Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 2).djvu/85

 *sopher, was fully realized. Everything was under the sway of the just and honourable; thieves and bandits and perpetrators of iniquity were no longer born there; so that the most precious property might be left unguarded in the desert with the certainty of its remaining intact until the owner should reclaim it. The youthful Chosroes, whose accession had lately been announced, was the author of this beatific revolution. An enthusiastic student of Greek literature, he had applied himself to the study of Aristotle with a zeal equal to that of Demosthenes when he made repeated transcriptions of Thucydides. The works of Plato were not less familiar to him; nor could the subtleties even of the Timaeus and the Parmenides escape the acuteness of his intelligence. This alluring picture determined the most eminent representatives of the proscribed school to seek their fortune in Persia. They formed a band of seven, the chief among them being Damascius and Simplicius, who are known to modern philosophers through some treatises of value which have survived to the present day. But no sooner had they crossed the Euphrates than their disillusionment commenced. Everywhere criminals were numerous and crime was very imperfectly repressed. Those in authority showed themselves to be pompous and arrogant, and oppressed their inferiors without measure; whilst, although polygamy was permitted, the sexual instinct could scarcely be gratified without the added zest of adultery. Already they felt repentant of their migration, but they pushed onwards until they arrived at the court. There,