JUSTINIAN AND THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE 129 too great nor too little, well proportioned and rather in- clined to be fat; his face was round and comely; his com- I plexion was fresh, and sometimes when he had eaten nothing I for two days." He had the love of order and system, and I the enormous capacity for details which has marked all
- great administrators, and, like Napoleon, he could do with
very little sleep and hated to be idle. He gave his personal attention to every department of government, and also took a keen interest in theology. He had great power of self-control, was expert in hiding his feelings and intentions, I and outwardly always gave the impression of great strength and firmness of purpose. We are told, however, that his ! mind sometimes vacillated in critical moments, and he was
perhaps at heart more a man of intellect than of action. His
I actions were guided in the main, however, by definite poli- I cies and fixed principles, and it was only stress of untoward circumstance that made him hesitate. From the start he
- aimed to be a great emperor and he succeeded. In a church
i in that same city of Ravenna, where are the tombs of Galla Placidia and of Theodoric, the East Goth, and which Jus-
tinian reconquered from the barbarians, are still to be seen
- in resplendent mosaic the official portraits, made during
I the course of his reign, of the "Lord Justinian" himself and of his empress, Theodora. For the great achievements which Justinian planned he
- needed a number of able assistants, and he was either for-
tunate enough or, more likely, wise enough to j ustinian ' s find them. In Belisarius and the eunuch, Narses, able he had two remarkable generals. Anthemius of Tralles was the architect who had charge of his public buildings. His two chief ministers were the learned jurist, Tribonian, who executed the great legal work of the reign, and John of Cappadocia, an able administrator and re- sourceful financier. John was accused, however, of resort- ing to cruel extortion to supply Justinian with the funds needed for his great enterprises, and Tribonian was charged with corruption and sale of justice. Justinian was watchful,
