Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/204

182 THE DECLINE AND FALL and Justinian, planting a foot on each of their necks, contem- plated above an hour the chariot-race, while the inconstant people shouted, in the words of the Psalmist, " Thou shalt trample on the asp and basilisk, and on the lion and dragon shalt thou set thy foot ! " ^^ The universal defection which he had once experienced might provoke him to repeat the wish of Caligula, that the Roman people had but one head. Yet I shall presume to observe that such a wish is unworthy of an in- genious tyrant since his revenge and cruelty would have been extinguished by a single blow, instead of the slow variety of tortures which Justinian inflicted on the victims of his anger. His pleasures were inexhaustible ; neither private virtue nor public service could expiate the guilt of active or even passive obedience to an established government ; and, during the six years of his new reign, he considered the axe, the cord, and the rack as the only instruments of royalty.^^ But his most implacable hatred was pointed against the Chersonites, who had insulted his exile and violated the laws of hospitality. Their remote situation afforded some means of defence, or at least of escape ; and a grievous tax was imposed on Constantinople, to supply the preparations of a fleet and army. " All are guilty, and all must perish," was the mandate of Justinian ; and the bloody execution was entrusted to his favourite Stephen, who [AD. 710] was recommended by the epithet of the Savage. Yet even the savage Stephen imperfectly accomplished the intentions of his sovereign. The slowness of his attack allowed the greater part of the inhabitants to withdraw into the country ; and the minister of vengeance contented himself with reducing the youth of both sexes to a state of servitude, with roasting alive seven of the principal citizens, with drowning twenty in the sea, and with reserving forty-two in chains to receive their doom from the mouth of the emperor. In their return, the fleet was driven on the rocky shores of Anatolia, and Justinian applauded the obedience of the Euxine, which had involved so many thousands of his subjects and enemies in a common ship- wreck ; but the tyrant was still insatiate of blood, and a second expedition was commanded to extirpate the remains of the " [Psalm xci. 13 ; according to reading of the Septuagint, Lion (Ae'orTa) alludes to Leontius, ia-ioa to Apsimar ; while ^aa^-KloKov suggests a petty pao-tAeu?.] !•- [The reign of Apsimar had been on the whole successful, and, though it saw the loss of the Fourth .rmenia to the Saracens, was marked by some important successes, especially a naval victory off the coast of Cilicia. In Justinian's second reign, there was an unsuccessful expedition against Bulgaria, and Tyana was lost to the Saracens.]