mail: Bill Thayer	Ἑλληνική	Italiano	Help	Up	Home
previous: IΙ This webpage reproduces a section of The Buildings of Procopius published in the Loeb Classical Library, 1940 The text is in the public domain. This page has been carefully proofread and I believe it to be free of errors. If you find a mistake though, please let me know! next: IV.1‑3

Procopius
Buildings

Book III

 p177  1 1 Thus the Emperor Justinian strengthened the territory of the East with fortifications, as I have set forth in the preceding Book. And since I began at the Persian frontier of the Roman Empire in  p179 describing the defences built by him, it has seemed to me not inappropriate to pass on from there to Armenia, which adjoins Persia from the city of Amida as far as the second Theodosiopolis.​1 2 But now that I am about to mention the buildings of that region, it seems to me highly opportune to describe first how this Emperor brought the Armenians out of a very precarious way of life into their present state of complete safety. 3 For it was not by means of buildings alone that he saved these subjects of his, but also by his foresight in other matters, as I shall presently shew. But I must go back a little to begin.

4 The Armenians of ancient times used to have a king of their own race, as is recorded by those who have written the history of the earliest period. 5 And when Alexander of Macedon overthrew the King of the Persians, the Persians remained quietly in subjection, but the Parthians rose against the Macedonians and overcoming them in the struggle, drove them out of the country and gained the territory as far as the Tigris River, and the Persian state remained subject to them after that for five hundred years, until Alexander, son of Mamaea,​2 became Emperor of the Romans. 6 At one time, one of the kings of the Parthians appointed his brother, Arsaces by name, King of the Armenians, as the history of the Armenians declares. I say this lest anyone think the descendants of Arsaces are Armenians. 7 At least peace continued between them for these five hundred years because of the kinship.  p181 8 And the King of the Armenians had his seat in Greater Armenia, as it was called, being subject to the Roman Emperor from an early period; but at a later time two sons were born to a certain Arsaces, King of Armenia, Tigranes and Arsaces by name. 9 When this king was about to reach the end of his life, he made a will in which he made both of the boys his successors in the kingdom, not assigning an equal weight of power to each of them, but leaving to Tigranes a four-fold portion. 10 So the father Arsaces, having made this disposition of the royal power, departed from the world, but his son Arsaces, being resentful and angry because his portion proved to be inferior, laid the matter before the Roman Emperor, hoping that by using every device he might destroy the power of his brother and nullify his father's purpose as being unjust. 11 At that time Theodosius, son of Arcadius,​3 who was still quite a boy, was ruling over the Romans. And Tigranes, fearing the vengeance of the Emperor, placed himself in the power of the Persians and handed over his kingdom to them, considering it preferable to live as a private individual among the Persians, than to make a fair settlement with his brother and with him to rule over the Armenians righteously and justly. 12 Arsaces meanwhile still feared the hostility of the Persians and of his brother and resigned his own kingship in favour of the Emperor Theodosius, on certain conditions which I have described in the Books on the Wars.​4 13 And for a time the territory of the Armenians was fought over by the Romans and the Persians, but at length  p183 they reached an agreement that the Persians should hold the portion of Tigranes and the Romans that of Arsaces. 14 On these conditions a truce was agreed upon by both sides and thereafter the Roman Emperor always appointed a ruler for the Armenians, whomever he wished and whenever he wished. 15 And they used to call this ruler even to my time the Count of Armenia.

16 Such a government, however, was not able to repel the attacks of its enemies, since it had at its disposal no regular troops, and therefore the Emperor Justinian, observing that Armenia was always in a state of disorder and was, for this reason, an easy prey for the barbarians, abolished this form of administration and placed a general in charge of Armenia and assigned to him military forces sufficient to withstand the inroads of the enemy. 17 Such was the disposition he made for Greater Armenia, as it is called, but in the other Armenia, which extends inside of the Euphrates River as far as the city of Amida,​5 five Armenian satraps held the power, and these offices were always hereditary and held for life. 18 However, they received the symbols of office only from the Roman Emperor. It is worth while to describe these insignia, for they will never again be seen by man. 19 There is a cloak made of wool, not such as is produced by sheep, but gathered from the sea. 20 Pinnos​ 6 the creature is called on which this wool grows. And the part where the purple  p185 should have been, that is, where the insertion of purple cloth is usually made, is overlaid with gold.​7 21 The cloak was fastened by a golden brooch in the middle of which was a precious stone from which hung three sapphires by loose golden chains. 22 There was a tunic of silk adorned in every part with decorations of gold which they are wont to call plumia.​8 23 The boots were of red colour and reached to the knee, of the sort which only the Roman Emperor and the Persian King are permitted to wear.

