The Eastern Empire. R 0 
to select the useful aud practical parts of the Roman law; 
ahd the writings of the old republicans, however curious or 
excellent, were no longer suited to the new system of man¬ 
ners, religion, and government. Perhaps, if the preceptors 
and friends of Cicero were still alive, our candour would 
acknowledge, that, except in purity of language, their in¬ 
trinsic merit was excelled by the school of Papinian and 
Ulpian. The science of the laws is the slow growth of time 
and experience, and the advantage both of method and 
materials, is naturally assumed by the most recent authors. 
The civilians of the reign of the Antonines had studied the 
works of their predecessors: their philosophic spirit had 
mitigated the rigour of antiquity, simplified the forms of pro¬ 
ceeding, and emerged from the jealousy and prejudice of the 
rival sects. The choice of the authorities that compose the 
Pandects, depended on the judgment ofTribonian: but the 
power of his sovereign could not absolve him from the 
sacred obligations of truth and fidelity. As the legislator 
of the empire, Justinian might repeal the acts of the Anto¬ 
nines, or condemn, as seditious, the free principles, which 
were maintained by the last of the Roman lawyers. But the 
existence of past facts is placed beyond the reach of des¬ 
potism; and the emperor was guilty of fraud and forgery, 
when he corrupted the integrity of their text, inscribed with 
their venerable names the words and ideas of his servile reign, 
and suppressed, by the hand of power, the pure and authen¬ 
tic copies of their sentiments. The changes and interpola¬ 
tions of Tribonian and his colleagues are excused by the 
pretence of uniformity: but their cares have been insufficient, 
and the antinomies, or contradictions of the Code and 
Pandects, still exercise the patience and subtlety of modern 
civilians. 
' Though to maintain the text of the Pandects, the Insti¬ 
tutes, and the Code, the use of cyphers and abbreviations 
was rigorously proscribed; and Justinian, though he de¬ 
nounced the punishment of forgery against the rash civilians 
who should presume to misinterpret or pervert the will of their 
sovereign, yet, six years had not elapsed from the publication 
of the Code, before he condemned the imperfect attempt, by 
a new and more accurate edition of the same work; which 
he enriched with two hundred of his own laws, and fifty 
decisions of the darkest and most intricate points of juris¬ 
prudence. Every year, or, according to Procopius, each 
day of his long reign, was marked by some legal innovation. 
Many of his acts were rescinded by himself; many were 
rejected by his successors, many have been obliterated by 
time; but the number of sixteen edicts, and one hundred 
and sixty-eight novels, has been admitted into the authentic 
body of the civil jurisprudence. In the opinion of a philo¬ 
sopher superior to the prejudices of his profession, these 
incessant, and, for the most part, trifling alterations, can 
be only explained by the venal spirit of a prince, who sold 
without shame, his judgments and his laws. The charge of 
the secret historian is indeed explicit and vehement; but the 
sole instance, which he produces, may be ascribed to the 
devotion as well as to the avarice of Justinian. A wealthy 
bigot had bequeathed his inheritance to the church of Emesa; 
and its value was enhanced by the dexterity of an artist, who 
subscribed confessions of debt and promises of payment with 
the names of the richest Syrians. They pleaded the esta¬ 
blished prescription of thirty and forty years; but their 
defence was overruled by a retrospective edict, which extend¬ 
ed the claims of the church to the term of a century; an 
edict so pregnant with injustice and disorder, that after serving 
this occasional purpose, it was prudently abolished in the 
same reign. If candour will acquit the emperor himself, and 
transfer the corruption to his wife and favourites, the suspi¬ 
cion of so foul a vice must still degrade the majesty of his 
laws; and the advocates of Justinian may acknowledge, 
that such levity, whatsoever be the motive, is unworthy of a 
legislator and a man. 
