[72] ‘Under the name of Justiniana Prima, the obscure village of Tauresium became the seat of an archbishop and a præfect, whose jurisdiction extended over seven warlike provinces of Illyricum; and the corrupt appellation of Giustendil still indicates, about twenty miles south of Sophia, the residence of a Turkish sanjak.’—Gibbon, ch. xl. (S.)
[73] ‘From the edge of the seashore, through the forests and valleys, and as far as the summit of the Thessalian Mountains, a strong wall was continued, which occupied every practical entrance. Instead of a hasty crowd of peasants, a garrison of 2,000 soldiers was stationed along the rampart; granaries of corn and reservoirs of water were provided for their use; and by a precaution that inspired the cowardice which it foresaw, convenient fortresses were erected for their retreat.’—Gibbon, ch. xl. (S.)
[74] ‘Six hundred of these forts were built or repaired by the Emperor; but it seems reasonable to believe, that the far greater part of them consisted only of a brick or stone tower, in the midst of a square or circular area, which was surrounded by a wall and ditch, and afforded in a moment of danger some protection to the peasants and cattle of its neighbouring villages.’—Gibbon, ch. xl. (S.)
[75] Singidonum, now Belgrade. (W.)
[76] ‘Strabo speaks of the “Iron Gate” as the place where the Danube ends and the Ister begins. Trajan’s bridge, of twenty or twenty-two stone piers with wooden arches, was built, A.D. 103, just below the rapids of the “Iron Gate,” which grind to powder the ice-blocks of winter, and save the piers from the shock which might otherwise destroy them.’—Murray’s ‘Handbook of Southern Germany.’ (S.)
[77] Procopius here confounds the Mœsians of Europe with the Mysians of Asia Minor. The passage alluded to is in Homer’s ‘Iliad,’ ii. 604. (S.)
[78] Mœsia.
[79] ‘The “long wall,” as it was emphatically styled, was a work as disgraceful in the object, as it was respectable in the execution.... At the distance of only forty miles from the capital, Anastasius was constrained to establish a last frontier; his long wall of sixty miles, from the Propontis to the Euxine, proclaimed the impotence of his arms; and as the danger became more imminent, new fortifications were added by the indefatigable prudence of Justinian.’—Gibbon, ch. xl. (S.)
[80] Selybria, now Silibri, on Sea of Marmora. (W.)
[81] Heraclea, now Eregli, on Sea of Marmora. (W.)