24 Roman soldiers, however, never fought under the orders of the king of the Armenians or of the satraps, but these rulers conducted their wars independently. 25 But at a later time, during the reign of Zeno,​9 some of the satraps decided to array themselves openly with Illus and Leontius, who had revolted against the Emperor. 26 Consequently, when the Emperor had reduced Leontius and Illus to subjection, he left in the former status only one satrap, who held a very inferior province which was not of any importance, in the region called Belabitinê; all the others he removed and no longer permitted them to transmit the office to those connected with them by kinship, but he ordained that on each occasion different men of the Emperor's choosing should succeed to these offices, just as is the rule in all the other offices of the Romans. 27 Even so, these officials were not in command of Roman soldiers, but only of a few Armenians, as had been customary  p187 previously, with the result that they were unable to repel the attacks of an enemy. 28 And when this came to the knowledge of the Emperor Justinian, he immediately did away with the title of Satrap and appointed over these provinces two Dukes, as they are called; 29 and he put under them a very large force of regular Roman troops to assist them in guarding the Roman frontier. He also built strongholds for them as follows.

2 1 I shall start from the places in Mesopotamia, so that my account may proceed in order from the points which I have described previously. One of the rulers of the Armenian provinces, whom they call Duke, he established in the city called Martyropolis,​10 and the other in a stronghold which they call Citharizôn.​11 2 And I shall make clear just where in the Roman Empire these places actually are. In the part of Armenia called Sophanenê there is a certain city known as Martyropolis which lies on the very bank of the Nymphius​12 River, quite close to the enemy, because the Nymphius River at that point divides the Roman from the Persian territory. 3 For across the river lies the territory of Arxanenê, which has been subject to the Persians from early times. Even so the city had been neglected by the Romans and lay always exposed to these barbarians. 4 In consequence of this, indeed, Cabades, King of the Persians, invaded​13 the Roman territory during the reign of Anastasius, directing his march by way of Martyropolis, since it lay a little more than  p189 a one-day's journey from Amida for an unencumbered traveller. 5 And as if he were still dealing with some minor detail of his journey, an incidental task of his campaign, he captured this city out of hand, not by storming the wall or by making any kind of assault or siege, but simply by sending an announcement that he would arrive. 6 For the inhabitants of the city, knowing well that they would not be able to hold out even for one short moment against the attacking force, when they learned that the army of the Medes had arrived close by, immediately approached Cabades in company with Theodorus, who at that time was Satrap of Sophanenê, clothed in his robes of office, and placed themselves and Martyropolis at his disposal, bearing in their hands the public taxes of two years. 7 And Cabades was pleased with this and withheld his hand from the city and from the whole district, as belonging to the Persian Kingdom, and he let the people go unharmed, neither inflicting any damage nor changing the form of the government, but he appointed Theodorus himself their Satrap, entrusting to him, since he had shewn himself not indiscreet, the tokens of the office, with the intention that he watch over the land for the Persians. 8 Then he led his army forward, captured Amida by siege, and marched back into the land of Persia, as I have related in the Books on the Wars.​14 9 And the Emperor Anastasius, understanding that it was not possible to defend Martyropolis from hostile assault, since it had no defences, not only shewed no resentment against Theodorus and the people of Sophanenê, but actually expressed deep gratitude to them for their action. 10 Indeed the  p191 circuit-wall of this Martyropolis was really •about four feet in thickness, while it was only •twenty feet high. In consequence, the wall could not only be easily assaulted by the enemy if they stormed it or brought up their siege engines, but it was quite easy for them simply to scramble over it.

