Note 547 — Chapter II · THE ROMAN EMPIRE UNDER ANASTASIUS: THE INHERITANCE OF JUSTINIAN
Reading edition
The names of Eusebius, Eutropius, Chrysaphius, etc., are well known as despots of the Court and Empire. “Apud quem [si vere dici debeat] Constantius multum potuit,” is the sarcasm of Ammianus on the masterful favourite Eutropius; xviii, 4. Ultimately members of the royal family were castrated to allow of their being intrusted with the office of Chamberlain, practically the premiership, whilst unfitting them to usurp the throne; see Schlumberger, L’épopée byzant. au dix. siècle, 1896, p. 6.