Of the Buildings of Justinian

by Procopius

Let us now proceed to Thrace, taking as the best foundation for our narrative the neighbourhood of Byzantium, since that city surpasses all others in Thrace, both in strength and situation, for it overhangs Europe like a citadel, and guards also the sea which divides it from Asia. I have described above his works, both churches and other buildings, within and without the walls of Constantinople; I am now about to speak of what lies beyond them.

There is a fort in the suburbs of the city, which from its form is called the ‘round fort.’ The road which leads from it to Rhegium passes for the most part over uneven ground, and in rainy seasons used to become swampy and difficult for travellers; now, however, our Emperor has paved it with large stones, and made it easy to traverse. In length this road reaches as far as Rhegium; its width is such that two waggons going in opposite directions can pass without difficulty. The stones of which it is formed are very hard; one would imagine them to be millstones. They are of enormous size, so that each of them covers a large extent of ground, and stands up to a great height. They form so smooth and level a surface that they do not seem to be joined, or carefully let into one another, but to have grown together. Such is this road. There is a lake close to Rhegium, into which rivers flowing from the higher ground discharge their waters. This lake reaches as far as the sea, so that there is but one very narrow bank between them, both washed on either side by their several waters; when, however, they approach most nearly to one another, they restrain their currents and turn them back, as though they had there placed boundaries for themselves. At one point they join one another, leaving a channel between them, of which it is hard to say to which water it belongs, for the water of the sea does not always flow into the lake, nor does the lake always discharge its waters into the sea; but after much rain, and with a southerly wind, the water of the channel appears to flow out of the lake; though if the wind blows from the north, the sea appears to wash into the lake. In this place the sea forms an immense extent of shoal-water, with only one narrow channel leading through them into deep water. This channel is so narrow that it is called the ‘Ant.’ The channel which, as I have said before, joins the lake to the sea, used in former times to be crossed by a wooden bridge, though with great danger to the passengers, who often fell into the water together with the beams of the bridge; now, however, the Emperor Justinian has raised the bridge upon high arches of stone, and rendered the passage safe.

Beyond Rhegium there is a city named Athyra, whose inhabitants he relieved from the distress from which he found them suffering from want of water, by building a reservoir there, in which the excess of their water might be stored up, and supplied to them in time of need; he also restored the ruinous part of their wall.

Beyond Athyra there is a place which the natives call Episcopia. The Emperor Justinian perceiving that this place lay exposed to the attacks of the enemy, more especially as there was no strong place, but the country was entirely unguarded, built a fort there, the towers of which he constructed, not in the usual manner, but as follows. From the ‘curtain’ wall projects a building, narrow at first, but very wide at the outer end, upon which each of the towers is built. It is not possible for an enemy to approach near to this wall, since they come between these towers, and are overwhelmed by the cross-fire which the garrison easily pour upon their heads. He placed the gates, not in the usual manner, between two towers, but obliquely in a small projection of the wall, so that they are not seen by the enemy, but are hidden behind the wall. This work was performed for the Emperor by Theodorus Silentiarius, a very clever man. Thus was this fort constructed. We must now proceed to make some mention of the ‘long walls.’

IX. The sea which proceeds from the ocean and Spain, with Europe on its left hand, flows in the same easterly direction as far as Thrace, but there divides into two portions, one of which proceeds towards the east, while another makes a short bend and terminates in the Euxine Sea. When it reaches Byzantium, it winds round the city on its eastern side, as though round a goal, and continues its course in a much more oblique direction, proceeding by a strait which turns the upper and lower parts of Thrace into an isthmus; not that the sea there is divided into two parts, as is the case in other isthmuses, but it circles round in a singular manner and embraces Thrace on both sides, and more especially the whole suburbs of Byzantium. These suburbs the inhabitants have built over and adorned, not merely for their use, but with an arrogant and boundless luxury, and with all the license which is produced by wealth. Here they have stored much furniture, and preserved many works of art. Whenever, therefore, the barbarians suddenly invade the Roman Empire, these places suffer far more damage than the rest, and are in fact utterly ruined. The Emperor Anastasius, wishing to prevent this, built long walls[79] at a place no less than forty miles from Byzantium, joining the two seas where they were distant two days’ journey from one another. Having constructed these works, he supposed that all within them had been made secure; they were, however, the cause of still greater disasters, for it was not possible either to build so enormous a work firmly, or to guard it with proper care; while when the enemy made themselves masters of one part of the long wall, they conquered the remainder of the garrison without difficulty, assailed the rest of the people unexpectedly, and did more mischief than can easily be described.

