I. The new churches which the Emperor Justinian built in Constantinople
and its suburbs, the churches which were ruinous through age, and
which he restored, and all the other buildings which he erected there,
are described in my previous book; it remains that we should proceed
to the fortresses with which he encircled the frontier of the Roman
territory. This subject requires great labour, and indeed is almost
impossible to describe; we are not about to describe the Pyramids, that
celebrated work of the Kings of Egypt, in which labour was wasted on a
useless freak, but all the strong places by means of which our Emperor
preserved the empire, and so fortified it as to render vain any attempt
of the barbarians against the Romans. I think I should do well to start
from the Median frontier.
When the Medes retired from the country of the Romans, restoring to
them the city of Amida,[33] as has been narrated in my ‘History of the
Wars,’ the Emperor Anastasius took great pains to build a wall round
an, at that time, unimportant village named Dara, which he observed was
situated near the Persian frontier, and to form it into a
city which would act as a bulwark against the enemy. Since, however, by
the terms of the treaty formerly made by the Emperor Theodosius with
the Persians, it was forbidden that either party should build any new
fortress on their own ground in the neighbourhood of the frontier, the
Persians urged that this was forbidden by the articles of the peace,
and hindered the work with all their power, although their attention
was diverted from it by their war with the Huns. The Romans, perceiving
that on account of this war they were unprepared, pushed on their
building all the more vigorously, being eager to finish the work before
the enemy should bring their war against the Huns to a close and march
against themselves. Being alarmed through their suspicions of the
enemy, and constantly expecting an attack, they did not construct their
building carefully, but the quickness of building into which they were
forced by their excessive hurry prevented their work being secure;
for speed and safety are never wont to go together, nor is swiftness
often accompanied by accuracy. They therefore built the city-walls in
this hurried fashion, not making a wall which would defy the enemy,
but raising it barely to the necessary height; nor did they even place
the stones in their right positions or arrange them in due order, or
fill the interstices with mortar. In a short time, therefore, since the
towers, through their insecure construction, were far from being able
to withstand snow and hot sun, most of them fell into ruins. Thus was
the first wall built round the city of Dara.[34]
[Illustration: FORTIFICATIONS AT DARA.
_From Texier & Pullan’s Byzantine Architecture_]
It occurred to the Emperor Justinian that the Persians would not,
as far as lay in their power, permit this Roman fortress to stand
threatening them, but that they would march against it with their
entire force, and use every device to assault its walls on equal
terms; and that a number of elephants would accompany them, bearing
wooden towers upon their backs, which towers instead of foundations
would rest upon the elephants, who—and this was the worst of all—could
manœuvre round the city at the pleasure of the enemy, and carry a wall
which could be moved whithersoever its masters might think fit; and
the enemy, mounted upon these towers, would shoot down upon the heads
of the Romans within the walls, and assail them from above; they would
also pile up mounds of earth against the walls, and bring up to them
all the machines used in sieges; while if any misfortune should befall
the city of Dara, which was an outwork of the entire Roman Empire and a
standing menace to the enemy’s country, the evil would not rest there,
but the whole state would be endangered to a great extent. Moved by
these considerations he determined to fortify the place in a manner
worthy of its value.
In the first place,[35] therefore, since the wall was, as I have
described, very low, and therefore easily assailable, he rendered it
inaccessible and altogether impregnable. He placed stones which so
contracted the original battlements as only to leave small traces of
them, like windows, allowing just so much opening to them as a hand
could be passed through, so that passages were left through which
arrows could be shot against the assailants. Above these he built a
wall to a height of about thirty feet, not making the wall of the
same thickness all the way to the top, lest the foundations should be
over-weighted by the mass above, and the whole work be ruined; but he
surrounded the upper part with a course of stones, and built a portico
extending round the entire circuit of the walls, above which he
placed the battlements, so that the wall was throughout constructed of
two stories, and the towers of three stories, which could be manned by
the defenders to repel the attacks of the enemy; for over the middle
of the towers he constructed a vaulted roof, and again built new
battlements above it, thus making them into a fortification consisting
of three stories.
