I must not, however, omit to mention the manner in which Justinian treated the soldiers.

He appointed commissioners, called Logothetae,[17] with directions to squeeze as much money as they could out of them, a twelfth part of the sum thus obtained being assured to them.

The following was their mode of operation every year.

It was an established custom that the soldiers should not all have the same pay.
Those who were young, and had just joined, received less than those who had undergone hardships in the field and were already half-way up the list; while the veterans, whose term of service was all but over, received a more considerable sum, that they might have sufficient to live upon as private individuals, and, after their death, might be able to leave a small inheritance by way of consolation to their families.

Thus, in course of time, the soldiers gradually rose in rank, according as their comrades died or retired from the service, and their pay from the public funds was regulated in accordance with their seniority.