THE ENACTMENTS OF JUSTINIAN.
  
THE NOVELS.
~  CXXX  ~
IN WHAT WAY SOLDIERS MUST ENTER AND PASS THROUGH CITIES.


 
( S. P. Scott, The Civil Law, XVII, Cincinnati, 1932 ).
 
 
The Same Emperor to Peter, Praetorian Prefect.
PREFACE.
  We think that the good discipline of Our army, while on its march, is the first and most important requisite to be observed in Our Empire, and that Our taxpayers should not, in any way, suffer from it, and if they do, that they should be indemnified.
CHAPTER I.
  Therefore, We order that every time arrangements are made for the passage of Our magistrates and Our armies, commissaries shall be charged with the duty of procuring provisions for them; and the Governors of the provinces which they traverse shall make suitable preparations, so that when Our armies arrive, they may conduct themselves with the greatest propriety. The commander of each corps shall receive supplies without raising any controversy, and these shall be delivered to both the officers and soldiers, in order that they may retain the fifteenth part of what is delivered, for the purpose of subsistence. But they must, as is customary, give receipts to the taxpayers for whatever they have obtained, and these receipts shall be made out on the responsibility of their magistrates, tribunes, counts, diasostes, commissaries, and officers in command of each corps; the soldiers shall take nothing from taxpayers under any pretext, not even on the ground that their provisions are not ready, nor because their "entrance," of which We absolutely abolish the name, being desirous that Our subjects may remain uninjured, and always be secure.
CHAPTER II.
  Soldiers must accept the supplies which are found in each locality, and cannot demand others which are not in the same region, nor shall they, on this account, cause any loss or annoyance to Our taxpayers.
CHAPTER III.
  We order that the supplies furnished by Our possessors, and whose delivery is evidenced by receipts, shall be credited by Your Highness, without any dispute, loss, or imposition upon the amounts which the taxpayers owe to the Treasury, for the indiction during which the said supplies have been furnished. If, however, these should be found to exceed the amounts which are payable in kind, We order that the taxpayers shall be indemnified for them out of the entire tribute of the same province. If the tribute of the province should not prove to be sufficient for this purpose, those who furnished the supplies shall be reimbursed by the general office of Your Glory; or, indeed, We will cause whatever may be necessary to be reserved out of the taxes paid during the following indiction, and the receivers of fiscal tributes shall credit the taxpayers with a sum equal to the entire expense incurred. All the regulations hereinbefore mentioned shall be observed on the responsibility of Your Glory, as well as by the Governors of provinces and those subject to their authority, the receivers, and all the officials charged with the administration of tributes.
CHAPTER IV.
  We also order that no judge or soldier shall receive anything whatever from any town or land, on account of his passage. If anyone should be detected in violating this rule, We order that he shall be compelled to pay double the amount which he had the audacity to accept.
CHAPTER V.
  When anyone of Our judges, soldiers, or those in control of their affairs do not give receipts for the supplies which they receive, We direct that the taxpayers who furnished them shall draw up public instruments in the presence of the Governor, if there is one in the neighborhood, and before the most holy bishop of the city; or where there is no Governor, before the most holy bishop alone, or before the defenders of the district in which the land from which the supplies were taken is situated; and that they shall state in said instruments that Our magistrates, who passed through with the army, did not give them any receipts, and they must also set forth the amount of the supplies which they received. We desire that these instruments shall be sent to Your Glory, and that you then reimburse the taxpayers or credit them for what they have furnished, as We have previously stated, but you must deduct the amount of the supplies stated in said instruments from the emoluments granted by the Treasury to the commanders of the army, and the soldiers who incurred the expense.
CHAPTER VI.
  We also order Our military commanders to despatch before them, when they are on the march, diasostes and commissaries, to the places which Our army is to traverse, in order to prepare subsistence for it, and that it may not be necessary to send to other cities, lands, or possessions, for that purpose, or to receive money from them on this account. If they should presume to accept anything as the price of the subsistence which they furnish, We order that instruments should be drawn up, and that it shall be stated in what place and to whom the gifts were made, and whatever is specified in these instruments shall either be credited or reimbursed by Your Glory, in the manner above stated, in favor of those who have sustained any loss; and the commanders of the army and the diasostes and commissaries shall return double the amount which they had the audacity to accept, and the others implicated shall be punished and sent into exile.
CHAPTER VII.
  But where the Governors of provinces act in collusion with the diasostes of Our army, by not providing supplies, and under this pretext compel Our soldiers to traverse different cities when they march through the country, We order that, after having been deprived of their offices, they shall, with their subordinates, be condemned to the confiscation of their property, and to exile; for it is in this way by means of receipts, and instruments executed as above stated, that Our subjects are rendered secure from loss.
CHAPTER VIII.
  We direct that these regulations shall be observed, not only with reference to the passage of Our magistrates and soldiers, but also with respect to other persons whom We may send into any country whatsoever for the maintenance of Our government.
CHAPTER IX.
  In order that the liberty of Our subjects may not be infringed on account of the lodgings which they are compelled to furnish the military, We forbid all Our soldiers to accept quarters in the principal rooms which are used by the owners of houses, and We direct them to leave them free for the occupancy of the latter, and to lodge in vacant apartments.
EPILOGUE.
  Therefore Your Glory will communicate the provisions of the present law to the most holy bishops of the neighborhood, the illustrious Governors, and all Our subjects residing in each town and province. Our subjects, having ascertained what We have enacted to protect them from wrong, are notified that if, having been injured, they remain silent as to any violation of Our Constitution, they themselves will be to blame for any losses which they may sustain.
  Given at Constantinople, on the Kalends of March, during the nineteenth year of the reign of Our Lord the Emperor Justinian, and the fourth after the Consulate of Basil, eighth indiction. Published in the City of Constantinople.