After this, though he saw, as I have said before, that many of the
towers had after a short time fallen into ruin, yet he was not able to
take them down, because the enemy were always close at hand, watching
their opportunity, and always trying to find some unprotected part
of the fortifications. He therefore devised the following plan: he
left these towers where they were, and outside of each of them he
constructed another building with great skill, in a quadrangular form,
well and securely built. In the same manner he securely protected
the ruinous parts of the walls with a second wall. One of these
towers, which was called the Watchtower, he seized an opportunity of
demolishing, rebuilt it securely, and everywhere removed all fear of
want of strength from the walls. He wisely built the outside part of
the wall to a sufficient height, in due proportion; outside of it he
dug a ditch, not in the way in which men usually make one, but in a
small space, and in a different fashion. With what object he did this,
I will now explain.
The greater part of the walls are inaccessible to besiegers, because
they do not stand upon level ground, nor in such a manner as would
favour an attack, but upon high precipitous rocks where it would not be
possible to undermine them, or to make any assault upon them; but upon
the side turned towards the south, the ground, which is soft and earthy
and easily dug, renders the city assailable. Here, therefore, he dug a
crescent-shaped ditch, deep and wide, and reaching to a considerable
distance. Each end of this ditch joined the city wall, and by filling
it with water he rendered it altogether impassable to the enemy. On the
inner side of it he built a second wall, upon which during a siege the
Roman soldiers keep guard, without fear for the walls themselves and
for the other outwork which stands before the city. Between the city
wall and this outwork, opposite the gate which leads towards Ammodius,
there was a great mound, from which the enemy were able to drive mines
towards the city unperceived. This he entirely removed, and levelled
the spot, so as to put it out of the enemy’s power to assault the place
from thence.
II. Thus did Justinian fortify this stronghold;[36] he also constructed
reservoirs of water between the city walls and the outwork, and very
close to the Church of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, on the west side. A
river runs from the suburb called Corde, distant about two miles from
the city. Upon either side of it rise two exceedingly rugged
mountains. Between the slopes of these mountains the river runs as
far as the city, and since it flows at the foot of them, it is not
possible for an enemy to divert or meddle with its stream, for they
cannot force it out of the hollow ground. It is directed into the city
in the following manner. The inhabitants have built a great channel
leading to the walls, the mouth of which is closed with numerous thick
bars of iron, some upright and some placed crosswise, so as to enable
the water to enter the city, without injury to the strength of its
fortifications. Thus the river enters the city, and after having filled
these reservoirs, and been led hither and thither at the pleasure of
the inhabitants, passes into another part of the city, where there
is an outfall constructed for it in the same way as its entrance.
The river in its progress through the flat country made the city in
former times easy to be besieged, for it was not difficult for an enemy
to encamp there, because water was plentiful. The Emperor Justinian
considered this state of things, and tried to find some remedy for it;
God, however, assisted him in his difficulty, took the matter into His
own hands, and without delay ensured the safety of the city. This took
place in the following manner.
One of the garrison of the city, either in consequence of a dream or
led of his own accord to it, collected together a great number of the
workmen engaged in building the fortifications, and ordered them to
dig a long trench in a certain place, which he pointed out to them, a
considerable distance within the city wall, declaring that they would
there find sweet water flowing out of the ground. He dug this trench
in a circular form, making the depth of it for the most part about
fifteen feet. This work proved the saving of the city, not through any
foresight of the workmen, yet, by means of this trench, what would
have been a misfortune was turned into a great advantage to the Romans;
for, as during this time very heavy rain fell, the river, of which
I just spoke, raged outside the fortifications and rose to a great
height, being unable to proceed, because when it was swollen to such
a size neither the channel nor the entrances in the wall were large
enough to contain it, as they had been before. It consequently piled
up its waters against the wall, rising to a great height and depth,
and in some places was stagnant, and in others rough and violent. It
at once overthrew the outwork, swept away a great part of the city
wall, forced its way through the city gates, and, running with a great
body of water, occupied almost the whole city, invading both the
market-place, the narrower streets, and the houses themselves, swept
off from them a great mass of furniture, wooden vessels, and such
like things, and then, falling into this trench, disappeared under
ground. Not many days afterwards it reappeared near to the city of
Theodosiopolis, at a place about forty miles distant from the city of
Dara, where it was recognised by the things which it had swept away out
of the houses at Dara, for there the whole mass of them reappeared.