Our Emperor, however, having rebuilt the ruinous part of these walls, and strengthened their weak points so as to assist their defenders, devised the following plan also. He stopped up all the passages leading from one tower to another, and arranged one single means of ascent from the ground, within the walls of each, so that the garrison could, if necessary, block up this passage and defy an enemy, even though he had made his way within the wall, since each tower is sufficient within itself for the defence of its garrison. Within these walls he made the most complete provision for safety, both by the buildings which I have mentioned above, and by restoring the most ruinous part of the wall of the city of Selybria.[80] These were the works of the Emperor Justinian at the ‘long walls.’

The well-known city of Heraclea,[81] our neighbour on the sea-coast, which formerly, under the name of Perinthus, was the first city in Europe, and now is second to Constantinople alone, not long ago was reduced to great straits by want of water; not that the country near it was waterless, or that those who built the city in ancient times had neglected to supply it with water—for Europe abounds with fountains, and the ancients took care to make aqueducts—but time, as usual, destroyed the fabric of the aqueduct either through contempt for the age of the building, or encouraged to ruin it by the carelessness of the citizens of Heraclea. This led to Heraclea being left almost without inhabitants; while time produced the same effect upon the palace there, which was a very magnificent building. However, the Emperor Justinian did not neglect this city, but in a truly royal manner furnished it with sweet and transparent waters, and did not allow the palace to lose its ancient reputation, for he restored the whole of it.

A day’s journey from Heraclea is a place by the seaside named Rhædestus, conveniently situated for the navigation of the Hellespont, with a good harbour where merchant-ships can moor and discharge their cargoes in quiet water, and when reloaded can again put to sea without difficulty. It is, however, exposed to attacks of barbarians if they should make a sudden incursion into that country, being neither fortified nor placed on difficult ground; for this reason it was neglected by merchants, who disregarded it through fear of this danger. Now, however, the Emperor Justinian has not only rendered the place itself secure, but has also provided for the safety of all those who dwell in the neighbourhood by building a city at Rhædestus, with a strong wall and of very remarkable size, in which, on an invasion of the barbarians, all the people of the neighbourhood can take refuge and save their lives and property.

X. Thus did the Emperor Justinian at Rhædestus;[82] I now proceed to his works in the Chersonesus. The Chersonesus projects beyond that part of Thrace, for it runs out into the sea and appears as though it proceeded as far as Asia, and was joined on to it. Its shore forms a promontory near the city of Elæus,[83] thus dividing the sea into two parts, while it itself is separated from the rest of the mainland by the water which runs into a recess forming what is called the Black Gulf; the rest of it almost forms an island, from which shape it derives its name, for it is called Chersonesus because it is only prevented by a narrow isthmus from being altogether an island. Across this isthmus the ancients carelessly built a wall which could be scaled with ladders, making it as low and narrow as though they thought they were building a dry stone wall round an out-of-the-way garden. In addition to this they built low and mean works, of the kind called moles, projecting into the sea on either side of the isthmus, and thus fortified the space between the wall and the sea, but in such a manner as not to repel invaders but to invite them to make an attack, so contemptible and easily captured was their fortification. Imagining, however, that they had erected an impassable barrier against the enemy, they did not think it necessary to build any strong place within this wall, for there was no fort or any other place of strength in the Chersonesus, though it extends for a distance of nearly three days’ journey. Quite lately the enemy invaded Thrace, made an attempt upon the passage by the seashore, frightened away its guards, forced their way in as if in sport, and gained the other side of the wall without any difficulty.

The Emperor Justinian therefore, in his great care for the safety of his subjects, did as follows: First, he utterly destroyed the ancient wall so that no vestige of it was left. He then built a second wall upon the same site, of considerable width and height; above the battlements of this he built a vaulted roof like a portico to shelter the defenders, while a second range of battlements resting upon these vaults doubled the defensive power of this work against an enemy. After this, at each end of the wall, on the very beach of the sea, he built two of the projecting works named moles, reaching a long way into the water, connected with the wall, and equalling it in height. He also cleaned out the ditch outside the wall and excavated it to a great width and depth; moreover, he placed a garrison of soldiers within these long walls sufficient to hold them against all the barbarians who might attack the Chersonesus. After having made this part so strong and secure, he nevertheless built additional fortifications in the interior, so that if, which God forbid, any disaster should befall the ‘long wall,’ the people of Chersonesus would nevertheless be safe; for he enclosed the city of Aphrodisias, which before had been for the greater part defenceless, with a very strong wall, and supplied with walls and inhabitants the city of Ciberis, building there baths, hospices, numerous houses, and all that is necessary for a magnificent city. He likewise most securely fortified Callipolis,[84] which had been left without walls by the ancients, through their trust in the ‘long wall.’ Here he built storehouses for corn and wine sufficient to supply all the wants of the garrison of the Chersonesus.[85]