HL 3.7

English

When Justin was dead Tiberius Constantine, the fiftieth of the Roman emperors, assumed the sovereignty. While he was still Caesar under Justin as we said above, and was managing the palace and performing many acts of charity every day, God furnished him a great abundance of gold. For while walking through the palace he saw on the pavement of the house a marble slab on which the cross of our Lord was carved, and he said: "We ought to adorn our forehead and our breast with our Lord's cross and behold we trample it under our feet," and this said, he quickly ordered the slab to be lifted up. And underneath the slab when it was dug out and set up, they found another having the same device. And he ordered this also to be raised, and when it was moved they found also a third, and when this too was taken away by his command, they found a great treasure, containing more than a thousand centenaria of gold, and the gold was carried away and distributed among the poor yet more abundantly than had been customary. Also Narses the patrician of Italy, since he had a great dwelling in a certain city of Italy, came to the above-mentioned city with many treasures, and there in his dwelling he secretly dug a great cistern in which he deposited many thousand centenaria of gold and silver. And when all who knew of the matter had been killed, he entrusted these to the care of one old man only, exacting from him an oath. And when Narses had died, the above-mentioned old man, coming to Caesar Tiberius, said, " If it profit me anything, I will tell you, Caesar, an important thing." The latter said to him, " Say what you will. It will be of advantage to you if you shall tell anything which will profit us." "I have," he said, "the treasure of Narses hidden away, which I, being near the end of my life, cannot longer conceal." Then Caesar Tiberius was delighted and sent his servants up to the place, and the old man went ahead and they followed in astonishment, and coming to the cistern, when it was opened they entered it. So much gold and silver was found in it that it could with difficulty be emptied in many days by those carrying its contents. Almost all of this he bestowed upon the needy in bountiful distribution according to his custom. When he was about to accept the imperial crown, and the people were expecting him at the spectacle in the circus according to usage, and were preparing an ambuscade for him that they might raise Justinian, the nephew of Justin, to the imperial dignity, he first proceeded through the consecrated places, then he called to him the pontiff of the city and entered the palace with the consuls and prefects, and clad in the purple, crowned with the diadem and placed upon the imperial throne, he was confirmed with immense applause in the honor of the sovereignty. His adversaries hearing this, and not being able in any way to injure him who had placed his hope in God, were covered with great shame and confusion. And after a few days had elapsed, Justinian came and cast himself at the foot of the emperor bringing him fifteen centenaria of gold for the sake of pardon. Tiberius, raising him up in his patient way, commanded him to place himself in the palace at his side. But the empress Sophia, unmindful of the promise she had previously made to Tiberius, attempted to carry on a plot ag·ainst him. And when he proceeded to his villa according to imperial custom, to enjoy for thirty days the pleasures of the vintage, she secretly called Justinian and wished to raise him to the sovereignty. When this was discovered, Tiberius returned in great haste to Constantinople, arrested the empress and despoiled her of all her treasures, leaving her only the nourishment of her daily food. And when he had separated her servants from her he put others at her service of those devoted to himself, commanding absolutely that none of the former ones should have access to her. But Justinian, whom he punished only by words, he afterwards cherished with so great a love that he promised his own daughter to his son, and on the other hand asked Justinian's daughter for his own son. But this thing, from what cause I know not, did not at all come to pass. The army sent by him completely subdued the Persians, and returning victorious, brought, together with twenty elephants, so great a quantity of booty as would be thought enough to satisfy human cupidity.

Latin