Since that period, in time of peace and quiet, the river flows through
the midst of the city, fills the reservoirs with water, and passes out
of the city through the outfall especially constructed for it by the
builders of the city, which I described above, and, as it supplies
that region with water, becomes a great boon to the inhabitants of the
neighbourhood. When, however, a hostile army advances to besiege the
city, they close the passages through the iron gratings with what are
called sluice-doors, and at once force the river to change its course
and to flow into the trench and the subterranean gulf beyond, so that
the enemy suffer from want of water and are at once obliged to raise
the siege. Indeed Mirrhanes, the Persian general, in the reign of
Cabades, came thither to besiege the city, and was compelled by all
these difficulties to retire baffled after a short time; and a long
while afterwards, Chosroes himself advanced with the same intentions,
and attacked the city with a numerous army; but being driven to great
straits through want of water, and perceiving the height of the walls,
he imagined the place to be entirely impregnable, gave up his project,
and straightway retired into Persia, being out-generalled by the
foresight of the Roman Emperor.
III. Such were the works of the Emperor Justinian in the city of
Dara. I shall now describe what he arranged to prevent any second
misfortune happening to the city from the river, in which matter his
wishes were manifestly assisted by Heaven. There was one Chryses of
Alexandria, a clever engineer, who served the Emperor as an architect,
and constructed most of the works both in the city of Dara and in the
rest of the country. This Chryses was absent when the misfortune from
the river befell the city of Dara; when he heard of it, he retired to
bed in great grief, and dreamed the following dream: A figure of more
than human stature appeared to him, and showed and explained to him a
device which would protect the city from any dangerous inundation of
the river. He, conceiving this idea to be divinely inspired, at once
wrote an account of the device and of the vision, and sent it to the
Emperor, giving a sketch of what he had been taught in his dream. It
happened that not long before this a message reached the Emperor from
the city of Dara, giving him an account of what had happened with
the river. Thereupon the Emperor, disturbed and alarmed at what had
taken place, straightway summoned those most celebrated architects,
Anthemius and Isidorus, whom I have mentioned before. He informed them
of what had happened, and inquired what arrangement could be devised
to prevent this mischief befalling the city a second time. Each of them
described what he considered to be a suitable plan for this purpose;
but the Emperor, evidently acting under a divine impulse, although
he had not yet seen the letter of Chryses, miraculously invented
and sketched out of his own mind the plan suggested by the dream.
The interview terminated without the adoption of any distinct plan,
and without their deciding upon what was to be done; but three days
afterwards came a messenger to the Emperor, who brought the letter
from Chryses, and who explained the form of the arrangement which he
had seen in his dream. The Emperor now again sent for the architects,
and ordered them to recall to mind their former ideas of what ought
to be done. They repeated everything in order, both their own devices
and the spontaneous inventions of the Emperor; after which the Emperor
brought forward the messenger sent from Chryses, and showing them the
letter and the sketch of what he had seen in his dream, caused them to
wonder greatly, when they perceived how Heaven had assisted our Emperor
in everything for the advantage of the Empire. The plan of the Emperor
accordingly won the day, and triumphed over the art and learning of the
architects. Chryses returned to the city of Dara, with orders from the
Emperor to carry out the work which he had described with all speed,
according to the plan revealed in the dream. He carried out his orders
in the following manner.
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.
VII. The above are the works of the Emperor Justinian in this part of
Mesopotamia; I must speak in this place of Edessa, Carrhæ, Callinicum,
and all the other strong places which are in that country, since they
lie between the two rivers. Edessa[43] stands on the banks of a small
stream called Scirtus, which collects its waters from many places, and
runs through the midst of the city: from thence it passes onwards,
after having supplied the wants of the city, effecting its entrance
and exit through by a channel constructed by former generations, which
passes through the city walls. This river once, after much rain, rose
to a great height, and seemed as though it would destroy the city; it
tore down a large part of the outworks and of the walls, inundated
almost the whole city, and did much damage, suddenly destroying the
finest buildings, and drowning a third part of the inhabitants. The
Emperor Justinian not only at once restored all the buildings of the
city which were overthrown, among which were the church of the
Christians and a building called Antiphorus, but also arranged with
great care that no such disaster should ever again occur, for he made
a new channel for the river, outside the city walls, which he arranged
in the following manner. The ground on the right bank of the river was
formerly flat and low-lying, while that on the left was a precipitous
mountain, which did not allow the river to turn aside from its
accustomed course, but forced it to flow into the city, because when
flowing towards the city it met with no obstacle on its right bank.
