We have thought that the ancient Romans never could have rendered their government, which arose from such insignificant beginnings, so vast and powerful, added to their territory (We had almost said) ihe entire earth, and been able to control and protect it by their domination, if they had not invested the eminent magistrates, whom they sent into the different provinces, with great dignity, as well as with military and civil jurisdiction, and had not selected such as were well qualified and capable of performing their official duties. They designated these magistrates by the name of "Praetors," an appellation derived from the fact that they were preeminent and superior to others, not only in the conduct of matters relating to warfare, but also in the execution of the laws. In consequence of this, the places in which they resided or publicly dispensed justice were styled Pretoria, and the greater portion of the Edicts published orally by the Praetors had the effect of statutes. Many Praetors governed Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain, while others extended the Empire over land and sea, and ruled the conquered countries.

   Bearing these things in mind, and recalling with honor the ancient institutions of the Republic, as well as the dignity of the Roman name, and being aware that the two magistrates appointed for the administration of regions which have been the hardest to control up to this time were neither of them perfectly content with their condition, and that, on this account, in certain of Our provinces subject to both civil and military jurisdiction, the Governors were always quarrelling among themselves, and opposing one another, and, instead of accomplishing something beneficial to Our subjects, they, on the other hand, rather oppressed them, We have thought that it would be preferable to unite the civil and military jurisdictions into one, and again give the name of Praetor to the magistrate invested with this authority, so that the same official would have command of the soldiers in accordance with the title which he formerly enjoyed, and would also be invested with the execution of the laws, which was originally one of the functions of the Praetor, and that he would be entitled to the emoluments of both offices, and have a single court composed of a hundred subordinates (for this will be sufficient for him) which would be styled the Praetorian Cohort, and be established by letters issued by Us. Being thus invested with great dignity, the Praetor would be terrible to robbers, and render it impossible for those guilty of injustice to escape. He could accomplish everything through his extraordinary power, and, as a law formerly promulgated by Us orders all judges to have clean hands, he must obey it; and having taken the oath he must govern in accordance with it, both in his military and civil capacity. If anyone of Our glorious Consuls should happen to be appointed to the aforesaid office, this would appear to be an imitation of former times, when Consuls and men of consular rank drew lots for provinces, as the Praetors are not much inferior to them, since they have exalted the Roman name little by little, and increased its renown to such an extent that God has never before conferred such distinction upon any other Republic or Empire. We have investigated the origin of the Pisidians, and have learned from ancient writers that this people formerly exercised dominion over a large portion of the earth, and now that this province needs a powerful and energetic magistracy (for it contains a great number of villages, and a large population who are especially seditious wlien it comes to the payment of taxes), We think it necessary to give to a country inhabited by a dishonest and blood-thirsty population of this kind, which, on account of its greed and wolfish voracity, has been called Lycocranitse, a magistrate who will leave here armed with proper power. And as this magistracy should include both military and civil jurisdiction on account of the danger of revolt, all the military forces in the province shall be subjected to its authority. All the civil officials shall be called by and honored with the name of Praetor, for who will not stand in terror of his name? And who will not respect him, when civil and military jurisdiction are combined in a single official, when he knows what his duties are, and that he must obey the laws; provided he is well disposed and wishes to preserve his life, being aware that, in case he is disobedient, he will immediately be put to death, and the laws be enforced by arms?

