Of the Buildings of Justinian

by Procopius

He restored Nicopolis, Photica and Phœnice; the latter towns, Photica and Phœnice, being situated upon low ground, suffered from inundations; wherefore the Emperor Justinian, perceiving that it was impossible to build walls for them upon a firm foundation, made no alteration in either of them, but built forts near them, which he placed upon strong and precipitous ground. In this country there was an ancient city, abundantly supplied with water, and deriving its name from its position, for it was formerly named Eurœa. Not far from this city of Eurœa is a lake, in the midst of which rises an island containing a hill; the lake reaches round this island so far as only just to allow access to it. The Emperor transferred the inhabitants of Eurœa to this place, built a city for them, and strongly fortified it.

II. After our survey of the whole of Epirus we pass over Ætolia and Acarnania, and come to the Crissæan Gulf, the Isthmus of Corinth, and the other parts of Greece. Here the Emperor’s foresight was most especially displayed, and one may marvel at the numerous walled cities with which he fortified the Roman Empire. Amongst the rest he paid especial care at the pass of Thermopylæ. In the first place he raised its walls to a great height, for the mountains in this place were easy to be taken by an enemy, and were fortified by what was more like a hedgerow than a wall. He placed double battlements upon all these walls, and also upon the fort, which had been built there in an equally careless manner by the ancients, giving it a sufficient height, and double bulwarks. Besides all this, as the place was entirely without water, he contrived a reservoir for rain-water, and also carefully fortified many paths up the mountain which had formerly been left unguarded.

One may well wonder how the Persian King spent so long a time here, and only found one path, and that, too, one which was betrayed to him by Greek traitors, when there are many unfortified roads in the place along which one could almost drive a waggon; for the sea, which washes the base of the mountains, has widened the mouths of most of the paths leading up from thence, and as the ground was full of glens and impassable ravines, it appeared to the ancients that what was thus divided by nature could not be continuously enclosed by fortifications, so that they lazily sacrificed their safety in their reluctance to embark upon so difficult a work, and trusted to chance, resting all their hopes of safety against the invasion of the barbarians on their probable ignorance of the roads; for men who despair of accomplishing difficult tasks always imagine that what they have found so hard, will not easily be effected by others; so that it cannot be disputed that the Emperor Justinian showed greater care and foresight than anyone else who has ever lived, since he was not prevented, even by the sea which washes and breaks upon these mountains, from laying firm foundations on the very beach and watery shore, and making the most contrary elements serve his purpose, and yield to him, subdued by human art. However, not even after having connected these mountain thickets and glens, and having joined the sea to the mountain, and enclosed the whole of Greece with his fortifications, did our Emperor relax his zeal on behalf of his subjects, but he also built many forts within this wall, taking a just view of the chances of human life, which render no place secure or impregnable; so that if by any mischance it should happen that these walls should at any time be taken, the garrison might find a refuge in these forts. Moreover, he established everywhere granaries and reservoirs of water in secure positions, and placed nearly 2,000 soldiers to garrison the works, which was never done by any emperor at any former time; for these walls remained unguarded formerly, even down to my own time, and if the enemy assaulted them, some of the peasants in the neighbourhood, adopting a military life on the spur of the moment, used to act as garrison, and, from their want of experience, risked the capture of them and of the whole of Greece, by which parsimony this country was for a long time exposed to the attack of the barbarians.[73]

Thus did the Emperor Justinian strengthen the fortifications of Thermopylæ. He also with great care built walls round the cities which lie in the country beyond it—Saccus, Hypata, Coracii, Unnum, Baleæ and Leontarium. At Heraclea he did as follows: as one goes from Illyria to Greece, two mountains stand close to one another for a long distance, forming a narrow pass between them, of the kind called Clisuræ. In the midst runs a fountain, which in the summer-time pours a clear and drinkable stream down from the mountains which stand around, and forms a tiny rivulet; but in rainy seasons there rises a very deep and violent torrent, which collects its waters from the ravines among the cliffs. By this path the barbarians were able to gain an easy passage to Thermopylæ and the neighbouring parts of Greece. On either side of the path there were in ancient times two ancient fortresses, one being the city of Heraclea, which I mentioned before, and the other that of Myropole, standing at a little distance from it. The Emperor Justinian restored both these fortresses, which had long been in ruins, and built a very strong wall across the pass, joining it to the mountains on either side, so that he closed the passage against the barbarians, and forced the torrent first to form a lake within this wall, and then to flow over it and continue its course.

