Of the Buildings of Justinian

by Procopius

In a place about forty feet distant from the outwork of the city, across the valley in which the river runs between the two mountains, he constructed a barrier of considerable height and width, joining each end of it to the mountain on either side, in such a manner that the water of the river in its strongest flood could never force its way through it. This work is called by those who are learned in such matters a dam, or sluice, or whatever else they please. He did not build this barrier in a straight line, but in the form of a crescent, in order that its arch, which was turned against the stream of the water, might be better able to resist its violence. The upper and lower parts of this barrier are pierced with apertures, so that, when the river suddenly rises in flood, it is forced to stop there and to flow no further with the entire weight of its stream, but passing in small quantities through these apertures it gradually diminishes in violence and power, and the wall is never damaged by it; for the flow of water, collecting in the place which, as I have said before, is about forty feet in length, lying between the barrier and the outwork, is never unmanageable, but runs gently to its usual entrance, and thence is received in the artificial channel. As for the gate, which the fury of the river broke open in former times, he removed it from thence, and blocked up its site with enormous stones, because this gate, being situated on flat ground, was easily reached by the river when in flood; but he placed the gate not far off, in a lofty place in the most precipitous part of the circuit of the walls, which it was impossible for the river to reach. Thus did the Emperor arrange these matters.

The inhabitants of this city suffered greatly from the want of water, for there was no fountain springing out of the ground, nor was any water carried about the streets in an aqueduct, or stored up in cisterns; but those who lived in the streets through which the river passed could draw drinking-water from it without trouble, while those who dwelt at a distance from the course of the river had either to fetch their drinking-water with great trouble or to perish with thirst; however, the Emperor Justinian constructed a great aqueduct, by which he brought the water to every part of the city, and relieved the distress of the inhabitants. He also built two churches, that which is called the Great Church, and the Church of St. Bartholomew the Apostle.[37] Moreover, he built very spacious barracks for the soldiers, that they might not inconvenience the inhabitants.

Not long after this he restored the wall and outworks of the city of Amida, which had been built in former times, and were thought likely to fall into ruins; thus ensuring the safety of that city. I am now about to speak of his buildings in the forts which stand on the frontier of the territory of these cities.

IV. As one goes from the city of Dara towards the land of Persia, there lies on the left a tract entirely impassable for carriages or horses, extending to the distance of about two days’ journey for a lightly-equipped traveller, ending in an abrupt and precipitous place called Rhabdium.[38] The land on each side of this road to Rhabdium belongs for a great distance to Persia. When I first saw this I was surprised at it, and inquired of the people of the country how it was that a road and tract belonging to the Romans should have enemy’s land on each side of it. They answered, that this country once belonged to the Persians, but that at the request of the King of Persia one of the Roman Emperors gave a village abounding in vines near Martyropolis,[39] and received this region in exchange for it. The city of Rhabdium stands upon precipitous and wild rocks, which there rise to a wondrous height; below it is a region which they call ‘the field of the Romans,’ out of wonder, I suppose, at its belonging to the Romans, though it lies in the midst of the Persian country. This Roman field lies on flat ground, and is fruitful in all kinds of crops; one might conjecture this from the fact that the Persian frontier surrounds it on every side.

There is a very celebrated fort in Persia, named Sisauranum, which the Emperor Justinian once captured and razed to the ground; taking prisoners a great number of Persian cavalry, together with their leader Bleschanes. This place lies at a distance of two days’ journey from Dara for a lightly-equipped traveller, and is about three miles distant from Rhabdium. It was formerly unguarded, and altogether neglected by the Romans, so that it never received from them any garrison, fortification, or any other benefit, wherefore the peasants who tilled this country, of which I just spoke, besides the ordinary taxes, paid an annual tribute of fifty gold pieces to the Persians, in order that they might possess their lands and enjoy the produce of them in security. All this was altered for them by the Emperor Justinian, who enclosed Rhabdium with fortifications, which he built upon the summit of the mountain which rises there, and, taking advantage of the position of the ground, rendered it impossible for the enemy to approach it. As those who dwelt in it were in want of water, there being no springs on the top of the cliff, he constructed two cisterns, and by digging into the rocks in many places made large reservoirs of water, so that the rain-water might collect, and the garrison might use it freely, and not be liable to capture through distress for want of water.

He also rebuilt solidly, and gave their present beauty and strength to all the other mountain forts, which reach from this point and from the city of Dara to Amida; namely, Ciphæ, Sauræ, Smargdis, Lurnes, Hieriphthon, Atachæ, Siphris, Rhipalthæ, Banasymeon, and also Sinæ, Rhasius, Dabanæ, and all the others which were built there in ancient times, and which before this were constructed in a contemptible fashion, but which he made into an impregnable line of outposts along the Roman frontier. In this region there stands a very lofty mountain, precipitous, and altogether inaccessible; the plain below it is rich and free from rocks, suitable both for arable and pasture land, for it abounds in grass. There are many villages at the foot of this mountain, whose inhabitants are rich in the produce of the country, but lie exposed to the attacks of the enemy. This was remedied by the Emperor Justinian, who built a fort upon the summit of the mountain, in which they might place their most valued possessions, and themselves take refuge at the approach of the enemy. This is named the Fort of the Emperors. Moreover, he carefully rebuilt and safely fortified the forts in the neighbourhood of the city of Amida, which before were only surrounded by mud walls, and were incapable of defence. Among these were Apadnæ and the little fort of Byrthum: for it is not easy to set down all their names in detail, but, speaking generally, he found them all exposed to attack, and has now rendered them impregnable; and since his time Mesopotamia has become quite protected against the Persian nation.

