[16] These things the Emperor Justinian accomplished by human strength and skill. But he was also assisted by his pious faith, which rewarded him with the honour he received and aided him in this cherished plan. [17] For the church required throughout columns whose appearance would not fall short of the beauty of the building and of such a size that they could resist the weight of the load which would rest upon them. [18] But the site itself, being inland very far from the sea and walled about on all sides by quite steep hills, as I have said, made it impossible for those who were preparing the foundations to bring columns from outside. [19] But when the impossibility of this task was causing the Emperor to become impatient, God revealed a natural supply of stone perfectly suited to this purpose in the near by hills, one which had either lain there in concealment previously, or was created at that moment. [20] Either explanation is credible to those who trace the cause of it to God; [21] for while we, in estimating all things by the scale of man’s power, consider many things to be wholly impossible, for God nothing in the whole world can be difficult or impossible. [22] So the church is supported on all sides by a number of huge columns from that place, which in colour resemble flames of fire, some standing below and some above and others in the stoas which surround the whole church except on the side facing the east. Two of these columns stand before the door of the church, exceptionally large and probably second to no column in the whole world. [23] Here is added another colonnaded stoa which is called the narthex, I suppose because it is not broad. [24] Beyond this is a court with similar columns standing on the four sides. From this there lead doors to the interior (metauloi thyrai) which are so stately that they proclaim to those walking outside what kind of sight they will meet within. Beyond there is a wonderful gateway (propylaia) and an arch (apsis), carried on two columns, which rises to a very great height. [25] Then as one advances there are two semi-circles (hemikykla) which stand facing each other on one side of the road which leads to the church, while facing each other on the other side are two hospices, built by the Emperor Justinian. One of these is destined for the shelter of visiting strangers, while the other is an infirmary for poor persons suffering from diseases. [26] And the Emperor Justinian endowed this Church of the Mother of God with the income from a large sum of money. Such were the activities of the Emperor Justinian in Jerusalem.
[7] [1] In Palestine there is a city named Neapolis, above which rises a high mountain, called Garizin. [2] This mountain the Samaritans originally held; and they had been wont to go up to the summit of the mountain to pray on all occasions, not because they had ever built any temple there, but because they worshipped the summit itself with the greatest reverence. [3] But when Jesus, the Son of God, was in the body and went among the people there, He had a conversation with a certain woman who was a native of the place. And when this woman questioned Him about the mountain, He replied that thereafter the Samaritans would not worship on this mountain, but that the true worshippers (referring to the Christians), would worship Him in that place;b and as time went on the prediction became a fact. [4] For it was not possible that He who was God should not utter truth. [5] And it came about as follows. During the reign of Zeno, the Samaritans suddenly banded together and fell upon the Christians in Neapolis in the church while they were celebrating the festival called the Pentecost, and they destroyed many of them, and they struck with their swords the man who at that time was their Bishop, Terebinthius by name, finding him standing at the holy table as he performed the mysteries; and they slashed at him and cut off the fingers from his hand; and they railed at the mysteries, as is natural for Samaritans to do, while we honour them with silence. [6] And this priest straightway came to Byzantium and appeared before the ruling Emperor and displayed what he had suffered, setting forth what had happened and reminding the Emperor of the prophecy of Christ; and he begged him to avenge all that had been done. [7] The Emperor Zeno was greatly disturbed by what had happened, and with no delay inflicted punishment in due measure upon those who had done the terrible thing. He drove out the Samaritans from Mt. Garizin and straightway handed it over to the Christians, and building a church on the summit he dedicated it to the Mother of God, putting a barrier, as it was made to appear, around this church, though in reality he erected only a light wall of stone. [8] And he established a garrison of soldiers, placing a large number in the city below, but not more than ten men at the fortifications and the church. [9] The Samaritans resented this, and chafed bitterly in their vexation and deplored their condition, but through fear of the Emperor they bore their distress in silence. [10] But at a later time, when Anastasius was holding the imperial office, the following happened. [11] Some of the Samaritans, incited by a woman’s suggestion, unexpectedly climbed the steep face of the mountain, since the path which leads up from the city was carefully guarded and it was impossible for them to attempt the ascent by that route. [12] Entering the church suddenly, they slew the guards there and with a mighty cry summoned the Samaritans in the city. [13] They, however, through fear of the soldiers, were by no means willing to join the attempt of the conspirators. [14] And not long afterwards the governor of the district (he was Procopius of Edessa, a man of learning) arrested the authors of the outrage and put them to death. [15] Yet even after that no thought was taken for the fortifications, and no provision for proper defence was made at that time by the Emperor. [16] But during the present reign, although the Emperor Justinian has converted the Samaritans for the most part to a more pious way of life and has made them Christians, he left the old fortifications around the church on Garizin in the form in which it was, that is, merely a barrier, as I have said; but by surrounding this with another wall on the outside he made the place absolutely impregnable. [17] There too he restored five shrines of the Christians which had been burned down by the Samaritans. Thus, then, have these things been done.