He therefore dug away the whole of this mountain, making a channel on
the left bank of the river deeper than its former bed, and built on
the right bank an enormous wall of stones, as large as a waggon could
carry, so that if the river ran as usual with a moderate volume the
city would not be deprived of the convenience of its water; but if it
should be swollen into a flood a moderate stream would run as usual
throughout the city, but the excess of water would be forced into this
channel constructed by Justinian, and thus extraordinarily conquered
by human art and skill might run round the back of the race-course,
which is situated not far off. Moreover he forced the river within
the city to run in a straight course, by building a wall above it on
either side, so that it could not turn out of a straight path; by which
means he both preserved the use of it for the city, and removed all
fear of it for the future. The wall and outwork of Edessa, like those
of the other places, had for the most part fallen into ruins through
age; wherefore the Emperor restored them both, making them new and
much stronger than they were before. Part of the wall of Edessa is
occupied by a fort, outside of which rises a hill very close to the
city and overhanging it; this hill was in ancient times occupied by
the inhabitants, and included in their walls by an outwork, that it
might not form a weak point to the city. Their work, however, made the
city much more open to assault in that quarter; for their outwork was
very low, built on an exposed site, and could be taken even by children
playing at sieges. Justinian therefore took it down and built another
wall on the top of the hill, which is in no danger of an assault from
higher ground in any quarter, and which follows the slope of the hill
down to the level ground on both sides, and joins the city wall.[44]
[Illustration: EDESSA.
_From Texier & Pullan’s Byzantine Architecture_
COLUMNS ON A TERRACE OF THE CASTLE.]
Also at the cities of Carrhæ[45] and Callinicum[46] he destroyed the
walls and outworks, which were much impaired by age, and rendered
them impregnable by building the present complete fortifications; he
also built a strong wall round the unprotected and neglected fort at
Batnæ,[47] and gave it the fine appearance which it now presents.
VIII. These, as I have said before, were the works of the Emperor
Justinian in Mesopotamia and Osrhoene. I will now describe what was
done on the right bank of the river Euphrates. In all other parts the
Roman and Persian frontiers border upon one another, and each nation
proceeds from its own country to make war and peace with the other,
as all men of different habits and empires do when they have a common
frontier; but in the province which was formerly called Commagene,
which is now called Euphratesia, they dwell nowhere near to one
another, for the Roman and Persian frontiers are widely parted by a
country which is quite desert and devoid of life, and possesses nothing
worth fighting for. Yet each nation, though not regarding it as a work
of much importance, has built a chain of forts of unbaked brick where
the desert borders upon their inhabited country. None of these forts
have ever been assaulted by their neighbours, but the two nations dwell
there without any ill-feeling, since there is nothing for either of
them to covet; however, the Emperor Diocletian built three of these
forts in this desert, one of which, named Mambri, had fallen into ruin
through age, and was restored by the Emperor Justinian.
About five miles from this fort, as you go towards the Roman country,
Zenobia, the wife of Odenathus, the chief of the Saracens in those
parts, built a small city in former times and gave it her own name,
calling it Zenobia.[48] Since then, long lapse of time brought its
walls to ruin, and as the Romans did not think it worth caring for, it
became entirely uninhabited. Thus the Persians, whenever they chose,
were able to place themselves in the midst of the Romans before any
news had been heard of their coming; however, the Emperor Justinian
rebuilt the whole of Zenobia, filled it with numerous inhabitants,
placed in it a commander with a garrison of regular soldiers, and
thus formed a powerful fortress, a bulwark of the Roman Empire and a
check upon the Persians. He did not merely restore it to its former
appearance, but made it far stronger than it was before. The place is
closely surrounded by high cliffs, from which the enemy were formerly
able to shoot down upon the heads of the defenders of the wall; being
desirous to avoid this, he constructed a building upon the walls, on
the side nearest these cliffs, which might always act as a protection
to the defenders. This building is called a ‘wing,’ because it appears
to hang upon the wall. Indeed, it is not possible to describe all that
our Emperor built at Zenobia: for as the city is situated far away in
the desert, and for this reason is always exposed to peril, and cannot
derive any succour from the Romans, who dwell at a distance, he took
the greatest pains to render it secure. I will now relate some few of
his works there.
