They say, too, that she had been involuntarily charmed by magic to become Peter’s friend; for this Barsyames was a devotee of sorcerers and demons, and was admittedly a member of the Manichaeans.
Although the Empress had heard all this, she did not withdraw her favor from the man, but decided to prefer and favor him all the more on this account. For she herself from childhood had consorted with magicians and sorcerers, as her pursuits inclined her toward them and all her life she believed in the black art and had’ great confidence in it.
They even say that it was not so much by flattery that she made Justinian eat from her hand as by demoniac power. For this was not a kindly, just, or good man, to prevail over such machinations, but plainly overmastered by his passion for murder and money; easily yielding to those who deceived and flattered him, and in the midst of his fondest plans he could be diverted with facility, like a bit of dust caught up by the wind.
None of his kindred or his friends had any sure confidence in him, and his plans were continually subject to change. Thus, he was an easy mark to sorcery, as I have said, and with no difficulty fell into the power of Theodora. And it was for this reason that the Empress regarded Peter, practised in such arts, with great affection.
Emperor could do to remove
So it was all the Emperor could do to remove him from office; and at Theodora’s insistence, soon afterward he made him chief of the treasurers, removing John from this position which he had given him only a few months before.
This man John was a native of Palestine, exceedingly good and gentle, ignorant of the possibility of increasing his private fortune, and had never wronged a single man. All the people loved him; and therefore he could not please Justinian and his wife, who, as soon as they saw among their agents an unexpected decent gentleman, became faint with horror, and determined to get rid of him at the first possible opportunity.
So it was that Peter succeeded John as chief of the treasurers, and once more became the cause of great calamities. Embezzling most of, the moneys which had been set apart since the time of a long-past Emperor to be distributed each year to the many poor, he made himself thus unjustly rich at the expense of the people, and handed a share of it to the Emperor.
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