On the death of Justinian, the succession of the empire 
menaced the repose of its subjects. Seven nephews of the 
-emperor, who was himself childless, had been educated with 
splendour, and might expect with equal hopes the inheritance 
M E. The Eastern Empire. 319 
of their uncle. At the hour of midnight, Justin, the son 
of Vjgilantia, sister to Justinian, was awakened by the prin¬ 
cipal members of the senate, who announced the emperor’s 
decease, and reported the dying choice of the prince on 
whom they waited. By the advice of his wife Sophia, 
Justin submitted to the authority of the senate; and being 
conducted with speed to the palace, was invested with the 
imperial ornaments. Four youths then exalted him on a 
shield to receive the homage of his subjects; and their choice 
was sanctified by the benediction of the patriarch, who 
placed the diadem on his head;—the first time this ceremony 
had been performed by a priest. In the speeches of Justin 
the younger, so called to distinguish him from a predecessor 
of the same name, he promised to correct the abuses of his 
uncle, whose debts he immediately discharged with unex¬ 
pected generosity; and the hopeless creditors accepted the 
equitable payment as a gratuity. His example was followed 
by Sophia, whose liberality relieved many indigent citizens 
from the weight of debt and usury. 
The annals of the second Justin are marked with disgrace 
abroad, and misery at home. The Roman empire was 
afflicted by the loss of Italy, the desolation of Africa, and the 
conquests of the Persians. The capital and the provinces 
were exhausted by the venality of the magistrates and the 
injustice of the governors. The sentiments of the emperor 
seem to have been pure and benevolent; but his faculties were 
impaired by disease ; and in the confinement of his palace, 
he was a stranger to the wrongs of the people. His only 
son had died in his infancy, and his daughter was married to 
Baduarius, the superintendant of thepalace; but from domes¬ 
tic jealousy or animosity, he was determined to seek an 
immediate successor, not in his family, but in the republic. 
The artifices of Sophia determined his choice in favour of 
Tiberius, the captain of the guard, who was elevated to the 
imperial dignity, in the presence of the patriarch and the 
senate. On this occasion, Justin, collecting all the energies 
both of his body and mind; after advising Tiberius to con¬ 
sult the experience rather than the practice of his predecessor, 
and respect the empress as his mother, he concluded with, 
“ Love the people as yourself; cultivate the affections, 
maintain the discipline, of the army; protect the fortunes 
of the rich, and relieve the necessities of the poor.” The 
assembly, in tears, applauded the counsels of their prince, 
who in the moment of his abdication seemed worthy to 
reign. The four last years of his life were spent in tranquil¬ 
lity ; and the reverence and gratitude of Tiberius justified the 
choice he had made. 
The beauty of Tiberius had recommended him to Sophia 
who, after the death of Justin, hoped to preserve her station 
and influence under a more youthful husband; but the new 
emperor had for some time been secretly married to Anas¬ 
tasia; and when the clamours of the Hippodrome were loud 
for an empress, Tiberius produced his lawful wife. The dis¬ 
appointment to Sophia could not be atoned for by every 
honour due to her rank, and every favour which Tiberius 
could bestow. She immediately commenced her intrigues 
against him, by attempting to raise to the purple Justinian, 
who had been appointed commander of the Persian armies. 
But the design being discovered before it was ripe for exe¬ 
cution, Sophia was deprived of that wealth which she had 
abused, and her person committed to the custody of a faith¬ 
ful guard. The services of Justinian, in the mind of the ex- 
cellentTiberius, outweighed his treason and ingratitude; and 
he was merely stript of his command, which was conferred 
on Maurice, a native of Cappadocia, and an excellent gene¬ 
ral ; who also obtained in marriage Constantia, the daughter 
of the emperor. 
Tiberius was humane, just, temperate, and brave; and his 
subjects contemplated with pleasure the virtues of their 
sovereign. But, unhappily for mankind, in less than four 
years after the death of Justin he fell into a mortal disease, 
which left him only sufficient time to bestow the diadem on 
his son-in-law Maurice, and to express his hope that the vir¬ 
tues of his successor would erect the noblest mausoleum to 
his memory. , 
Maurice 