11 Therefore the Emperor Justinian devised the following plan: Outside the circuit-wall he dug a trench, and laying foundations there he built a second wall with a thickness of four feet, leaving a space of four feet between the two walls; and he raised the new wall also to a height of twenty feet and made it in all respects equal to the first. 12 Then, by throwing stones and mortar into the space between the two walls, he brought this work to perfection by forming one solid structure with a thickness of •twelve feet. 13 Above this he added, in about the same thickness, the same height which the earlier wall had had. 14 He also constructed admirable outworks for the city and all the other things without exception on which a city's defences are based.

3 1 As one goes westerly from Martyropolis, there is a place called Pheisôn, which is also situated in Armenia, in the section called Sophanenê, a little less than a day's journey distant from Martyropolis. 2 Beyond this place, at about the eighth milestone, precipitous and altogether impassable mountains come together to form two passes, very close to each other, which they are wont to call cleisurae.15  p193 3 And when travellers go from Persarmenia to Sophanenê, either from the Persian territory itself or by way of the fortress of Citharizôn, it is necessary for them to get there by way of these two passes. 4 The natives call the one of them Illyrisum and the other Saphchae. 5 And for the purpose of checking the enemy's advance in that region, these places were, as it happened, worth making thoroughly defended and well equipped in every way. Yet they remained altogether unguarded by the men of earlier times. 6 But the Emperor Justinian, by establishing admirable forts at Pheisôn and in the passes and posting in them invincible garrisons, has made this region altogether inaccessible to the barbarians. Such were the things done by the Emperor Justinian in the territory called Sophanenê.

7 And at the place named Citharizôn, which is in Asthianinê, as it is called, he established a fortress which had not existed before, a huge and extraordinarily impregnable stronghold, situated in a hilly region. 8 He also brought into it an abundant supply of water and made all other proper arrangements for the inhabitants, and stationed there the second of the Dukes, as I have said,​16 with a very numerous garrison of soldiers. And he thereby guaranteed the safety of the Armenian provinces.

9 As one goes from Citharizôn to Theodosiopolis and the other Armenia, the land is called Chorzanê; it extends for a distance of about three days' journey, not being marked off from the Persian territory by the water of any lake or by any river's stream or  p195 by a wall of mountains which pinch the road into a narrow pass, but the two frontiers are indistinct. 10 So the inhabitants of this region, whether subjects of the Romans or of the Persians, have no fear of each other, nor do they give one another any occasion to apprehend an attack, but they even intermarry and hold a common market for their produce and together share the labours of farming. 11 And if the commanders on either side ever make an expedition against the others, when they are ordered to do so by their sovereign, they always find their neighbours unprotected. 12 Their very populous towns are close to each other, yet from ancient times no stronghold existed on either side. 13 It was possible, therefore, for the Persian King to proceed by this route with comparative ease and convenience in passing through into Roman territory, until the Emperor Justinian blocked his way in the following manner. There was a town in the middle of this region named Artalesôn 14 which he surrounded with a very strong wall and converted into an impregnable fortress; and he stationed there detachments of regular troops which by his orders were always to be commanded by an officer whom the Romans, in the Latin tongue, call a Dux. By these measures he fortified the whole of that remote frontier.

4 1 These things were accomplished by the Emperor in the manner described. I shall now go on to tell about all the other works which by his diligence he executed in the other​17 Armenia. 2 The city of Satala​18 had been in a precarious state in ancient times. For it is situated not far from the land of the enemy  p197 and it also lies in a low-lying plain and is dominated by many hills which tower around it, and for this reason it stood in need of circuit-walls which would defy attack. 3 Nevertheless, even though its surroundings were of such a nature as this, its defences were in a perilous condition, having been carelessly constructed with bad workman­ship in the beginning, and with the long passage of time the masonry had everywhere collapsed. 4 But the Emperor tore all this down and built there a new circuit-wall, so high that it seemed to overtop the hills around it, and of a thickness sufficient to ensure the safety of its towering mass. 5 And he set up admirable outworks on all sides and so struck terror into the hearts of the enemy. He also built a very strong fortress not far from Satala in the territory called Osroenê.

