OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 205 he might drive three arrows into the head of Chrysochir. That odious head, which had been obtained by treason rather than by [a.d. 874] valour, was suspended from a tree, and thrice exposed to the dexterity of the Imperial archer : a base revenge against the dead, more worthy of the times than of the character of Basil. But his principal merit was in the civil administration of the finances and of the laws. To replenish an exhausted treasury, it was proposed to resume the lavish and ill-placed gifts of his pre- decessor : his prudence abated one moiety of the restitution ; and a sum of twelve hundred thousand pounds was instantly procured to answer the most pressing demands and to allow some space for the mature operations of economy. Among the various schemes for the improvement of the revenue, a new mode was suggested of capitation, or tribute, which would have too much depended on the arbitrary discretion of the assessors. A sufficient list of honest and able agents was instantly pro- duced by the minister ; but, on the more careful scrutiny of Basil himself, only two could be found who might be safely entrusted with such dangerous powers ; and they justified his esteem by declining his confidence. But the serious and successful diligence of the emperor established by degrees an equitable balance of property and payment, of receipt and ex- penditure ; a peculiar fund was appropriated to each service ; and a public method secured the interest of the prince and the property of the people. After reforming the luxury, he assigned two patrimonial estates to supply the decent plenty^ of the Imperial table ; the contributions of the subject were reserved for his defence ; and the residue was employed in the embel- lishment of the capital and provinces. A taste for building, however costly, may deserve some praise and much excuse ; from thence industry is fed, art is encouraged, and some object is attained of public emolument or pleasure ; the use of a road, an aqueduct, or an hospital is obvious and solid ; and the hundred churches that arose by the command of Basil were consecrated to the devotion of the age. In the character of a judge, he was assiduous and impartial, desirous to save, but not afraid to strike ; the oppressors of the people were severely chastised ; but his personal foes, whom it might be unsafe to pardon, were condemned, after the loss of their eyes, to a life of solitude and repentance. The change of language and manners demanded a revision of the obsolete jurisprudence of Justinian ; the voluminous body of his Institutes, Pandects, Code, and Novels was digested under forty titles, in the Greek
