Of the Buildings of Justinian

by Procopius

In Bithynia there are springs of warm water in the place called Pythia. These springs are made use of by many persons, especially the inhabitants of Byzantium, for pleasure, and above all for the healing of those suffering from disease. Here he displayed a truly imperial magnificence; for he built a palace, which had not existed before, and public baths supplied with the warm water. He also brought hither drinking water by an aqueduct from distant fountains, and relieved the place from the drought from which it had formerly suffered. Besides this, he rebuilt on a larger and much more magnificent scale the Church of the Archangel and the infirmary for the sick.

IV. There is a river in Galatia which the inhabitants call the Siberis,[93] near the place called Sycæ, and about ten miles from the city of Juliopolis, on the eastern side. This river often rose suddenly to a great height and swept away many of the travellers along that road. The Emperor Justinian, grieved at hearing this, put a stop to these disasters for the future by spanning the river with a powerful bridge, capable of withstanding the force of a flooded river. He also formed the eastern abutment of the bridge into a projecting wall, of the form technically known as a bulwark. He also built a church for travellers on the western side of it, which might serve as a refuge for them in times of storm. The river, which flows past the western side of this city of Juliopolis, used to shake and injure its walls; however, our Emperor restrained it by building an embankment parallel to the city wall for a distance of not less than five hundred feet. By this means he preserved the fortifications of the city from being washed away.

The following were his works in Cappadocia. There has been there since ancient times a very large and populous city named Cæsarea, which was surrounded by a wall of such excessive extent as to render it weak and altogether indefensible, because it enclosed a large space which was not necessary for the city, and was exposed to attack by its useless length; for there are lofty hills, not near to one another, but at a considerable distance, which the founder of the city was anxious to enclose within its walls, lest they should be used to attack it from, so that thus, under the pretext of safety, he really exposed it to great danger, by enclosing many fields and gardens, besides crags and high pasture-land, on which the inhabitants did not subsequently build any houses, but left it in its former condition, the few houses upon it remaining solitary and isolated to the present day. The garrison was not sufficient to guard such a great extent of wall, nor were the inhabitants able to keep it in repair, so that they lived in terror of attack, just as though they had no walls at all. However, the Emperor Justinian pulled down the unnecessary part of the wall, concentrated the city within a really efficient rampart, and made the place impregnable to all assailants, strengthening it with a sufficient garrison. Thus did he provide for the safety of the people of Cæsarea in Cappadocia.

There was in Cappadocia a fortress named Mocesus, standing on level ground, whose wall was so decayed that some part of it had already fallen, and the rest was like to fall. The Emperor Justinian demolished this fort, and built a new and very great wall to the westward of the old fort, on a lofty spot inaccessible to any assailants. Here he built many churches, hospices, public baths, and everything else which belongs to a flourishing city; so that this place came to be regarded as the metropolis, which is the name given by the Romans to the first city of a nation. These were his works in Cappadocia.

V. Along the road leading from the city of Antiochia, now called Theopolis, towards Cilicia, is a suburb named Platanon. Not far from this city was an ancient path, confined in a narrow glen between two mountains, which had been for the greater part washed away by the rains, so as to render it dangerous to travellers proceeding along it. When the Emperor Justinian heard of this, he spent much pains and thought upon it, and at once discovered a remedy for this evil; for at a vast expense he cut down and overcame the difficulties of the mountains in that region for a great distance, so that, beyond everyone’s hope and expectation, he made a level and wide carriage-road over what had formerly been precipice, clearly proving that by wise plans and lavish expenditure men can overcome all obstacles. These were his works in that quarter.

There is in Cilicia a city named Mopsuestia,[94] the work, it is said, of the celebrated ancient prophet (Mopsus). Beside this runs the river Pyramus, which is an ornament to the city, but is only traversed by one bridge. In the course of ages the greater part of this bridge became ruinous, so that it continually threatened to fall, and all who crossed it did so with the fear of death before their eyes. Thus, a work devised by the ancients for men’s safety had, through the negligence of those in charge of it, become a source of danger and terror; however, our Emperor carefully restored all the ruinous parts of the bridge, so as to afford security to those who crossed it, and enabled the city again to take a pride in the river unalloyed with fear.

Beyond this is the city of Adana, round the eastern side of which runs a river named Sarus,[95] which rises in the mountains of Armenia. The Sarus is a navigable river, and is nowhere fordable on foot. Here in ancient times there had been constructed a large and admirable bridge, in the following manner. In the river were built many piers, formed of large stones of great thickness, extending across the whole width of the river, and rising high above its surface. Above the two central ones rise two lofty arches. These piers, standing in the water, and having to withstand the force of a strong current, had in the course of ages become for the most part ruinous, so that at no distant time it appeared probable that the whole bridge would fall into the river, and every man who crossed it prayed that it might only just hold together until he had done so. However, the Emperor Justinian dug a new channel for the river, into which he diverted its stream for a time, removed the water from the above-mentioned piers, promptly removed the ruinous portions of them, and rebuilt them, after which he turned the river back again into the channel which is called its bed. These were his proceedings here.

The river Cydnus[96] runs through the midst of the city of Tarsus, and appears to have done no injury to it at any time except once, when it caused great destruction in the following manner: the season was spring-time, and a south wind, which suddenly began to blow with great strength, melted all the snow with which in winter-time the Tarsus Mountains are almost entirely covered. In consequence of this streams of water ran down from every part of those mountains, all the ravines poured down torrents, and numerous springs inundated all the skirts of the Tarsus range. The river Cydnus, swollen high by these waters which were poured into it by its tributaries, and by heavy rains which afterwards fell, overflowed and entirely washed away all the suburbs of Tarsus on the southern side, poured furiously into the city, sweeping away the bridges, which were of slight construction, inundated all the streets and market-places, and even rose as high as the upper stories of the houses. For a night and a day the city remained in this danger and distress, after which the river gradually retired and returned to its usual bed. When the Emperor Justinian heard of this, he devised the following plan. In the first place, he prepared a second channel for the river outside the city, in order that it might there divide its stream, and might only pour half its waters upon the city of Tarsus: next, he built the bridges very much wider, and rendered them too strong to be swept away by the flooded Cydnus. Thus he enabled the inhabitants of the city to dwell in it without alarms or dangers for the future.