Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 2).djvu/92

 zeal in directing the flow of gold towards the treasury, every servant of the state grasped at private affluence by means of illicit exactions, or an overt accessibility to bribes.

As a consequence of his unexpected advent to power, Justinian was scarcely affected by the prejudices peculiar to monarchs born in the purple; and hence, disregarding conventionalism, he usually chose the most direct and practical methods for carrying out his designs. He was willing on occasion to usurp the functions of any of his subordinates, and, in the selection of his instruments, he promoted the most likely candidates to the highest posts without reference to their rank, seniority, or antecedents. Among his earliest coadjutors in the capital were two remarkable men, Tribonian, a lawyer, and John of Cappadocia, a financier, whose activities became the leading feature in the politics of the age. The former was a native of Pamphylia, and began his career as an advocate in the praefectural courts of Constantinople. As Master of the Agentes-in-rebus he attracted the notice of the Emperor, who soon claimed him as his personal assessor, and raised him to the quaestorship. Tribonian was a man of great learning in the law and an assiduous reader, whence he was led to form a library of legal books such as existed in no other custody at the time.