He secured all the cities of Greece which lie within the walls of Thermopylæ, restoring the fortifications of all of them, for they had long ago fallen into decay—at Corinth in consequence of violent earthquakes, and at Athens, Platæa, and the towns in Bœotia having fallen into decay through age, as no one had taken any care of them; he, however, left no place assailable or unguarded, for in his watchful care for his subjects he bethought him that the barbarians, should they reach the country about Thermopylæ, would despair of success as soon as they learned that they would gain nothing by forcing the works there, since all the rest of Greece was fortified, and they would have to undertake the siege of each individual city; for a deferred hope does not encourage men to endure labour, nor are they eager for gain which is far distant, but give up their hopes of future advantage to avoid present discomfort.

Having effected this, the Emperor Justinian, learning that all the cities in Peloponnesus were unwalled, and reflecting that much time would be wasted if he attended to the security of each one, securely fortified the whole isthmus with a wall, since the existing wall was mostly in ruins. Upon this wall he built forts and established garrisons in them, and in this manner rendered the whole country of Peloponnesus safe from the enemy, even though any misfortune should befall the fortifications at Thermopylæ.

III. Diocletianopolis in Thessaly was in ancient times a flourishing city, but latterly was ruined by the incursions of the barbarians, and had long been without inhabitants. There is a lake near it, which is called Castoria, in the midst of which is an island surrounded by water, with only one narrow passage, not wider than fifteen feet, leading to it through the lake. On this island stands a very lofty mountain, which overhangs the lake on one side and the island on the other; wherefore our Emperor decided against the site of Diocletianopolis, because it was obviously exposed to attack, and had long before suffered the misfortunes which I had mentioned, but built a very strong city on the island, to which he naturally gave his own name. Besides this, he removed the walls of Echinæum, Thebes, Pharsalus, and all the other cities of Thessaly, amongst which are Demetrias, Metropolis, Gomphi, and Tricattus, and securely fortified them, for their walls were decayed by age and could easily be taken by an enemy.

Now that we have come to Thessaly, let us proceed to Mount Pelion and the river Peneus. The Peneus flows in a gentle stream past Mount Pelion, and in its course adorns the city of Larissa, for Phthia no longer exists, but has perished through age. The river flows with a quiet stream as far as the sea, and the neighbouring country is rich in fruits of all kinds, and in sweet waters, which the inhabitants were never able to enjoy, as they were in continual expectation of an attack from the barbarians; for there was no strong place anywhere in these regions to which they could fly for refuge, but the walls of Larissa and Cæsarea were so ruinous that they were almost open towns. The Emperor Justinian, by rebuilding the walls of both these cities very strongly, enabled the country to enjoy true prosperity. Not far from hence rise precipitous mountains covered with lofty trees. These mountains were the home of the Centaurs; and in this country the battle of the Centaurs with the Lapithæ took place, as the ancient myths declare, which inform us that in old times there dwelt there a monstrous race combining the forms of two creatures. Antiquity gives some warrant for this fable by the name of a fort in these mountains, which down to my own time was named Centauropolis, whose ruinous walls the Emperor Justinian restored and strengthened, together with those of Eurymene in the same country, which had fallen into the same condition.

Now, that I may leave no part of Greece undescribed, we must proceed to the island of Eubœa, which stands close to Athens and Marathon. This island of Eubœa lies in the sea, in front of Greece, and seems to me as though it had once formed a part of the mainland, and had afterwards been separated from it by a strait, for an arm of the sea flows past the mainland there, in the neighbourhood of the city of Chalcis, ebbing and flowing in a narrow channel, confined between banks which reduce it to the size of a rivulet. This strait is called the Euripus. Such is the island of Eubœa. A single beam laid across the strait forms a bridge, which the inhabitants lay across at their pleasure, and then appear to be dwellers on the continent, and walk on foot to the land beyond the strait; but when they remove it, they cross the strait in boats, and again become islanders: so that whether they proceed on foot or on shipboard depends upon the laying down or taking up of a single piece of wood....

The country within this is named (the Peninsula of) Pallene. In ancient times the inhabitants built a wall across the isthmus, which joined the sea at each end, and built there a city, which in former times was called Potidæa, and now Casandria; however, time so ruined all these buildings that when, not long ago, the Huns overran these regions, they captured this cross-wall and city as though in sport, though they never have conducted a siege since the world began. This event, however, gave the Emperor Justinian an opportunity of displaying his goodness and magnanimity: for as he was always wont to repair all the misfortunes which befell him by his own foresight, he turned the most terrible disasters into a source of good fortune by the magnificent works by which he repaired. So here he fortified the city of Pallene, which is the bulwark of the whole country, and the wall across the isthmus, so as to render them quite impregnable and able to defy all attacks. These were his works in Macedonia.