Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/277

 XVll. OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 259 consummate ministers. To their wisdom was com- C H A P. mitted the supreme administration of justice and of the finances, the two objects which, in a state of peace, comprehend ahiiost all the respective duties of the sovereign and of the people ; of the former, to protect the citizens who are obedient to the laws; of the latter, to contribute the share of their property which is re- quired for the expenses of the state. The coin, the highv/ays, the posts, the granaries, the manufactures, whatever could interest the public prosperity, was mo- derated by the authority of the j)retorian prefects. As the immediate representatives of the imperial majesty, they were empowered to explain, to enforce, and on some occasions to modify, the general edicts by their discretionary proclamations. They watched over the conduct of the provincial governors, removed the negli- gent, and inflicted punishments on the guilty. From all the inferior jurisdictions, an appeal in every matter of importance, either civil or criminal, might be brought before the tribunal of the prefect: but his sentence was final and absolute ; and the emperors themselves refused to admit any complaints against the judgement or the integrity of a magistrate whom they honoured with such unbounded confidence''. His appointments were suitable to his dignity'; and if avarice was his ruling passion, he enjoyed frequent opportunities of collecting a rich harvest of fees, of presents, and of perquisites. Though the emperors no longer dreaded the ambition of their prefects, they were attentive to counterbalance the power of this great office by the uncertainty and shortness of its duration ''. care non sinimus. Cod. Justinian. 1. vii. tit. l^ii. leg. 19. Charisius, a lawyer of the time of Constantine, (Heinec. Hist. Juris Romani, p. 349.) who admits this law as a fundamental principle of jurisprudence, compares the pretorian prefects to the masters of the horse of the ancient dictators. Pandect. 1. i. tit. xi. ' When Justinian, in the exhausted condition of the empire, instituted a pretorian prefect for Africa, he allowed hira a salary of one hundred pounds of gold. Cod. Justinian. 1. i. tit. xxvii. leg. i. ^ For this, and the other dignities of the empire, it may be sufficient to refer to the ample commentaries of Pancirolus and Godefroy, who have
 * • See a law of Constantine himself. A praefectis autem praetorio prOvo-