[8] [1] In what was formerly called Arabia and is now known as “Third Palestine,” a barren land extends for a great distance, unwatered and producing neither crops nor any useful thing. A precipitous and terribly wild mountain, Sina by name, rears its height close to the Red Sea, as it is called. [2] There is no need at this point in my account to write a description of that region because everything has been set forth in the Books on the Wars, where I gave a full description of the Red Sea and what is called the Arabian Gulf, as well as of the Ethiopians and Auxomitae and the tribes of the Homerite Saracens. At that point I shewed also in what manner the Emperor Justinian added the Palm Groves to the Roman Empire. [3] Therefore I omit mention of these things, that I may not acquire a reputation for bad taste. [4] On this Mt. Sina live monks whose life is a kind of careful rehearsal of death, and they enjoy without fear the solitude which is very precious to them. [5] Since these monks have nothing to crave — for they are superior to all human desires and have no interest in possessing anything or in caring for their bodies, nor do they seek pleasure in any other thing whatever — the Emperor Justinian built them a church which have dedicated to the Mother of God, so that they might be enabled to pass their lives therein praying and holding services. [6] He built this church, not on the mountain’s summit, but much lower down. [7] For it is impossible for a man to pass the night on the summit, since constant crashes of thunder and other terrifying manifestations of divine power are heard at night, striking terror into man’s body and souls. [8] It was in that place, they say, that Moses received the laws from God and published them. [9] And at the base of the mountain this Emperor built a very strong fortress and established there a considerable garrison of troops, in order that the barbarian Saracens might not be able from that region, which, as I have said, is uninhabited, to make inroads with complete secrecy into the lands of Palestine proper.
[10] Thus, then, were these things done. All that he did in the monasteries of this region and throughout the rest of the East I shall now record in the form of a summary.
[9] [1] These, then, were the monasteries restored in Jerusalem:
&nbs
p; [1] The Monastery of St. Thalelaeus.
[2] The Monastery of St. Gregory.
[3] Also St. Panteleëmon’s in the Desert of Jordan.
[4] A hospice in Jerichô.
[5] A Church of the Mother of God in Jerichô.
[6] The Monastery of the Iberians in Jerusalem.
[7] The Monastery of the Lazi in the Desert of Jerusalem.
[8] The Monastery of St. Mary on the Mount of Olives.
[9] The Monastery of the Spring of St. Elissaeus in Jerusalem.
[10] The Monastery of St. Siletheus.
[11] The Monastery of the Abbot Romanus.
[12] At Bethlehem he restored the wall.
[13] The Monastery of the Abbot John in Bethlehem.
[14] He also built wells or cisterns as follows:
[15] at the Monastery of St. Samuel, a well and a wall;
[16] at that of the Abbot Zacharias, a well;
[17] at that of Susanna, a well;
[18] at that of Aphelius, a well;
[19] at St. John’s on the Jordan, a well;
[20] at St. Sergius’ on the mountain called Cisserôn, a well;
[21] the wall of Tiberias;
[22] the Poor-house in Bostra.
[23] In Phoenicia, the following:
the House of the Virgin in Porphyreôn;
[24] the Monastery of St. Phocas on the Mount;
[25] the House of St. Sergius in Ptolemaïs;
[26] in Damascus, the House of St. Leontius;
[27] near Apamea, he restored the Poor-house of St. Romanus;
[28] the wall of the Blessed Marôn;
[29] near Theopolis, he restored the Church of Daphnê;
[30] in Laodicea, he restored St. John’s.
[31] In Mesopotamia: he restored a Monastery of St. John; [32] the Monasteries of Delphrachis, Zebinus, Theodotus, John, Sarmathê, Cyrenus, Begadaeus;
[33] A Monastery of Apadnas in Isauria;
[34] At the city of Curicum, he restored a Bath and a Poor-house;
[35] the Poor-house of St. Conôn;
[36] He renewed the aqueduct of the same in Cyprus;
[37] The House of Sts. Cosmas and Damian in Pamphylia;
[38] The Poor-house of St. Michael in the Emporium, as it is called, of the harbour-city of Perga in Pamphylia.
BOOK VI.
