had not yet
been seen in Italy, the cause of this amazing desolation,
which is recorded in the laws, can be ascribed only to the
administration of the Roman emperors. (178)
Assessed in the form of a capitation.
Either from design or from accident, the mode of assessment
seemed to unite the substance of a land tax with the forms
of a capitation. (179) The returns which were sent of every
province or district expressed the number of tributary
subjects, and the amount of the public impositions. The
latter of these sums was divided by the former; and the
estimate, that such a province contained so many capita, or
heads of tribute, and that each head was rated at such a
price was universally received, not only in the popular, but
even in the legal computation. The value of a tributary head
must have varied, according to many accidental, or at least
fluctuating circumstances: but some knowledge has been
preserved of a very curious fact, the more important since
it relates to one of the richest provinces of the Roman
empire, and which now flourishes as the most splendid of the
European kingdoms. The rapacious ministers of Constantius
had exhausted the wealth of Gaul, by exacting twenty-five
pieces of gold for the annual tribute of every head. The
humane policy of his successor reduced the capitation to
seven pieces. (180) A moderate proportion between these
opposite extremes of extraordinary oppression and of
transient indulgence may therefore be fixed at sixteen
pieces of gold, or about nine pounds sterling, the common
standard, perhaps, of the impositions of Gaul. (181) But this
calculation, or rather indeed the facts from whence it is
deduced, cannot fail of suggesting two difficulties to a
thinking mind, who will be at once surprised by the equality
and by the enormity of the capitation. An attempt to explain
them may perhaps reflect some light on the interesting
subject of the finances of the declining empire.
I. It is obvious that, as long as the immutable constitution of human nature produces and maintains so unequal a division of property, the most numerous part of the community would be deprived of their subsistence by the equal assessment of a tax from which the sovereign would derive a very trifling revenue. Such, indeed, might be the theory of the Roman capitation; but, in the practice, this unjust equality was no longer felt, as the tribute was collected on the principle of a real, not of a personal imposition. Several indigent citizens contributed to compose a single head, or share of taxation; while the wealthy provincial, in proportion to his fortune, alone represented several of those imaginary beings. In a poetical request, addressed to one of the last and most deserving of the Roman princes who reigned in Gaul, Sidonius Apollinaris personifies his tribute under the figure of a triple monster, the Geryon of the Grecian fables, and entreats the new Hercules that he would most graciously be pleased to save his life by cutting off three of his heads. (182) The fortune of Sidonius far exceeded the customary wealth of a poet; but if he had pursued the allusion, he must have painted many of the Gallic nobles with the hundred heads of the deadly Hydra, spreading over the face of the country, and devouring the substance of an hundred families. II. The difficulty of allowing an annual sum of about nine pounds sterling, even for the average of the capitation of Gaul, may be rendered more evident by the comparison of the present state of the same country, as it is now governed by the absolute monarch of an industrious, wealthy, and affectionate people. The taxes of France cannot be magnified, either by fear or by flattery, beyond the annual amount of eighteen millions sterling, which ought, perhaps to be shared among four-and-twenty millions of inhabitants. (183) Seven millions of these, in the capacity of fathers, or brothers, or husbands, may discharge the obligations of the remaining multitude of women and children; yet the equal proportion of each tributary subject will scarcely rise above fifty shillings of our money, instead of a proportion almost four times as considerable, which was regularly imposed on their Gallic ancestors. The reason of this difference may be found, not so much in the relative scarcity or plenty of gold and silver, as in the different state of society in ancient Gaul and in modern France. In a country where personal freedom is the privilege of every subject, the whole mass of taxes, whether they are levied on property or on consumption, may be fairly divided among the whole body of the nation. But the far greater part of the lands of ancient Gaul, as well as of the other provinces of the Roman world, were cultivated by slaves, or by peasants, whose dependent condition was a less rigid servitude. (184) In such a state the poor were maintained at the expense of the masters who enjoyed the fruits of their labour; and as the rolls of tribute were filled only with the names of those citizens who possessed the means of an honourable, or at least of a decent subsistence, the comparative smallness of their numbers explains and justifies the high rate of their capitation. The truth of this assertion may be illustrated by the following example:- The Aedui, one of the most powerful and civilised tribes or cities of Gaul, occupied an extent of territory which now contains above five hundred thousand inhabitants, in the two ecclesiastical dioceses of Autun and Nevers; (185) and with the probable accession of those of Chalons and Macon, (186) the population would amount to eight hundred thousand souls. In the time of Constantine the territory of the Aedui afforded no more than twenty-five thousand heads of capitation, of whom seven thousand were discharged by that prince from the intolerable weight of tribute. (187) A just analogy would seem to countenance the opinion of an ingenious historian, (188) that the free and tributary citizens did not surpass the number of half a million; and if, in the ordinary administration of government, their annual payments may be computed at about four millions and a half of our money, it would appear that, although the share of each individual was four times as considerable, a fourth part only of the modern taxes of France was levied on the Imperial province of Gaul. The exactions of Constantius may be calculated at seven millions sterling, which were reduced to two millions by the humanity or the wisdom of Julian.
