While there are certain matters which, being mingled in confusion are, nevertheless, susceptible of proper adjustment, there are many others which though separate are deemed disgraceful, even though this may not actually be the case; for, being without elegance, they still are not absolutely devoid of refinement, or are considered disarranged and discomposed, although they are in reality clear and distinct. As this observation applies to Armenia, We have thought that this country should be regulated and brought into harmony, in order that We might the better render its condition more stable, impart greater strength to its government, and establish better order within its territory.

  Hence We divide Armenia into four provinces, one of which shall be called Interior, and shall have for its capital a city which bears Our name, and which formerly was called Bazanis or Leontopolis; and We honor this province, which was formerly governed by the magnificent Acatius, with a Proconsulship. The magistrate appointed shall be of spectabile rank, and be invested with all the honors pertaining to his office. For We bestow upon him the consular robe, as well as other insignia, and include in his jurisdiction the City of Theodosiopolis, which already belonged to it, Satala, Nicopolis, Colonea (as it was formerly called), which We have taken from Armenia, Trapezunte, and Cerasunte, which belonged to what was originally Polemoniac Pontus, all of which cities were formerly governed partly by an illustrious provincial Governor, and partly by another magistrate. Thus Interior Armenia will include seven cities and the territory dependent upon the same.
  (1) We order Second Armenia to be formed from what was previously called the First, and that its capital shall be Sebastea. The cities of which this province is composed are Sebastopol, which it already had; Commana, which belonged Polemoniac Pontus; Zela, which was taken from the Hellespont, and also Brisa. This province will therefore include five cities under the jurisdiction of a Governor whose authority shall not be diminished, and whose rank shall remain the same.
  (2) In the next place, We form Third Armenia out of the territory of which the Second was composed, the capital of which is Melitena, a remarkable city situated in a fertile country possessing an agreeable climate, and not far distant from the river Euphrates. We have thought proper by the present law to give this province a magistrate of spectabile rank, who shall be styled the Justinianian Count, to whom shall be allotted the salary of seven hundred solidi; seventy-two solidi shall be paid to his assessor, and three hundred and sixty to the members of his court; and, in addition, We grant him all the attributes attaching to an office of this kind. Those who are appointed members of this court shall perform the same duties as before, and shall be specially charged with the levy of taxes; and the Court shall bear the name of Comitian, and be invested with all the privileges which it previously enjoyed. In accordance with this arrangement, Third Armenia will include the six cities which belonged to Second Armenia; that is to say, Area, Arabissum, Ariarsathea, Comana (which is also called Chrusa) and Cucusa, which makes the six cities which the province formerly had.
  (3) We now constitute Fourth Armenia, which was not originally included in the province, but was composed of several nations with barbarous names, such as those of Trophsena, Anzethena, Ophena, Astesena, and Balabithena, which were governed by satraps (the name of this magistrate, however, is not Roman, and was not introduced by Our ancestors, but was borrowed from a foreign Empire). We establish in this province of Fourth Armenia a government which shall be entrusted to a civil magistrate, to whose jurisdiction We add the City of the Martyropolitani, and the fortified town of Cithariza. This government shall belong to the class of ordinary consular magistracies, and We decree that two of the magistrates having jurisdiction over the four provinces of Armenia, that is to say, the Proconsul, who will govern First Armenia, and the Count who will govern Third Armenia, shall be spectabiles; while the two others, who will be placed in charge of Second and Fourth Armenia, shall only possess the rank of ordinary magistrates. In cases where the value of the property involved is less than five hundred solidi, We desire that appeals taken from these provinces, instead of being brought to this city, shall be sent to the nearest spectabile magistrate. Hence appeals taken in Second Armenia, of which Sebastea is the capital, shall be decided by the Proconsul of First Armenia; and those below the aforesaid value taken in Fourth Armenia shall be heard and determined by the Count of Third Armenia, who will fix his residence at Melitena.

  These matters having been in this way attended to by Us, We think it advisable that a man should be appointed for the government of First Armenia, who, on account of his rank and the eminence of his services towards Us, may be worthy of the office. Hence, as We are aware that the most magnificent Thomas has already exercised authority in Armenia, and besides is an excellent man who has always served Us faithfully, and is still in Our service, We intend to promote him to this office, and he shall not merely be charged with the government of First Armenia, but shall also execute in the other provinces the orders which We shall communicate to him in Our Imperial instructions, which will inform him of the way in which he should act with reference to their administration.
  (1) We desire that, so far as ecclesiastical affairs are concerned, everything shall (as We have frequently stated) remain in its former condition, and that no change shall take place either in the law governing archbishops, or in that regulating ordinations. Ecclesiastics who have already been ordained shall, as formerly, retain the authority conferred by their ordination, and the former metropolitans shall retain theirs, for no innovation whatever shall be made in matters of this kind.

  We have already declared that the Count of Third Armenia is invested by Us not only with civil but with military jurisdiction. The soldiers stationed in that province must obey his orders, and he shall have the power to summon them in his own name, to make deductions from their pay, and to inflict punishment upon them when they act improperly; and he must not, under any circumstances, permit them to injure Our subjects. When, however, the soldiers commit any illegal act, he must prosecute them like any other criminals, and he will have the same control over them as is conferred upon military commanders. We place under his jurisdiction all the military forces subject to the Counts of Isauria and Pacatian Phrygia and the Praetors of Lycaonia, Pisidia, and Thrace; and, like them, he will have one court for the despatch of civil business, absolute authority over the army, and supreme jurisdiction over soldiers as well as all others, just as if he held but one office. He must also take measures to prevent the perpetration of crimes in his province, and suppress those which come to his knowledge; he shall not be turned aside from his duty through the influence of any person in his province, whether he be a civilian, a soldier, or some one attached to the Imperial domain; but We desire him to maintain Our subjects in a just and perpetual peace, and see that Our laws are not brought into contempt by the acts of any persons whomsoever.

  Your Excellency will see that what We have been pleased to decree with reference to the division of Armenia into four provinces, and especially that part of it relating to the Third — on account of which We have enacted the present law — is scrupulously observed. The various annual salaries which We have ordered to be paid to these magistrates shall be given to them, in accordance with the special instructions communicated to you.