  It therefore is necessary for anyone who undertakes the duties of this magistracy (for We always bestow it gratis, and without any payment of money whatever, in order that the incumbent may, in every instance, be free from corruption, and remain satisfied with those emoluments alone which he received from the public, as Our first law has also stated), to act with justice and honesty, and bear himself with a certain degree of severity, but still with kindness towards those subjected to his authority, as We have previously decreed, and banish from his province homicide, adultery, the rape of virgins, and, in a word, all other offences; and punish those who commit them as prescribed by Our law, without evincing any respect for the malefactors, even though they may be men of high rank; nor must he submit to those who offer no excuse for their acts, or only give such as are abominable; but he shall maintain justice in every instance, and regulate his conduct by Our enactments, rendering judgment in accordance with them, so that Our subjects may also form their lives and their rules of conduct in conformity thereto; and he must, above all things, keep the fear of God and of Us in mind, and never plan anything in contravention of Our precepts. We forbid him to leave his province frequently and come here to annoy Us with unreasonable communications, but he must hear all cases in the first place himself, and decide them with a view to the importance of the office to which We have appointed him, and he must so conduct himself in this respect that no one will have reason to file charges against him on account of his administration of the magistracy, being aware that if anyone, after having applied to him, should not obtain justice, and be compelled to refer the matter to Us, he will be responsible for the result of the controversy which We shall subsequently determine, for as We have honored him with an increase of authority, so, if We find that, in opposition to Our intentions and wishes, he has abused his administration, We shall inflict suitable punishment upon him, and in this way We shall serve God as well as assist in the execution of the laws, whether he has been guilty of dishonesty, or has acted illegally through the influence of either favor or enmity; for We wish again to relieve Our subjects of the evils which formerly existed, and, without being deterred by the greatness of the undertaking, We have hastened to turn Our attention to this subject.

  This official must not only perform the duties which have already been enumerated by Us, but he must see that there is a great abundance of provisions in the towns, and that no citizen is without subsistence. He must inspect the public works in the different cities, and not allow them to fall into decay, but keep all aqueducts, bridges and highways in good repair, and not permit the collectors of taxes to oppress Our subjects in any way; and We forbid him to receive any of those orders which, in conformity with a practice that We do not approve of, are issued by your court for the repair of walls, the opening of public highways, and innumerable other purposes. He shall not, under the pretext of orders of this kind, or, for any other reason, permit anyone to inflict injury upon Our subjects, nor shall he execute any decisions proceeding from your office, which in any respect may be improper (for We have already prohibited such things), but he alone must assume supervision of all public works. If, however, in accordance with the provisions of Our law, We should address a pragmatic sanction to your prefecture, the Praetor must himself carry out what We have ordered to be done, without any other person being permitted to annoy Our subjects, for while We are rendering Our provinces more and more flourishing by increasing the number of citizens, We do not wish a multitude of men to repair to the capital who dare not return to their homes on account of the iniquity of Governors. For this reason We order that Your Excellency shall for the future not hold two distinct magistracies in Pisidia, but that only one shall exist there under a Praetor, who shall possess both civil and military jurisdiction and shall have charge of both public and private civil matters, and be in command of the soldiers, so that in this way he will enforce his authority by their aid, and on the other hand, his military jurisdiction will be adorned by the law. No sedition will hereafter take place in the cities, if for the future We select for Praetor a man whom We deem worthy of both these offices which have been combined in one.

  Therefore the Treasury will pay the Praetor of Pisidia the ordinary salary which We in the notice appended to this law order that he shall receive. We wish this magistrate to bear Our Imperial name, and that he be styled the Justinianian Praetor. The body of Praetorian officials approved by Our letters (as We have previously stated) shall be appointed, and shall have charge of all affairs and persons, both civil and military. This Governor and his subordinates shall also be responsible for the collection of taxes, and he shall enjoy all the distinctions and insignia which are customary, that is to say, the curule chair of silver, and the axe and fasces; he shall also have among the soldiers an adresponsus, to whom We grant authority over the soldiers of that department, enjoining him to command them properly, preserve discipline, and make use of them not only for the pursuit of thieves, but to retain Our subjects in order and tranquillity. The Praetor shall not permit seditions to break out in the cities, or the counts to appropriate anything belonging to the Treasury, but he shall have authority over all, without any exception whatever. This magistrate shall be placed among those that are of intermediate rank, and be classed with such as are designated spectabiles. Hence he will be invested with all the attributes formerly possessed by Vicegerents and which to-day attach to the Justinianian Counts of Pacatian Phrygia, and First Galatia, as well as those of the Count of the East and the Proconsuls; he shall also be a magistrate of the rank of spectabile, and appeals taken from his decisions shall be decided here, as is customary in the case of other spectabile magistrates, by the tribunal of the Most Glorious Praetorian Prefect, with whom shall be associated in the determination of causes the Most Glorious Quaestor of Our Imperial Palace; for the reason that although this office is invested with a military character, still, because it will hereafter also possess civil jurisdiction, the same order which was formerly customary in the case of magistrates of the rank of spectabile must be observed.