Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 2).djvu/343

 gambling game, nor to attend the spectacles of the circus or the theatre. He also laboured under the disability of being unable to make a will or execute a deed of gift, so that his mind should be wholly free from worldly concern. The lesser clergy, that is, presbyters, deacons, and sub-deacons, were obliged to live under the same stringent rules as far as applicable to their rank; and only for the lowest grades of the ministry, viz., chanters and readers, was marriage lawful. But even to them second nuptials were forbidden, under the penalty of forfeiting all claim to promotion in the service of the Church. The children of illicit marriages contracted by clerics were ignored by the State so far that they were not even entitled to the privileges of bastards. Nor would the Emperor tolerate idle ecclesiastics, but enacted that all should perform a part methodically in prayers and psalmody for the benefit of the laity. Women of fifty could be ordained as deaconesses in the Church, but after some time Justinian reduced the age to forty. The constitution of monasteries was also minutely regulated by legislation. Not the senior, but the most suitable person, was to be elected as abbot or abbess. The segregation of males and females was to be rigidly carried out, and only one old male servitor was to be employed in a nunnery. Husband or wife might elect to lead a religious life without incurring any of the penalties for the neglect of family duties to which an ordinary citizen was exposed. By entering a monastery the individual divested himself of all his worldly goods in favour of the re-*