; the guards saluted their new sovereign; and the martial and
religious rites of his coronation were diligently accomplished. By the
hands of the proper officers he was invested with the Imperial garments,
the red buskins, white tunic, and purple robe.

A fortunate soldier, whom he instantly promoted to the rank of tribune,
encircled his neck with a military collar; four robust youths exalted
him on a shield; he stood firm and erect to receive the adoration of
his subjects; and their choice was sanctified by the benediction of the
patriarch, who imposed the diadem on the head of an orthodox prince. The
hippodrome was already filled with innumerable multitudes; and no sooner
did the emperor appear on his throne, than the voices of the blue and
the green factions were confounded in the same loyal acclamations.
In the speeches which Justin addressed to the senate and people, he
promised to correct the abuses which had disgraced the age of his
predecessor, displayed the maxims of a just and beneficent government,
and declared that, on the approaching calends of January, [3] he would
revive in his own person the name and liberty of a Roman consul. The
immediate discharge of his uncle's debts exhibited a solid pledge of
his faith and generosity: a train of porters, laden with bags of gold,
advanced into the midst of the hippodrome, and the hopeless creditors
of Justinian accepted this equitable payment as a voluntary gift. Before
the end of three years, his example was imitated and surpassed by the
empress Sophia, who delivered many indigent citizens from the weight of
debt and usury: an act of benevolence the best entitled to gratitude,
since it relieves the most intolerable distress; but in which the bounty
of a prince is the most liable to be abused by the claims of prodigality
and fraud. [4]

[Footnote 1: See the family of Justin and Justinian in the Familiae
Byzantine of Ducange, p. 89--101. The devout civilians, Ludewig (in
Vit. Justinian. p. 131) and Heineccius (Hist. Juris. Roman. p. 374) have
since illustrated the genealogy of their favorite prince.]

[Footnote 2: In the story of Justin's elevation I have translated into
simple and concise prose the eight hundred verses of the two first books
of Corippus, de Laudibus Justini Appendix Hist. Byzant. p. 401--416 Rome
1777.]

[Footnote 3: It is surprising how Pagi (Critica. in Annal. Baron. tom.
ii. p 639) could be tempted by any chronicles to contradict the plain
an