Zenobia stands beside the river Euphrates, which flows close to its
walls on the eastern side. This river, surrounded by high mountains,
has no space in which to extend itself, but its stream is confined
among the neighbouring mountains and between its rugged banks. Whenever
it is swollen by rain into a flood, it pours against the city wall
and washes not merely against its foundations but as high as its very
battlements. The courses of stone in the walls, drenched by this
stream, became disarranged, and the whole construction was endangered;
he, however, constructed a mole of enormous masses of hard rock, of
the same length as the wall, and forced the flooded river to expend
its rage in vain, setting the wall free from any fear of injury,
however high the river might swell. Finding that the city wall upon
the northern side had become ruinous from age, he razed it to the
ground, together with its outwork, and rebuilt it, but not upon its
former site, because the houses of the city were so crowded together
at that point as to inconvenience the inhabitants; but he proceeded
beyond the foundations of the wall, beyond the outwork and the ditch
itself, and there built an admirable and singularly beautiful wall,
thus greatly enlarging Zenobia in this quarter. There was, moreover,
a certain hill which stood near the city towards the west, from which
the barbarians, when they made their attacks, were able to shoot with
impunity down upon the heads of the defenders, and even of those who
were standing in the midst of the city; this hill the Emperor Justinian
surrounded with a wall on both sides, and thus included it in the city
of Zenobia, afterwards escarping its sides throughout, so that no enemy
could ascend it. He also built another fort upon the top of the hill,
and thus rendered it altogether inaccessible to those who wished to
assault the city, for beyond the hill the ground sinks into a hollow
valley, and therefore it cannot be closely approached by the enemy;
above this hollow valley the mountains at once rise on the western
side. The Emperor did not merely watch over the safety of the city,
but also built churches in it, and barracks for the soldiers: he also
constructed public baths and porticos. All this work was carried out
under the superintendence of the architects Isidorus and Joannes, of
whom Joannes was a Byzantine, and Isidorus a Milesian by birth, being
the nephew of that Isidorus whom I mentioned before. Both of these were
young men, but showed an energy beyond their years, and both displayed
equal zeal in the works which they constructed for the Emperor.
IX. After Zenobia was the city of Suri,[49] situated on the river
Euphrates, whose fortifications were so contemptible that when Chosroes
assaulted it, it did not hold out for so much as half-an-hour, but was
instantly taken by the Persians. This fort, however, like Callinicum,
was restored by the Emperor Justinian, who surrounded it with a strong
wall, strengthened it with an outwork, and enabled it for the future
to resist the attack of the enemy, There is in Euphratesia a church
dedicated to Sergius, an eminent saint, whom the ancients so admired
and looked up to that they named the place Sergiopolis,[50] and
surrounded it with a low rampart, sufficient to prevent the Saracens
in that region from capturing it by assault; for the Saracens are by
nature incapable of attacking walls, and consequently the weakest mud
wall is sufficient to resist their onset. In later times this church
received so many offerings as to become powerful and famous throughout
the land. The Emperor Justinian, reflecting upon these matters, at once
applied himself to its protection, surrounded it with a most admirable
wall, and provided a quantity of water, stored up in reservoirs, for
the use of its inhabitants; besides this, he built in the place houses
and porticos, and all the other buildings which are regarded as the
ornaments of a city. He also placed a garrison of soldiers in it to
defend the walls in time of need; and, indeed, Chosroes, the King of
Persia, who determined to take the city, and who brought up a large
army to besiege it, was compelled to raise the siege, being overcome by
the strength of the walls.
The Emperor spent equal care upon all the towns and forts on the
borders of Euphratesia, (namely) Barbalissus,[51] Neocæsarea, Gabula,
Pentacomia, which is on the Euphrates, and Europus.[52] At Hemerius,
finding the walls built in some parts carelessly and dangerously, and
in some parts formed only of mud, while the place was deficient in
water-supply and consequently despicable as a fortification, he razed
them to the ground, and at once carefully rebuilt them of courses of
the hardest stone, making the wall much wider and higher than before.
He also constructed reservoirs for water in all parts of the works, all
of which he filled with rain-water, and, placing a garrison there, he
rendered the place as powerful and secure as we now see it. Indeed, if
one were carefully to consider this, and to inspect all the other good
works of the Emperor Justinian, one would say it was for this alone
that he had received the crown, by the manifest favour of God, who
watches over the Roman people.