Capitation on trade and industry.
But this tax or capitation on the proprietors of land would
have suffered a rich and numerous class of free citizens to
escape. With the view of sharing that species of wealth
which is derived from art or labour, and which exists in
money or in merchandise, the emperors imposed a distinct and
personal tribute on the trading part of their subjects. (189)
Some exemptions, very strictly confined both in time and
place, were allowed to the proprietors who disposed of the
produce of their own estates. Some indulgence was granted to
the profession of the liberal arts; but every other branch
of commercial industry was affected by the severity of the
law. The honourable merchant of Alexandria, who imported the
gems and spices of India for the use of the western world;
the usurer, who derived from the interest of money a silent
and ignominious profit, the ingenious manufacturer, the
diligent mechanic, and even the most obscure retailer of a
sequestered village, were obliged to admit the officers of
the revenue into the partnership of their gain; and the
sovereign of the Roman empire, who tolerated the profession,
consented to share the infamous salary of public
prostitutes. As this general tax upon industry was collected
every fourth year, it was styled the Lustral Contribution:
and the historian Zosimus (190) laments that the approach of
the fatal period was announced by the tears and terrors of
the citizens, who were often compelled by the impending
scourge to embrace the most abhorred and unnatural methods
of procuring the sum at which their poverty had been
assessed. The testimony of Zosimus cannot indeed be
justified from the charge of passion and prejudice; but,
from the nature of this tribute, it seems reasonable to
conclude that it was arbitrary in the distribution, and
extremely rigorous in the mode of collecting. The secret
wealth of commerce, and the precarious profits of art or
labour, are susceptible only of a discretionary valuation,
which is seldom disadvantageous to the interest of the
treasury; and as the person of the trader supplies the want
of a visible and permanent security, the payment of the
imposition, which, in the case of a land-tax, may be
obtained by the seizure of property, can rarely be extorted
by any other means than those of corporal punishments. The
cruel treatment of the insolvent debtors of the state is
attested, and was perhaps mitigated, by a very humane edict
of Constantine, who, disclaiming the use of racks and of
scourges, allots a spacious and airy prison for the place of
their confinement. (191)
Free gifts.
These general taxes were imposed and levied by the absolute
authority of the monarch; but the occasional offerings of
the coronary gold still retained the name and semblance of
popular consent. It was an ancient custom that the allies of
the republic, who ascribed their safety or deliverance to
the success of the Roman arms, and even the cities of Italy,
who admired the virtues of their victorious general, adorned
the pomp of his triumph by their voluntary gifts of crowns
of gold, which, after the ceremony, were consecrated in the
temple of Jupiter, to remain a lasting monument of his glory
to future ages. The progress of zeal and flattery soon
multiplied the number, and increased the size, of these
popular donations; and the triumph of Caesar was enriched
with two thousand eight hundred and twenty-two massy crowns,
whose weight amounted to twenty thousand four hundred and
fourteen pounds of gold. This treasure was immediately
melted down by the prudent dictator, who was satisfied that
it would be more serviceable to his soldiers than to the
gods: his example was imitated by his successors, and the
custom was introduced of exchanging these splendid ornaments
for the more acceptable present of the current gold coin of
the empire. (192) The spontaneous offering was at length
exacted as the debt of duty, and, instead of being confined
to the occasion of a triumph, it was supposed to be granted
by the several cities and provinces of the monarchy as often
as the emperor condescended to announce his accession, his
consulship, the birth of a son, the creation of a Caesar, a
victory over the barbarians, or any other real or imaginary
event which graced the annals of his reign. The peculiar
free gift of the senate of Rome was fixed by custom at
sixteen hundred pounds of gold, or about sixty-four thousand
pounds sterling. The oppressed subjects celebrated their own
felicity that their sovereign should graciously consent to
accept this feeble but voluntary testimony of their loyalty
and gratitude. (193)
Conclusion
A people elated by pride, or soured by discontent, is seldom qualified to form a just estimate of their actual situation. The subjects of Constantine were incapable of discerning the decline of genius and manly virtue, which so far degraded them below the dignity of their ancestors; but they could feel and lament the rage of tyranny, the relaxation of discipline, and the increase of taxes. The impartial historian, who acknowledges the justice of their complaints, will observe some favourable circumstances which tended to
alleviate the misery of their condition. The threatening tempest of barbarians, which so soon subverted the foundations of Roman greatness, was still repelled, or suspended, on the frontiers. The arts of luxury and
literature were cultivated, and the elegant pleasures of society were enjoyed, by the inhabitants of a considerable portion of the globe. The forms, the pomp, and the expense of the civil administration contributed to restrain the irregular licence of the soldiers; and although the laws were violated by power, or perverted by subtlety, the sage principles of the Roman jurisprudence preserved a sense of order and equity unknown to the despotic governments of the East. The rights of mankind might derive some protection
from religion and philosophy; and the name of freedom, which could no longer alarm, might sometimes admonish, the successors of Augustus, that they did not reign over a nation of Slaves or Barbarians. (194)
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