6 There was a certain fortress in that region erected by men of ancient times on the crest of a precipitous hill, which in early times Pompey, the Roman general, captured; and becoming master of the land by his victories, he strengthened this town materially and named it Coloneia.​19 7 This also the Emperor Justinian, finding that it had suffered much through the ravages of so long a time, restored with all his resources. 8 Furthermore, by granting great sums to the inhabitants of this region he brought it about that everywhere on their own land either new defences were built or those which had fallen into decay were restored. 9 Thus practically all the fortifications which  p199 can be found there are, as it happens, the work of the Emperor Justinian. 10 In that region also he constructed the forts called Baiberdôn and Areôn. He likewise restored Lysiormum, which had already fallen into ruin, as well as Lytatarizôn.​20 11 And at the place which they call Germani Fossatum​21 he built a new fort. Furthermore, he rebuilt the walls of Sebasteia​22 and Nicopolis,​23 cities of Armenia, for they were all on the point of collapsing, having suffered from the long passage of time, and he made them new. 12 He also carried out the building of churches and monasteries there. In Theodosiopolis he dedicated a church to the Mother of God, and he restored monasteries in the place called Petrios and in Coucarizôn. 13 In Nicopolis he built the monastery named after the Forty-five Saints, and in Bizani a church to the martyr George. 14 And close to Theodosiopolis he restored a monastery named after the Forty Martyrs.

15 There was in antiquity a certain town in Lesser Armenia, as it is called, not far from the Euphrates River, in which a detachment of Roman soldiers was posted. 16 The town was Melitenê,​24 and the detachment was called a "legion." In that place the Romans in former times had built a stronghold in the form of a square, on level ground, which served adequately as barracks for the soldiers and provided a place where they could deposit their standards. 17 Later on, by decision of the Roman Emperor Trajan, the place received the rank of a city and became the  p201 metropolis of the province. 18 And as time went on, the city of Melitenê became large and populous. But since the people were no longer able to live inside the fortifications (for it was reduced to a small space, as I have said) they settled in the adjoining plain, and here their shrines have been erected and the residences of the magistrates and their market-place, and all the other places for the sale of goods, and all the streets and stoas and baths and theatres of the city, and whatever else contributes to the embellishment of a great city. 19 In this way it came about that Melitenê was for the most part unwalled. Accordingly the Emperor Anastasius undertook to surround the whole of it with a wall; 20 before, however, he had carried out his purpose he fulfilled the measure of his life. But the Emperor Justinian built about it on all sides a very strong wall and made Melitenê a mighty stronghold for the Armenians and a thing of beauty.

5 1 These works he built in the Armenia which is on the right of the Euphrates River; and I shall go on to tell what was done by him in Greater Armenia. 2 When Theodosius, the Emperor of the Romans, took over the dominion of Arsaces, as I have just related,​25 he built on one of the hills a fort which was easy for assailants to capture, and he named it Theodosiopolis.​26 3 This city Cabades, who was then King of Persia, captured in passing when he was marching on Amida. 4 The Roman Emperor Anastasius not  p203 much later built a city there, enclosing within the circuit-wall the hill on which stood the fortress of Theodosius. 5 And he gave his own name to the city, yet he was quite unable to obliterate that of Theodosius, the earlier founder; for although familiar names are wont constantly to be changed by men for new, nevertheless the older names cannot easily be relinquished. 6 This wall of Theodosiopolis was of adequate extent, but it did not rise to a height proportionate to its thickness. 7 In fact it attained a height of only •about thirty feet, and for this reason it had proved to be very easy for an enemy to capture by assault, particularly for the Persians. 8 In other ways too it was vulnerable; for it was protected neither by outworks nor by a moat. 9 Indeed, there was actually a certain elevation which came very close to the city and overtopped the circuit-wall. Consequently the Emperor Justinian took the following measures to meet the situation. First of all he dug a very deep ditch all around, making it very like the ravines between lofty mountains. 10 Next he sliced off the elevated ground, so transforming it as to make a series of impassable cliffs and of gulches affording no outlet. And in order that the wall might be exceptionally high and altogether impregnable, in case anyone should attack it, he added all the details which he had incorporated in the fortifications of Daras.​27 11 For he made the embrasures quite narrow, just wide enough for the defenders to be able to shoot from them, and by adding courses of stones he built thereon a storey like a gallery all round, and then cleverly added other embrasures above them;  p205 and surrounding the wall with outworks on all sides he made it much like the circuit-wall of Daras, fashioning each tower as a strong fortress. 12 Here he stationed all the troops and the General of the two Armenias, and thus he made the Armenians thenceforth too strong to be afraid of the attacks of the Persians.