Nor must I pass over in silence what he devised at the fort of Bara, of which I just now spoke. The interior of this fort was entirely without water, and Bara is built upon the precipitous summit of a lofty mountain. Outside its walls, at a great distance, at the bottom of the hill, there was a fountain which it was not thought advisable to include within the fortification, lest the part which was situated upon the low ground should be open to attack. He therefore devised the following plan. He ordered them to dig within the walls until they reached the level of the plain. When this was done in accordance with the Emperor’s order, to their surprise they found the water of the fountain flowing there; thus the fort was both constructed securely and conveniently situated with regard to water supply.

V. In the same manner, since the walls of Theodosiopolis,[40] the bulwark of the Roman Empire on the river Aborrhas, had become so decayed by age that the inhabitants derived no confidence from their strength, but rather terror, as they feared that before long they would fall down, the Emperor rebuilt them for the most part, so that they were able to check the invasions of the Persians into Mesopotamia. It is worth describing what he did at Constantina. The original wall of Constantina was so low that a ladder would easily reach the top, and in its construction was greatly exposed to attack, and seemed hardly to have been built in earnest; for the towers were of such a distance from one another, that if the assailants attacked the space between them, the garrison of the towers would be too far off to drive them back; moreover, the greater part of it was so ruinous from age that it seemed likely soon to fall. In addition to this, the city had an outwork which was more like a siege-work to enable the enemy to attack it; for it was not more than three feet in thickness, cemented with mud, the lower part of it built of rock fit for making mill-stones, but the upper part of what is called white-stone, which is not to be trusted and is very soft, so that the whole work might easily be captured. However, the Emperor Justinian rebuilt the decayed part of the walls, more especially on the west and north sides; between every two towers of the wall he placed the third, so that since his time all the towers for the defence of the wall stand close together. He also greatly raised the height of the wall and of all the towers, so as to render the place impregnable to an enemy. Moreover, he built covered approaches to the towers, each of which towers contained three stories of vaulted stone, so that each one of them was called and really was a castle in itself, for what the Greeks call ‘phrourion’ is called a ‘castle’ in the Latin tongue. Besides this, Constantina used formerly to be reduced to great straits for want of water; there are indeed wells of good water outside the walls at the distance of a mile, round which grows a large wood of very lofty trees; within the walls, however, since the streets are not built upon level but upon sloping ground, the city in ancient times was waterless, and its inhabitants suffered much from thirst and the difficulty of obtaining water; but the Emperor Justinian brought the water within the walls by means of an aqueduct, adorned the city with overflowing fountains, and may justly be termed its founder. These were the works of the Emperor Justinian in these cities.

VI. The Romans had a fort by the side of the river Euphrates on the extreme frontier of Mesopotamia, at the place where the river Aborrhas[41] effects its junction with the Euphrates. This fort was named Circesium,[42] and had been built in former times by the Emperor Diocletian; however, our present Emperor Justinian, finding that it had become ruinous through lapse of time, and was neglected and not in a posture of defence, altered it into a strong fortification, and made it into a city of eminent size and beauty. When Diocletian built the fort he did not completely surround it with a wall, but brought each end of the walls down to the river Euphrates, built a tower at each end of them, and left the side between them entirely unfortified, imagining, I suppose, that the waters of the river would suffice to defend the fort on that side. In the course of time, however, the stream of the river, continually eating away the bank, undermined the tower on the south side, and it became evident that unless prompt measures were taken it would shortly fall. Now appeared the Emperor Justinian, entrusted by Heaven with the glory of watching over, and, as far as one man can do, of restoring the Roman Empire. He not only saved the undermined tower, which he rebuilt of a hard stone, but also enclosed all the unprotected side of the fort with a very strong wall, thus doubling its security by adding the strength which it derived from the wall to that afforded by the river. Besides this, he also built a powerful outwork round the city, especially at the spot where the junction of the two rivers forms a triangular space, and thus left no place exposed to the attacks of the enemy. Moreover, he appointed a general who had the title of Duke, and who always resided there with a garrison of picked soldiers, thus rendering the place a sufficient bulwark for the frontier of the empire. He also rebuilt in its present splendour the public bath which is used by the inhabitants, which had become quite ruinous and useless by the incursions of the river; for he found all that part of it which is suspended above the solid foundation for the convenience of bathers, underneath which the fire is placed, and which is called the hypocaust, exposed to the influx of the river, by which the bath was rendered useless; he therefore strengthened with stonework, as I have said, the part which formerly had been hollow, and built another hypocaust above it, which the river could not reach, thus restoring the enjoyment of the bath to the garrison. In this manner did our Emperor restore the buildings of Circesium.

Beyond Circesium there is an ancient fort named Annucas, whose wall the Emperor Justinian found a mere ruin, and which he rebuilt in so magnificent a fashion that its defences vie with those of the most celebrated cities; and in the same manner he rendered formidable, and altogether unapproachable by an enemy, those forts situated near the city of Theodosiopolis, which before his time were either without walls, or only walled with mud and absurd heaps of stones. These are Magdalathum, with two others on either side of it, and the two forts, the Great and Little Thannurium, Bismideon, Themeres, Bidamas, Dausaron, Thiolla, Philæ, Zamarthas, and, one may say, all the rest. There was an extensive position near Thannurium, which could easily be occupied by our enemies the Saracens, by crossing the river Aborrhas, from which point they were able to penetrate in small parties into the thick and extensive forest and the mountain which is situated in that region, and make inroads upon the Roman inhabitants of that country; now, however, the Emperor Justinian has built a tower of hard stone in that place, manned it with a considerable garrison, and has altogether repressed the incursions of the enemy by the establishment of this bulwark against them.