[1] [1] Thus were these things done by the Emperor Justinian. And at Alexandria he did the following. The Nile River does not flow all the way to Alexandria, but after flowing to the town which is named from Chaereüs, it then turns to the left, leaving aside the confines of Alexandria. [2] Consequently the men of former times, in order that the city might not be entirely cut off from the river, dug a very deep canal from Chaereüs and thus by means of a short branch made the river accessible to it. There too, as it chances, are the mouths of certain streams flowing in from Lake Maria. [3] In this canal it is by no means possible for large vessels to sail, so at Chaereüs they transfer the Egyptian grain to boats which they are wont to call diaremata, and thus convey it to the city, which they are enabled to reach by way of the canal-route, and they deposit it in the quarter of the city which the Alexandrians call Phialê. [4] But since it often came about that the grain was destroyed in that place by the people rising in sedition, the Emperor Justinian surrounded this district with a wall and so prevented the damage to the grain. [5] Thus were these things done by the Emperor Justinian.
But inasmuch as our account has now led us to Egypt, the close neighbour of Libya, let us now set forth how many things were done by him there also, since this Emperor found all Libya too lying under the power of barbarians and joined it to the remainder of the Roman Empire.
[6] The Nile River, flowing out of India into Egypt, divides that land into two parts as far as the sea. The land, thus divided by the stream, is thenceforth designated by two separate names: [7] the region on the right of the river is called Asia as far as Colchian Phasis, which divides Asia from the continent of Europe, or even all the way to the Cimmerian Strait and the River Tanaïs. [8] In regard to this question those who are learned in these matters are in conflict with one another, as has been made clear in the Books on the Wars in the course of my description of the sea called Euxine. [9] And the land on the left of the Nile bears the name of Libya as far as the Ocean, which on the west marks the boundary between the two continents by sending out a certain arm which opens out into this sea of ours. [10] All the rest of Libya has received several different names, each region being designated, presumably, by the name of the people who dwell there. [11] However, the territory extending from the confines of Alexandria as far as the cities of Cyrenê, comprising the Pentapolis, is now the only region which is called by the name of Libya. [12] In that territory is a city one day’s journey distant from Alexandria, Taphosiris by name, where they say that the god of the Egyptians, Osiris, was buried. [13] In this city the Emperor Justinian built many things, and in particular the residences of the magistrates and baths.
[2] [1] The greatest part of this land of Libya chances to have been desert, which was in general neglected. [2] Yet our Emperor takes thought for this land also with watchful care, so that it might not have the ill fortune to suffer anything from inroads of the Moors who inhabit the adjoining country; and to this end he established there two strongholds with garrisons, one of which they call Paratonium,º while the other, which lies not far from the Pentapolis, has received the name Antipyrgum. [3] And the Pentapolis is removed from Alexandria by a twenty days’ journey for an unencumbered traveller. [4] In this region of Pentapolis the Emperor Justinian surrounded the city of Teuchira with very strong fortifications. [5] The circuit-wall of Bernicê he rebuilt from its lowest foundations. [6] In that city he also built a bath for the use of the people. [7] Furthermore, on the extreme boundary of the Pentapolis which faces the south, he constructed fortresses in two monasteries which bear the names Agriolodê and Dinarthisum; [8] and these stand as bulwarks against the barbarians of that region, so that they may not come down stealthily into Roman territory and suddenly fall upon it.
[9] There is a certain city there, Ptolemaïs by name, which in ancient times had been prosperous and populous, but as time went on it had come to be almost deserted owing to extreme scarcity of water. [10] For the great majority of the population, driven by thirst, had moved from there long ago and gone wherever each one could. [11] Now, however, this Emperor has restored the city’s aqueduct and thus brought back to it its former measure of prosperity. The last city of Pentapolis towards the west is named Boreium. [12] Here the mountains press close upon one another, and thus forming a barrier by their crowding, effectively close the entrance to the enemy. [13] This city, which had been without a wall, the Emperor enclosed with very strong defences, thus making it as safe as possible for the future, together with the whole country round about it.
[14] And there are two cities which are known by the same name, each of them being called Augila.a [15] These are distant from Boreium about four days’ journey for an unencumbered traveller, and to the south of it; and they are both ancient cities whose inhabitants have preserved the practices of antiquity, for they all were suffering from the disease of polytheism even up to my day. [16] There from ancient times there have been shrines dedicated to Ammon and to Alexander the Macedonian. [17] The natives actually used to make sacrifices to them even up to the reign of Justinian. [18] In this place there was a great throng of those called temple-slaves. But now the Emperor has made provision, not alone for the safety of the persons of his subjects, but he has also made it his concern to save their souls, be thus he has cared in every way for the people living there. [19] Indeed he by no means neglected to take thought for their material interests in an exceptional way, and also he has taught them the doctrine of the true faith, making the whole population Christians and bringing about a transformation of their polluted ancestral customs. [20] Moreover he built for them a Church of the Mother of God to be a guardian of the safety of the ci
ties and of the true faith. So much, then, for this.
Delphi Complete Works of Procopius Page 121