13 In Bizana, however, nothing was done by this Emperor, for the following reason. This town lies on level ground, and about it for a great distance stretch plains suitable for cavalry manoeuvres, and there are many pools of standing water there. 14 Consequently it is not only very open to the enemy's attack, but most unhealthy for the inhabitants. 15 For these reasons he passed over this town and in another situation built a city bearing the Emperor's own name, a very noteworthy and altogether impregnable place, in the district called Tzumina, which is •three miles removed from Bizana, situated on very precipitous ground and enjoying excellent air.

6 1 These, then, are the things which the Emperor Justinian did in Armenia. And it has seemed to me not inappropriate to record at this point in my account what he did for the Tzani, for they are neighbours of the Armenians. 2 From ancient times the Tzani​28 have lived as an independent people, without rulers, following a savage-like manner of life, regarding as gods the trees and birds and sundry creatures besides, and worshipping them, and spending their whole lives among mountains reaching to the sky and covered with forests,​29 and cultivating  p207 no land whatever, but robbing and living always on their plunder. 3 For they themselves are not skilled in cultivating the soil, and their country, at least where it is not occupied by the steepest mountains, is hilly. 4 These uplands are not rolling hills, neither do they provide soil such as would produce harvests, if one should cultivate them, but they are excessively rough and extremely hard and altogether unfavourable to any crops. 5 It is not possible either to irrigate the land or to harvest corn;º one cannot find meadow-land in that region, indeed even the trees which grow in Tzanica bear no fruit and are entirely unproductive, for seasons do not regularly follow one another, and the earth is not visited at one period by a cold wet season, while at another the sun's heat quickens it, but the land is held in the grip of an endless winter and buried under everlasting snows. 6 For this reason the Tzani in ancient times used to live in independence, but during the reign of the present Emperor Justinian they were defeated in battle by the Romans under the general Tzittas, and abandoning the struggle they all straightway yielded to him, preferring the toilless servitude to the dangerous liberty. 7 And they immediately changed their belief to piety, all of them becoming Christians, and they altered their manner of life to a milder way, giving up all brigandage and always marching with the Romans whenever they went against their enemies. 8 And the Emperor Justinian, fearing that the Tzani at some time might alter their way of life and change their habits back to the wilder sort, devised the following measures.

 p209  9 Tzanica was a very inaccessible country and altogether impossible for horses, being shut in on all sides by cliffs and for the most part by forests, as I have said. 10 As a result of this it was impossible for the Tzani to mingle with their neighbours, living as they did a life of solitude among themselves in the manner of wild beasts. 11 Accordingly he cut down all the trees by which the routes chanced to be obstructed, and transforming the rough places and making them smooth and passable for horses, he brought it about that they mingled with other peoples in the manner of men in general and consented to have intercourse with their neighbours. 12 After this he built a church for them in a place called Schamalinichôn, and caused them to conduct services and to partake of the sacraments and propitiate God with prayers and perform the other acts of worship, so that they should know that they were human beings. 13 And he built forts in all parts of the land, assigned to them very strong garrisons of Roman soldiers, and gave the Tzani unhampered intercourse with other peoples. 14 I shall now tell where in Tzanica he built these forts.

