The Secret History · Chapter
XIV: Justice for Sale explained
Procopius describes how Justinian debased the imperial office by personally issuing decrees, selling justice, and allowing bribery to corrupt the legal system.
What happens
Procopius describes how Justinian debased the imperial office by personally issuing decrees, selling justice, and allowing bribery to corrupt the legal system. The Senate became a powerless formality, and the emperor, influenced by the corrupt Leo of Cilicia, openly traded verdicts for gold, undermining all law and contract.
Themes in this chapter
Corruption and Tyranny
Justinian's personal sale of justice and disregard for legal procedure exemplify systemic corruption and autocratic rule.
Injustice and Lawlessness
Contracts, oaths, and laws become meaningless as the emperor accepts bribes from both sides and overturns rulings for money.
Hypocrisy and Deception
The Senate is maintained as a hollow formality while the emperor and his consort make all decisions, and officials deceive litigants.
Characters to notice
- Justinian
Depicted as a barbarous, greedy tyrant who personally sells justice and issues decrees without proper procedure.
- Theodora
Mentioned as sharing decision-making power with Justinian, overriding the Senate.
- Emperor Leo
Introduced as the Cilician flatterer who first taught Justinian to sell judicial decisions for money.
- Tribonian
Implied as part of the corrupted legal apparatus, though not directly named in excerpts.
Key passages
“In accepting bribes the Emperor felt no shame, since hunger for wealth had devoured his decency.”
Justinian was utterly shameless about taking bribes because his greed had consumed any sense of honor.
Highlights the theme of corruption and moral decay.
“Publicly in the Forum, and under the management of palace officials, the selling of court decisions and legislative actions was carried on.”
Court rulings and laws were openly auctioned off in the Forum by imperial officials.
Illustrates the institutionalization of bribery.
“This man was the first to show Justinian how to exchange justice for money.”
Leo of Cilicia was the one who taught Justinian to sell judicial verdicts.
Identifies the originator of this corrupt practice.