Emperor of the Romans at Constantinople, whom Justin[1] appointed when he [sc. Tiberius] was a humble as well as generous man, superior to personal profit and with no regard for money -- for he considered this alone as good fortune that his subjects were prosperous and flourishing in great wealth, and he held that the common happiness of his people was a glorious and an unnassailable treasure. Since he hated the pretension of tyranny and turned rather to compassion for his people, he preferred that his subjects rule him rather than that those whom he ruled be too tyrannically enslaved -- for he wanted to be called "father" instead of "despot" by his subjects.
At first, when he was young, he was very good, but, when he grew old, he suddenly turned his sentiments for the worse so that he was even thought to be mad and driven by a supernatural being[2] to every sort of unholy behavior and even to madness and insanity, not only in natural matters but also in unnatural and in every sort of unjustice and tyranny. And, when he had thus later fallen into bad behavior, he ended his life.