15 It happens that a certain point in that land forms the meeting-place of three roads; for the boundaries of the Romans and the Persarmenians and the Tzani themselves begin here and extend out from this point. 16 Here he constructed a very strong fortress which had not existed previously, Horonôn by name, making it the mainstay of the peace of the region. 17 For the Romans were first able to enter Tzanica from that point. Here too he established a military commander called a Duke. 18 And at a place two  p211 days' journey distant from Horonôn, where the territory of the Tzani who are called Ocenitae commences (for the Tzani are divided into many tribes), there was a sort of stronghold built by men of former times, Chartôn by name, which long before had already become a ruin through neglect. 19 This the Emperor Justinian restored, and he caused a large population to live there and to preserve order in the country. 20 And as one goes from there towards the east, there is a precipitous ravine which extends around to the north; here he built a new fortress, Barchôn by name. 21 Beyond this at the foot of the mountain are folds where the cattle of the Ocenite Tzani, as they are called, find shelter; and they breed these cattle, not in order to plough the earth — for the Tzani are altogether indolent and averse to the tasks of husbandry, as I have said,​30 and they neither plough nor perform the other labours of husbandry — but in order to have a constant supply of milk and to eat their flesh. 22 Beyond the foothills of the mountain, where the place called Cena lies in the level country, as one goes approximately westward there is a fort named Sisilissôn; this had been built in ancient times, but, with the passage of time, had come to be deserted; so the Emperor Justinian restored it and established there a sufficient garrison of Roman soldiers, just as in all the others. 23 And as one goes on from that fort, there is a certain place on the left, towards the north, which the natives call Longini Fossatum,​31 because in earlier times Longinus, a Roman general,  p213 an Isaurian by birth, had made an expedition against the Tzani on one occasion and built his camp there. 24 In that place this Emperor built a fortress called Bourgousnoes, one day's journey distant from Sisilissôn. 25 This fort of Sisilissôn too was rendered very strong by this same Emperor, as was stated a little above. 26 From there begins the territory of the Coxyline Tzani, as they are called; and here has now made two forts, one called Schamalinichôn and the other is the one they call Tzanzacôn; and here he posted another military commander.

7 1 These things, then, were done by the Emperor Justinian in Tzanica. In the land beyond this which lies along the Euxine Sea there is a city named Trapezus;​32 and since there was a scarcity of water in that city, the Emperor Justinian built an aqueduct which they call the Aqueduct of the martyr Eugenius, and thus he put an end to the scarcity for the inhabitants of this place. 2 Both there and in Amaseia he restored most of the churches, which had been damaged by the long passage of time. 3 And beyond the confines of Trapezus there is a place called Rhizaeum​33 which he restored himself, throwing about it a novel system of defences which surpass any description or report of them. 4 For it was so fashioned as to be inferior in point of size and safety to no one of the cities on the Persian frontier.

5 He also built a fortress in Lazica named Losorium, and he fortified the mountain-passes of the country which they are wont to call cleisurae,​34 with the purpose, of course, that the enemy might be shut off  p215 from the entrance into Lazica. 6 Nay more, he restored the Christian church in Lazica, which was old and had become weakened in its masonry. 7 He likewise founded Petra in Lazica, an admirable city, which the Lazi through their own folly handed over to the Persians, bringing Chosroes there with a great army; but the Romans prevailed over the Persians in the struggle and killed a part of the enemy and made the rest captive and razed the city, so that the barbarians might not again be able, by coming there, to work mischief, all of which has been set forth by me in the Books on the Wars.​35 8 In the same place I have explained how the Romans dismantled two fortresses, Sebastopolis​36 and Pityûs,​37 on the opposite coast as one goes from Lazica to the Maeotic Lake,​38 because they had heard that Chosroes was eager to send an army with men to take possession of these fortresses. 9 But at a later time the Emperor Justinian restored the whole of Sebastopolis and made it impregnable by means of its circuit-wall and other defences, adorned it with streets and with various buildings besides, and produced the present city, which is remarkable among the cities of the world for its beauty and its size.

10 Moreover, in the case of the coastal cities Bosporus​39 and Chersôn,​40 which lie on the shore there beyond the Maeotic Lake and the Taurians and Tauroscythians, at the extremity of the Roman Empire, he found that the walls had fallen completely into ruin,  p217 and he made them remarkably beautiful and thoroughly safe. 11 In that region he built two fortresses, that called Aloustou and the one among the Gorzoubitae. 12 He strengthened the defences of Bosporus particularly, which in ancient times had been a barbarous city lying under the power of the Huns, but which he himself had brought under Roman sway. 13 And there is a certain region along the coast there called Dory, where Goths have lived from ancient times, those namely who had not followed Theoderic when he went into Italy, but remained there of their own accord, and even up to my day they are on terms of alliance with the Romans. And they march with the Romans against their enemies whenever the Emperor so wishes. 14 Their number comes to three thousand, and they are both excellent soldiers and skilful tillers of the soil, and the most hospitable people in the world. 15 The land of Dory itself lies on high ground, yet it is neither rough nor hard, but good soil and productive of the best crops. 16 However, Emperor built no city or fortress in any part of this land, since the men of the country would not suffer themselves to be confined in any fortified places but always lived most happily in an open plain. 17 But wherever the region seemed easily accessible to assailants, he shut off these approaches with long walls and thereby freed the Goths from fear of invasion. So much, then, for this.

