Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  [12] In addition to these he also found Hierapolis, which happens to be the first of all the cities of that region, lying exposed to those who wished to attack it, and by his prudent foresight he assured its safety. [13] Previously it had enclosed a large tract of barren land, and consequently was undefended; so he relieved it of this senseless expanse and made the circuit-wall shorter as well as more safe, reducing it to a measure calculated to meet the actual need of the situation, and thus bringing it about that the city is among the strongest of the present day. [14] Here too he conferred the following benefit. An unfailing supply of drinking-water springs up from the recesses of the earth in the midst of the city and makes a broad lake there. [15] And whenever an enemy chances to lay siege to the place, this water proves the salvation of the city; but in good times the lake becomes unnecessary to it, because abundant water is brought in from outside. [16] And as time went on, the inhabitants of the place, having enjoyed a long-continued peace and experiencing no need, treated this spring with neglect. For in times of prosperity human nature knows not how to take thought against ills not yet at hand. [17] So they kept filling the lake constantly with pollution, both swimming and washing clothes in it and throwing all manner of rubbish into it. . . .

  [18] There were also two other towns in this district of Euphratesia, Zeugma and Neocaesarea, which went by the name of fortified towns, but were enclosed by fortifications resembling walls of loose stones. [19] And because these were made too low when they were built, they were accessible to the enemy without any effort, since they could leap upon them without fear, while their extreme narrowness made them impossible to defend, since the garrison of the town had no place whatever where they might stand and carry on the defence. [20] But the Emperor Justinian surrounded these places too with real walls of adequate breadth and height, and he made them strong in their other equipment, and so brought it about that they are justly called cities and are too well built for hostile attacks.

  [10] [1] He also turned his attention to the cities which had been captured by Chosroes. (This was when that barbarian ignored the oaths he had sworn at the time of the “endless peace” and the money given him to secure this peace; when he was filled with malice against the Emperor Justinian because he had become master of Italy and of Libya by conquest, and was moved less by the obligation of his oaths than by his rage at the Emperor’s successes. So he watched for the right time, and when the greater part of the Roman army was away in the West, he invaded the Roman territory without any previous notice, before the Romans could hear of the approach of the enemy). So the Emperor Justinian transformed these cities to such a state of safety and beauty that they are all much more prosperous at the present time than they were formerly, and no longer need either be fearful of the inroads of the villainous barbarians, or apprehensive for any reason of their attacks.

  [2] Above all he made Antioch, which is now called Theopolis, both fairer and stronger by far than it had been formerly. [3] In ancient times its circuit-wall was both too long and absolutely full of many turnings, in some places uselessly enclosing the level ground and in others the summits of the mountain, and for this reason it was exposed to attack in a number of places. [4] But the Emperor Justinian, contracting this wall as would best serve the need, carefully remade it so as to guard, not the same districts as before, but only the city itself. [5] As for the lower part of the circuit-wall, where the city was dangerously spread out (since it lay in a soft plain and could not be defended because of a superfluity of wall), he changed its course by drawing it inward as much as possible, it having gained protection by being compressed. [6] And the River Orontes, which had flowed past the city, as it formerly was, in a winding course, he thrust over so that it ran in a new bed, hugging the circuit-wall. [7] He did this by winding the stream round again by means of an artificial channel as near the wall as possible. In this way he both relieved the city of the danger arising from its excessive size and recovered the protection afforded by the Orontes. [8] And by building other bridges there he furnished new means of crossing the river; and after changing its stream for as great a distance as was necessary, he then restored it to its former course. [9] The upper part, in the mountainous portion, he managed as follows: on the summit of the mountain which they call Orocassias there happened to be a rock outside the wall and very close to it, nearly matching in height the circuit-wall in this place and making it quite vulnerable. [10] It was from this point in fact that the city was taken by Chosroes, as is related in my description of the event. The region within the circuit-wall was for the most part bare and difficult to traverse, [11] for high rocks and impassable ravines divide up that district, so that the paths from that place have no outlet. Thus the wall there is just as if it belonged to some other city and not to Antioch at all. [12] So he bade a long farewell to the rock, which, being close to the wall, was fiendishly devised to make the wall easy to capture, and decided to build the defences of the city as far away from it as possible, having learned from the experience of events the folly of those who had built the city in former times. [13] Moreover he made quite level the region within the wall, which formerly had been precipitous, building ascents there which would in the future be passable, not only for men on foot, but for cavalry, and would even serve as waggon-roads. [14] He also built baths and reservoirs on these hills inside the wall. And he dug a cistern in each tower, remedying by means of rain-water the want of water which had previously existed there.

