Page:Constantinople by Brodribb.djvu/93

 Constantinople. The imperial revenue had been raised in a bad and oppressive way; the rich provinces were drained for useless expenditure in the capital, and thus steady industry was discouraged. Liberal concessions were made, and arrears of taxation, which had accumulated during the calamitous periods of barbaric invasion, were remitted. The remission is said to have covered as much as sixty years. One would suppose, indeed, that the ravages of the Huns must have totally destroyed many sources of the imperial revenue. We have already had occasion to note the impoverishment of Greece from the plundering expedition of Alaric and his Goths in the first year of the reign of Arcadius. Some relief for the taxpayer, and some reforms in the methods of levying the taxes, were no doubt among the first necessities of the time. All this was arranged by the Theodosian Code, and it was made easier for any who were oppressed to obtain legal remedies against the wrong-doer. So, while there must have been much misery and confusion in the world, we may believe that the seeds of improvement were being sown, and that there was real progress in the condition of the poor and labouring class. It is said that the system of police was so efficient that the streets of the chief cities of the East were as safe by night as by day. The friendly relation too of the clergy with the people seems to have had a salutary influence. Among the clergy were scholars and men of learning. Their flocks could hear the Scriptures read and explained to them in their own native language. The abstruse theological speculations in which the Greek mind delighted were by