18 There is a certain city on the coast of the Euxine Sea, inhabited by Thracians, Anchialus​41 by name, which properly we should mention in describing the  p219 land of Thrace. 19 But since in the present place our treatise has enumerated the buildings of this Emperor along the shore of the Euxine Sea, it is in no way inappropriate to describe at this point in our narrative what he built at this town of Anchialus. 20 At that place, then, natural springs of warm water bubble forth, not far from the city, providing natural baths for the people there. 21 The Emperors of earlier times used to allow this place to remain unwalled from ancient times, though such a host of barbarians dwelt near by; 22 and sick persons used to visit the place, gaining relief at the cost of danger. 23 Therefore the Emperor Justinian made it a walled city, as it now is, and thus made the cure free from danger. 24 So the strongholds of the East, as well as those of Armenia and Tzanica, and those on both shores of the Euxine Sea, were thus built by the Emperor Justinian. 25 From this point we must proceed to the buildings which he erected in the rest of Europe.

---

The Loeb Editor's Notes:

1 I.e. as distinguished from the Theodosiopolis on the Aborrhas mentioned above, II.ii.16, vi.13; see further below, Chap. v.2.

❦

2 Alexander Severus, A.D. 222‑235.

❦

3 Ascended the throne in 408 after Christ.

❦

4 II.iii.35.

❦

5 I.e. west and north of it.

❦

6 A bivalve which grows a silky beard. The usual form of the word is πίννα.

❦

7 The description is obscure, and the precise meaning of ἐμβολή is unknown; see Haury's Index Graecitatis. But the (p185)general idea seems to be that where in the dress of high officials purple was normally used, this space was done in gold.

❦

8 Latin plumeus, "embroidered."

❦

9 A.D. 474‑491.

❦

10 Modern Mejafarkin.

❦

11 Modern Köderidj.

❦

12 It is uncertain whether the name is accented Ηύμφιος or Ηυμφίος; Haury, Index nominum.

❦

13 In A.D. 502.

❦

14 I.vii.3.

❦

15 Latin clausura or clusura, "a narrow shut-in road"; cf. Wars, II.xxix.25, note, and Jour. Hel. Stud. XXI.69 ff.

❦

16 Chap. ii.1.

❦

17 That is, Lesser Armenia; cf. chap. i.17 supra.

❦

18 Modern Sadagh.

❦

19 Modern Kara Hissar.

❦

20 The name appears elsewhere in a variety of forms, especially Olotoidariza.

❦

21 "The Trench of Germanus": see below, Chap. vi.23.

❦

22 At or near the modern town of Siwas.

❦

23 Modern Pjurk, near Enderes.

❦

24 Modern Malatia.

❦

25 Cf. Chap. i.12 and note.

❦

26 Modern Erzeroum.

❦

27 Cf. Buildings, II.i.14 ff.

❦

28 In Wars, I.15.19 ff., Procopius places these people in Iberia, south of the Caucasus.

❦

29 But for the statement below in sec. 9 the adjective ἀμφιλαφής might be given the meaning of "stupendous mass."

❦

30 Cf. III.vi.2.

❦

31 "The Trench of Longinus."

❦

32 Modern Trebizond.

❦

33 Modern Risê, a port on the Black Sea.

❦

34 See above, Chap. iii.2, note.

❦

35 VIII.xii.28.

❦

36 Near the older city of Dioscurias.

❦

37 Modern Pitzunda.

❦

38 Modern Sea of Azov.

❦

39 Generally called Panticapaeum; modern Kertsch.

❦

40 Modern Sevastopol.

❦

41 Modern Ankhialo.

◂ previous						next ▸
Images with borders lead to more information. The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.)
UP TO:	Buildings	Classical Texts	LacusCurtius	Home
A page or image on this site is in the public domain ONLY if its URL has a total of one *asterisk. If the URL has two **asterisks, the item is copyright someone else, and used by permission or fair use. If the URL has none the item is © Bill Thayer. See my copyright page for details and contact information.