  [15] It is proper to describe also what he did with the torrent which comes down from these mountains. Two precipitous mountains rise above the city, approaching each other quite closely. [16] Of these they call the one Orocassias and the other is called Staurin. Where they come to an end they are joined by a glen and ravine which lies between them, which produces a torrent, when it rains, called Onopnictes. This, coming down from a height, swept over the circuit-wall and on occasion rose to a great volume, spreading into the streets of the city and doing ruinous damage to those who lived in that district. [17] But even for this the Emperor Justinian found the remedy, in the following way: Before that part of the circuit-wall which happens to lie nearest to the ravine out of which the torrent was borne against the fortifications, he built an immense wall or dam, which reached roughly from the hollow bed of the ravine to each of the two mountains, so that the stream should no longer be able to sweep on when it was at full flood, but should collect for a considerable distance back and form a lake there. [18] And by constructing sluice-gates in this wall he contrived that the torrent, flowing through these, should lose its force gradually, checked by this artificial barrier, and no longer violently assault the circuit-wall with its full stream, and so overflow it and damage the city, but should gently and evenly glide on in the manner I have described and, with this means of outflow, should proceed through the channel wherever the inhabitants of former times would have wished to conduct it if it had been so manageable.

  [19] This, then, was what the Emperor Justinian accomplished concerning the circuit-wall of Antioch. He also rebuilt the whole city, which had been completely burned by the enemy. [20] For since everything was everywhere reduced to ashes and levelled to the ground, and since many mounds of ruins were all that was left standing of the burned city, it became impossible for the people of Antioch to recognise the site of each person’s house, when first they carried out all the debris, and to clear out the remains of a burned house; and since there were no longer public stoas or colonnaded courts in existence anywhere, nor any market-place remaining, and since the side-streets no longer marked off the thoroughfares of the city, they did not any longer dare to build any house. [21] But the Emperor without any delay transported the debris as far as possible from the city, and thus freed the air and the ground of all encumbrances; then he first of all covered the cleared land of the city everywhere with stones each large enough to load a waggon. [22] Next he laid it out with stoas and market-places, and dividing all the blocks of houses by means of st
reets, and making water-channels and fountains and sewers, all those of which the city now boasts, he built theatres and baths for it, ornamenting it with all the other public buildings by means of which the prosperity of a city is wont to be shewn. He also, by bringing in a multitude of artisans and craftsmen, made it more easy and less laborious for the inhabitants to build their own houses. [23] Thus it was brought about that Antioch has become more splendid now than it formerly was. [24] Moreover, he built there a great Church to the Mother of God. The beauty of this, and its magnificence in every respect, it is impossible to describe; he also honoured it with an income of a very large sum. [25] Moreover, he built an immense Church for the Archangel Michael. He made provision likewise for the poor of the place who were suffering from maladies, providing buildings for them and all the means for the care and cure of their ailments, for men and women separately, and he made no less provision for strangers who might on occasion be staying in the city.

  [11] [1] In the same manner he also repaired the circuit-wall of the city of Chalcis, which had been faultily built in the first place and had been wrecked by the years; he restored this along with the outworks and rendered it much more defensible than before, and gave it the form which we now see.

  [2] There was a certain utterly neglected fortress in Syria, Cyrus by name, which the Jews built in early times, when they have been carried off as captives from Palestine into Assyria by the army of the Medes and were released much later by King Cyrus; and for this reason they named the place Cyrus, paying this tribute of gratitude to their benefactor. [3] And as time went on this place came to be neglected in general and remained altogether without walls. [4] But the Emperor Justinian, both out of his forethought for the safety of the State, and at the same time shewing especial honour to the Saints Cosmas and Damian, whose bodies lie close by even up to my day, made Cyrus a flourishing city and one of great note through the safety afforded by the strongest possible wall, by the greatest strength of its garrison, by the size of its public buildings, and by the imposing scale of its other appointments. [5] The interior of this city had been destitute of water from ancient times; outside of it there had been a certain extraordinary spring which provided a great abundance of water fit for drinking, yet it was utterly useless to the inhabitants of the city, since they had no means of drawing water from the spring except with great toil and danger. [6] For it was necessary, in order to get to it, for them to make use of circuitous paths, since a steep and altogether impassable area lay between; thus they could easily fall into the hands of the enemy if they should happen to lie in ambush. [7] So he dug a channel outside the city all the way to the spring, not allowing it to be seen, but concealing it as carefully as possible, and thus he provided the inhabitants with a supply of water without toil or risk.

  [8] Also he restored the entire circuit-wall of the city of Chalcis, which had fallen down to the ground and anyhow was unsuitable for defence, by means of exceptionally stout masonry, and he strengthened it with outworks. [9] Furthermore, he improved the other towns and forts of the Syrians in the same manner and made them altogether objects of envy.

  [10] Thus did the Emperor Justinian assure the safety of Syria. And there is a city in Phoenicia by Lebanon, Palmyra by name, built in a neighbourless region by men of former times, but well situated across the track of the hostile Saracens. [11] Indeed it was for this very reason that they had originally built this city, in order, namely, that these barbarians might not unobserved make sudden inroads into the Roman territory. [12] This city, which through lapse of time had come to be almost completely deserted, the Emperor Justinian strengthened with defences which defy description, and he also provided it with abundant water and a garrison of troops, and thus put a stop to the raids of the Saracens.

  BOOK III.

