254 THE DECLINE AND FALL [Chap, xl of the city, a praetor was stationed, the minister of Imperial avarice ; heavy customs were imposed on the vessels and their merchandize ; the oppression was retaliated on the helpless con- sumer ; the poor were afflicted by the artificial scarcity and ex- orbitant price of the market ; and a people, accustomed to depend on the liberality of their prince, might sometimes complain of the deficiency of water and bread. 87 The aerial tribute, with- out a name, a law, or a definite object, was an annual gift of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds, which the emperor accepted from his Praetorian praef ect ; and the means of payment were abandoned to the discretion of that powerful magistrate. Monopolies IV. Even such a tax was less intolerable than the privilege of monopolies, which checked the fair competition of industry, and, for the sake of a small and dishonest gain, imposed an arbitrary burthen on the wants and luxury of the subject. " As soon (I transcribe the Anecdotes) as the exclusive sale of silk was usurped by the Imperial treasurer, a whole people, the manufacturers of Tyre and Berytus, was reduced to extreme misery, and either perished with hunger or fled to the hostile dominions of Persia." A province might suffer by the decay of its manufactures, but in this example of silk Procopius has partially overlooked the inestimable and lasting benefit which the empire received from the curiosity of Justinian. His ad- dition of one-seventh to the ordinary price of copper money may be interpreted with the same candour ; and the alteration, which might be wise, appears to have been innocent ; since he neither alloyed the purity, nor enhanced the value, of the gold venality coin, 88 the legal measure of public and private payments. V. The ample jurisdiction required by the farmers of the revenue to accomplish their engagements might be placed in an odious light, as if they had purchased from the emperor the lives and fortunes of their fellow-citizens. And a more direct sale of honours and offices was transacted in the palace, with the per- 87 John Malala (torn. ii. p. 232 [p. 488]) mentions the want of bread, and Zonaras (1. xiv. p. 63 [c. 6]) the leaden pipes, which Justinian, or his servants, stole from the aqueducts. 88 For an aureus, one-sixth of an ounce of gold, instead of 210, he gave no more than 180 folles, or ounces of copper. A disproportion of the mint, below the market price, must have soon produced a scarcity of small money. In England, twelve pence in copper would sell for no more than seven pence (Smith's Inquiry into the Wealth of Nations, vol. i. p. 49). For Justinian's gold coin, see Evagrius (1. iv. c. 30). [Cp. Appendix 14.]