Besides these places he also found Hierapolis,[53] which is the chief
of all the cities in that region, lying exposed to any enemy that might
attack it, but by his own provident foresight he rendered it safe; for,
as it originally enclosed a large empty space and on that account the
entire circuit of the walls could not be guarded, he cut off the part
which was useless, arranged the walls in a safer and more compact form,
and, by thus reducing it to the size necessary for use, made it one of
the strongest cities of the present day. He also conferred upon it the
following benefit. A fountain of sweet water springs perpetually out of
the earth in the midst of the city, and forms therein a wide lake;
this, indeed, added to the safety of the city when it was beleaguered
by an enemy, but in time of peace was by no means necessary, as much
water was brought into the city from without. In process of time the
inhabitants, having enjoyed a long period of peace, and having never
experienced any distress, neglected this spring; for it is not in human
nature when in prosperity to make provision against times of adversity;
consequently they gradually filled up the lake with rubbish, and were
accustomed to bathe in it, to wash their clothes in it, and to throw
all kinds of refuse into it....
In this province of Euphratesia were situated two other towns,
Zeugma[54] and Neocæsarea, which were indeed towns in name, but were
merely surrounded by dry stone walls, built so low that they might
be crossed by an enemy without any difficulty, since they could leap
over them without fear; while they were so narrow as to be altogether
indefensible, because they afforded no room for the garrison to stand
upon to defend them; however, the Emperor Justinian surrounded these
places also with real walls, of a sufficient width and height, and
equipped them with all other means of defence, thus giving them a just
right to be termed cities, and rendering them safe from the attacks of
the enemy.
X. Moreover, with regard to the cities taken from Chosroes, that
barbarian, disregarding the perpetual peace which he had sworn to
observe, and the money which he had received on account of it, was
filled with envy of the Emperor Justinian, because of the conquests
which he had made in Libya and in Italy, and considered his plighted
faith to be of less importance than the gratification of this passion;
he watched his opportunity, when the greater part of the Roman army
was away in the West, and invaded the Roman territory unexpectedly,
before the Romans had any news of the approach of the enemy; these
cities, I say, the Emperor Justinian so strengthened and beautified
that they are all at the present time much more flourishing than
before, and have no dread of injury from barbarian invasion, fearing no
attacks of any kind.
Above all, he rendered the city of Antiochia,[55] which is now surnamed
Theopolis, far more beautiful and powerful than it was before; its
wall in ancient times was too large, and extended beyond all reason,
uselessly enclosing flat ground in one place, and lofty cliffs in
another, so that it was full of weak points. The Emperor Justinian
reduced it to a useful size, making it protect the city alone, and
not the places which it formerly enclosed. In the lower part of the
fortifications, where the city had spread out to a dangerous extent
over a smooth plain, and was indefensible through the great length of
the wall, he drew it back as far as possible, advantageously reducing
the size of the city in that quarter, and strengthening it by
concentration. As for the river Orontes, which formerly flowed past
it in a circuitous course, he changed its direction, and caused it to
skirt the walls of the city. Thus, by an artificial channel, he brought
the course of the river as near the city as possible, by which means
he relieved the city from the danger of its unmanageable size, and
yet retained the protection afforded by the river Orontes: then, by
building new bridges, he supplied fresh means of intercourse across the
river, which he diverted from its course as far as was required, and
then returned to its former bed.
The upper part of the city, on the high ground, he fortified in the
following manner. On the summit of the mountain which is called
Orocassias there is a lofty rock which stands close outside the wall
opposite to the fortifications in that quarter, and which renders them
easy to attack. It was from this point that Chosroes took the city,
as I have explained in my work on the subject. The region within the
walls was for the most part uninhabited and difficult of access, for
the place is divided by lofty rocks and deep ravines, which cut off
all the paths, so that the wall of Antiochia seems there to belong to
another city. He therefore disregarded the rock which overhangs the
wall so close and renders it liable to capture, and decided to build
his new wall at a distance from it, having learnt by experience the
folly of the original builders; moreover, he levelled the ground within
the walls, which formerly had been precipitous, and made the ascent
to this part of the city not only practicable for people on foot, but
for horsemen and even for carriages. On this high ground he also built
baths and reservoirs for water within the walls, and dug a well in each
tower, remedying the original waterless character of the place by the
storage of rain-water.
