48. More than any other man he was laconic in the extreme, not expressing all his ideas in so many words, yet leaving no doubt as to his meaning. Those who describe Lysias**202 (the orator Lysias, the son of Cephalus) attribute to him, among other virtues to which they bear witness, the ability to bridle his eloquence at the appropriate moment.
They tell us, moreover, that despite his command of language, he was satisfied with saying only what was essential, so that his audience might infer from them those things that were left unsaid. In the same way Isaac also had a tongue which by gentle showers, so to speak, and not by heavy rain, fattened the nature ready to receive them, and as the moisture quietly sank deep into the soil, he aroused his listeners to the knowledge of what had been passed over in silence. The truth was that he wished to avoid refutation, and being now emperor and lord of all, he had no desire to foster any inopportune rivalry with himself in the sphere of eloquence.
Necessary to indicate
49. For that reason he left the study of rhetoric to us lesser folk, and to ordinary citizens. In his case, a nod, a movement of the hand, an inclination of the head to one side or the other, were all that he considered necessary to indicate his wishes. He was not particularly conversant with the laws, so he improvised a legal procedure of his own.
For instance, where a verdict had to be pronounced, he would not take the initiative himself, but refer the matter to his judges, and when they decided the case, he used to support the majority, and only then would he take the lead and record his vote, all the time pretending that his own judgment had been uninfluenced by the others. To avoid any mistake in legal phraseology, he left that to his juniors, but invariably he added something which he said should have been included in the documents, or else erased something on the ground that it was superfluous.
50. When dealing with ambassadors he pursued no set policy, except that he always held converse with them dressed in the most magnificent apparel. On those occasions he poured out a flood of words, more abundant than the rising Nile in Egypt or Euphrates plashing against the shores of Assyria. He made peace wich those who desired it, but with the threat of war if they transgressed so much as one term or his treaty. Such was the contract he made with Parthia and Egypt. In the case of other nations, however, he was not so agreeable. Some, having ceded many towns and surrendered their armed forces, were even prepared to leave their native soil and emigrate at once, but Isaac refused his consent and they were ordered to remain quietly where they were.
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