He was [praetorian] prefect in the time of Zeno.[1] When he saw that the public funds were not sufficient, since he could neither stand to put a greater tax burden upon the taxpayers nor, as a generous person, do anyone wrong on account of his debts, he resigned his office, after seeking permission from Zeno for this. He brought grief to the city when he stepped aside, since he alone of those who then possessed political power had shown himself to be interested in the common good. He offered indulgences rather quickly to those who made requests, and he was completely incapable of taking vengeance on anyone who had offended him in the past. But the public funds then came into dire straits so that nothing was left over, since everything that Leo[2] had left in the public treasury at his death had quickly been emptied out by Zeno — largely through indulging his friends willy-nilly and through his inexact accounting which resulted in his failure to recognize whatever was being stolen[3] in one way or another.