  [1] [1] Thus the Emperor Justinian strengthened the territory of the East with fortifications, as I have set forth in the preceding Book. And since I began at the Persian frontier of the Roman Empire in describing the defences built by him, it has seemed to me not inappropriate to pass on from there to Armenia, which adjoins Persia from the city of Amida as far as the second Theodosiopolis. [2] But now that I am about to mention the buildings of that region, it seems to me highly opportune to describe first how this Emperor brought the Armenians out of a very precarious way of life into their present state of complete safety. [3] For it was not by means of buildings alone that he saved these subjects of his, but also by his foresight in other matters, as I shall presently shew. But I must go back a little to begin.

  [4] The Armenians of ancient times used to have a king of their own race, as is recorded by those who have written the history of the earliest period. [5] And when Alexander of Macedon overthrew the King of the Persians, the Persians remained quietly in subjection, but the Parthians rose against the Macedonians and overcoming them in the struggle, drove them out of the country and gained the territory as far as the Tigris River, and the Persian state remained subject to them after that for five hundred years, until Alexander, son of Mamaea, became Emperor of the Romans. [6] At one time, one of the kings of the Parthians appointed his brother, Arsaces by name, King of the Armenians, as the history of the Armenians declares. I say this lest anyone think the descendants of Arsaces are Armenians. [7] At least peace continued between them for these five hundred years because of the kinship. And the King of the Armenians had his seat in Greater Armenia, as it was called, being subject to the Roman Emperor from an early period; but at a later time two sons were born to a certain Arsaces, King of Armenia, Tigranes and Arsaces by name. [9] When this king was about to reach the end of his life, he made a will in which he made both of the boys his successors in the kingdom, not assigning an equal weight of power to each of them, but leaving to Tigranes a four-fold portion. [10] So the father Arsaces, having made this disposition of the royal power, departed from the world, but his son Arsaces, being resentful and angry because his portion proved to be inferior, laid the matter before the Roman Emperor, hoping that by using every device he might destroy the power of his brother and nullify his father’s purpose as being unjust. [11] At that time Theodosius, son of Arcadius, who was still quite a boy, was ruling over the Romans. And Tigranes, fearing the vengeance of the Emperor, placed himself in the power of the Persians and handed over his kingdom to them, considering it preferable to live as a private individual among the Persians, than to make a fair settlement with his brother and with him to rule over the Armenians righteously and justly. [12] Arsaces meanwhile still feared the hostility of the Persians and of his brother and resigned his own kingship in favour of the Emperor Theodosius, on certain conditions which I have described in the Books on the Wars. [13] And for a time the territory of the Armenians was fought over by the Romans and the Persians, but at length they reached an agreement that the Persians should hold the portion of Tigranes and the Romans that of Arsaces. [14] On these conditions a truce was agreed upon by both sides and thereafter the Roman Emperor always appointed a ruler for the Armenians, whomever he wished and whenever he wished. [15] And they used to call this ruler even to my time the Count of Armenia.

  [16] Such a government, however, was not able to repel the attacks of its enemies, since it had at its disposal no regular troops, and therefore the Emperor Justinian, observing that Armenia was always in a state of disorder and was, for this reason, an easy prey for the barbarians, abolished this form of administration and placed a general in charge of Armenia and assigned to him military forces sufficient to withstand the inroads of the enemy. [17] Such was the disposition he made for Greater Armenia, as it is called, but in the other Armenia, which extends inside of the Euphrates River as far as the city of Amida, five Armenian satraps held the power, and these offices were always hereditary and held for life. [18] However, they received the symbols of office only from the Roman Emperor. It is worth while to describe these insignia, for they will never again be seen by man. [19] There is a cloak made of wool, not such as is produced by sheep, but ga
thered from the sea. [20] Pinnos the creature is called on which this wool grows. And the part where the purple should have been, that is, where the insertion of purple cloth is usually made, is overlaid with gold. [21] The cloak was fastened by a golden brooch in the middle of which was a precious stone from which hung three sapphires by loose golden chains. [22] There was a tunic of silk adorned in every part with decorations of gold which they are wont to call plumia. [23] The boots were of red colour and reached to the knee, of the sort which only the Roman Emperor and the Persian King are permitted to wear.

  [24] Roman soldiers, however, never fought under the orders of the king of the Armenians or of the satraps, but these rulers conducted their wars independently. [25] But at a later time, during the reign of Zeno, some of the satraps decided to array themselves openly with Illus and Leontius, who had revolted against the Emperor. [26] Consequently, when the Emperor had reduced Leontius and Illus to subjection, he left in the former status only one satrap, who held a very inferior province which was not of any importance, in the region called Belabitinê; all the others he removed and no longer permitted them to transmit the office to those connected with them by kinship, but he ordained that on each occasion different men of the Emperor’s choosing should succeed to these offices, just as is the rule in all the other offices of the Romans. [27] Even so, these officials were not in command of Roman soldiers, but only of a few Armenians, as had been customary previously, with the result that they were unable to repel the attacks of an enemy. [28] And when this came to the knowledge of the Emperor Justinian, he immediately did away with the title of Satrap and appointed over these provinces two Dukes, as they are called; [29] and he put under them a very large force of regular Roman troops to assist them in guarding the Roman frontier. He also built strongholds for them as follows.