It is worth our while to describe his works upon the torrent which
descends from these mountains. Two precipitous mountains overhang
the city, standing close to one another; of these, the one is called
Orocassias, the other Stauris. They are joined by a glen and ravine
which lies between them, which in time of rain produces the torrent
named Onopnictes, which used to flow down from the high ground and
overflow the fortifications, and sometimes rose so high as to pour into
the streets of the city, doing much mischief to the inhabitants. The
Emperor Justinian remedied this in the following manner. In front of
that part of the wall which is nearest to the ravine, from which the
torrent used to rush against the wall, he built an exceedingly high
wall, reaching from the hollow bed of the ravine to the mountains on
either side, so that the torrent was not able to rush past it, but
was forced to stay and collect its waters there. In this wall he made
apertures, through which he forced the water to run gently in a smaller
volume, checked by this artificial barrier, so that it no longer broke
with its full force against the city wall so as to overflow it and ruin
the city, but proceeded gently and quietly, as I have explained, and
flowing in this manner passed wherever it was desired to go through the
channels constructed for it by the former inhabitants.
Thus did the Emperor Justinian reconstruct the walls of Antiochia; he
also rebuilt the entire city, which was burnt by the enemy. As the
whole city was reduced to ashes, and levelled to the ground, and only
heaps of rubbish remained after the conflagration, it was at first
impossible for the citizens of Antiochia to recognise the site of their
own dwellings. He consequently removed all the ruins, and cleared
away the charred remains of the houses; but, as there were no public
porticos or halls supported by columns, no market-place, and no streets
which marked out the quarters of the city, there was nothing to point
to the site of any particular house. However, the Emperor, without
any delay, removed the rubbish as far as possible from the city, thus
freeing the air and the ground from all impediments to building, and
first covered the foundations of the city everywhere with stones large
enough to load a waggon. After this he divided it by porticos and
market-places, defined all the blocks of building by streets, arranged
the aqueducts, fountains, and watercourses with which the city is
adorned, constructed theatres and public baths in it, and graced it
with all the other public buildings which belong to a prosperous city.
He also brought thither a number of workmen and artificers, and thus
rendered it more easy for the inhabitants to rebuild their own houses;
the result of this is that Antiochia at the present day is a more
celebrated city than before. He also built therein a large church in
honour of the Virgin, the beauty and magnificence of which is in all
respects beyond description. He endowed this church with a considerable
revenue, and also built a large church dedicated to St. Michael the
Archangel. Moreover, he made provision for the sick poor in that place,
and built dwellings for them, separate for the different sexes, in
which they were supplied with attendants, and the means of curing their
diseases; while at the same time he established hospices for strangers
who might be staying for any time in the city.
XI. In like manner he also restored, greatly strengthened, and brought
into its present condition the wall of the city of Chalcis, together
with its outwork, which had become weak and ruinous through age.
There was in Syria an utterly neglected village named Cyrus,[56] which
the Jews had built in ancient times when they were led captive from
Palestine into Syria by the army of the Medes, from which country they
were long afterwards released by Cyrus the King; wherefore they called
the place Cyrus in honour of their benefactor. In the course of time
Cyrus became quite overlooked and was entirely without walls; but the
Emperor Justinian, with a prudent zeal for the safety of the Empire,
and also out of reverence for the SS. Cosmas and Damianus, whose bodies
lay near that place down to my own time, made Cyrus into a flourishing
and admirable city, rendering it safe by a very strong wall, with
a numerous garrison, large public buildings, and with all other
appurtenances on an exceedingly magnificent scale. In former times the
interior of this city was without water, but outside the walls was a
plenteous spring which provided abundance of drinking-water, yet was
altogether useless to the inhabitants, since they had no means of
drawing water from it without great labour and peril; for they were
obliged to go to it by a circuitous path, as the country between it
and the city was precipitous and altogether impassable, so that an
enemy, if he were present, could easily lay an ambush and cut them
off. He therefore constructed a watercourse from the city walls to the
fountain, not open, but concealed underground with the greatest care,
which supplied the city with water without either trouble or danger.
He also very strongly rebuilt the entire circuit of the walls of
Chalcis,[57] which had fallen into ruin down to its very foundation
and was altogether indefensible, and he strengthened it with an
outwork; he also restored all the other towns and forts in Syria in an
admirable fashion.
Thus did the Emperor Justinian provide for the security of Syria;
there is, too, in Phœnicia, by the side of Lebanon, a city named
Palmyra, which was built in the desert in ancient times, and which was
conveniently placed on the road by which our enemies the Saracens would
enter our country. It was, indeed, originally built for this purpose;
namely, in order to prevent the barbarians making unexpected inroads
into the Roman territory. This place, which through lapse of time had
become almost entirely deserted, was strongly fortified by the Emperor
Justinian, who supplied it abundantly with water, and filled it with a
garrison of soldiers, so as to check the inroads of the Saracens.