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256 THE DECLINE AND FALL [Chap, xl The ministers of Justin- ian John of Cappa- docia invades the security of private life ; and the monarch who has indulged an appetite for gain will soon be tempted to anticipate the moment of succession, to interpret wealth as an evidence of guilt, and to proceed from the claim of inheritance to the power of confiscation. VII. Among the forms of rapine, a philosopher may be permitted to name the conversion of Pagan or heretical riches to the use of the faithful ; but in the time of Justinian this holy plunder was condemned by the sectaries alone, who became the victims of his orthodox avarice. 91 Dishonour might be ultimately reflected on the character of Justinian ; but much of the guilt, and still more of the profit, was intercepted by the ministers, who were seldom promoted for their virtues, and not always selected for their talents. 91 * The merits of Tribonian the quaestor will hereafter be weighed in the reformation of the Eoman law ; but the economy of the East was subordinate to the Praetorian praefect, and Procopius has justified his Anecdotes by the portrait, which he exposes in his public history, of the notorious vices of John of Cappadocia. 92 His knowledge was not borrowed from the schools, 93 and his style was scarcely legible ; but he excelled in the powers of native genius to suggest the wisest counsels and to find expedi- ents in the most desperate situations. The corruption of his heart was equal to the vigour of his understanding. Although he was suspected of magic and Pagan superstition, he appeared insensible to the fear of God or the reproaches of man ; and his aspiring fortune was raised on the death of thousands, the poverty of millions, the ruin of cities, and the desolation of provinces. From the dawn of light to the moment of dinner, he assiduously laboured to enrich his master and himself at the ex- pense of the Eoman world ; the remainder of the day was spent in sensual and obscene pleasures ; and the silent hours of the 91 John Malala, torn. ii. p. 101, 102, 103 [p. 439-40, ed. Bonn]. 91a One of these, Anatolius, perished in an earthquake — doubtless a judgment 1 The complaints and olamours of the people in Agathias (1. v. p. 146, 147) are almost an echo of the anecdote. The aliena pecuniareddenda of Corippus (1. ii. 381, &c.) is not very honourable to Justinian's memory. 92 See the history and character of John of Cappadocia in Procopius (Persic. 1. i. c. 24, 25 ; 1. ii. c. 30. Vandal. 1. i. c. 13. Aneodot. c. 2, 17, 22). The agreement of the history and Anecdotes is a mortal wound to the reputation of the praefect. [Besides Procopius, we have a long notice in the third Book of the treatise De Magistratibus of John Lydus (c. 57 sqq.), who is equally unsparing.] 93 Ov yap &o ovSiv 4s ypafifiarKTrov (poirwv tjxadev '6rt fi)) ypa.fl/u.aTa, xa ravra Kouta KaK&s ypdpat — a forcible expression.