Page:Secret History of the Court of the Emperor Justinian 1674.djvu/125

 Justinian, but her Magick and intelligence with the Devil; for Justinian was not so cun­ning, nor of a nature so flexible to good, to de­fend himself against her stratagems, and wiles of this kind: On the contrary, his mind being entirely corrupted by cruelty, and avarice, he was every moment exposed so much to subtilties and flattery, that in things of greatest import­ance, he turned easily with the wind, there being no trust or reliance upon him for the best friend, or nearest relation that he had: For in short, he was the most light, unconstant, and uncertain man in all things, that ever was known. So that the Sorcerers who were very busie about him with their charms, and parti­cularly Theodora, found no great difficulty to arrive at their ends.

The humors and inclinations of Peter, as I said before, wrought so much upon Theodora, and gained him the favor of that Princess, so effectually, that the Emperor having with much ado removed him from his Prefectship, she prevailed with him not long after to make him high Treasurer of the Empire, having taken that place from John, who had been put into it but little before. This John was originally of Palestine, a man of that mildness, justice, and generosity, he knew not how to exercise the little frugalities of a private family; and for in­jury, he had never done it to any person alive. But the more grateful he was in the eyes of the people, the more odious he became to Justinian and Theodora, who no sooner had notice of the Rh