[36] οὗ δὴ καὶ πόλις αὐτῷ πεποίηται Ἰουστινιανούπολις, ἡ πρότερον Ἀδριανούπολις καλουμένη.
[36] Here too he built the city of Justinianopolis, which formerly was called Adrianopolis.
[37] Ἀνενεώσατο δὲ Νικόπολίν τε καὶ Φωτικὴν καὶ τὴν Φοινίκην ὠνομασμένην. αἱ δύο αὐταὶ πολίχναι, ἥ τε Φωτικὴ καὶ ἡ Φοινίκῃ, ἐν τῷ χθαμαλῷ τῆς γῆς ἔκειντο, ὕδασι περιρρεόμεναι τῇδε λιμνάζουσι.
[37] And he restored Nicopolis and Photicê and the place called Phoenicê. These two towns, namely Photicê and Phoenicê, stood on low-lying ground and were surrounded by stagnant water which collected there.
[38] διὸ δὴ λογισάμενος Ἰουστινιανὸς βασιλεὺς εἶναι ἀμήχανα ἐπὶ στερρᾶς θεμελίων συνθήκης ]περιβόλους αὐταῖς ἀναστῆναι, αὐτὰς μὲν ἐπὶ σχήματος τοῦ αὐτοῦ εἴασε, φρούρια δὲ αὐτῶν ἀγχοτάτω ἐν τε ἀνάντει καὶ ἰσχυρῶς ὀρθίῳ ἐδείματο.
[38] Consequently the Emperor Justinian, reasoning that it was impossible for walls to be built about them on foundations of solid construction, left them just as they were, but close to them he built forts on rising ground which is exceedingly steep.
[39] ἦν δέ τις ἐνταῦθα πόλις ἀρχαία, ὕδασιν ἐπιεικῶς κατακορὴς οὖσα, ὀνόματός τε τῆς τοῦ χωρίου φύσεως ἀξίου ἐπιτυχοῦσα· Εὔροια γὰρ ἀνέκαθεν ὠνομάζετο.
[39] There was a certain ancient city in this region, abundantly supplied with water and endowed with a name worthy of the place; for it was called Euroea from ancient times.
[40] ταύτης δὲ τῆς Εὐροίας οὐ πολλῷ ἄποθεν λίμνη κέχυται καὶ νῆσος κατὰ μέσον ἀνέχει καὶ λόφος αὐτῇ ἐπανέστηκε.
[40] Not far from this Euroea a lake spreads out with an island in its midst upon which rises a hill.
[41] διαλείπει δὲ ἡ λίμνη τοσοῦτον, ὅσον τινὰ ἐν εἰσόδου μοίρᾳ τῇ νήσῳ λελεῖφθαι.
[41] And a break is left in the lake just large enough so that a kind of approach to the island remains.
[42] ἔνθα δὴ βασιλεὺς τοὺς τῆς Εὐροίας μεταβιβάσας οἰκήτορας, πόλιν ὀχυρωτάτην οἰκοδομησάμενος ἐτειχίσατο.
[42] The Emperor moved the inhabitants of Euroea to this place, built a very strong city, and put a wall about it.
[2]
[2] [1] Μετὰ δὲ τὴν Ἤπειρον ὅλην Αἰτωλούς τε καὶ Ἀκαρνᾶνας παραδραμόντι ὅ τε Κρισαῖος ἐκδέχεται κόλπος καὶ ὅ τε Ἰσθμὸς ἥ τε Κόρινθος καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τῆς Ἑλλάδος χωρία. ἔνθα δὴ τῆς παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὰ μάλιστα προνοίας ἠξίωνται.
[1] Beyond the whole of Epirus and Aetolia and Acarnania, as one skirts the coast, one comes to the Crisaean Gulf and the Isthmus and Corinth and the other parts of Greece. These regions made demands upon his very utmost wisdom.
[2] μάλιστα δὲ πάντων θαυμάσειεν ἄν τις ὁπόσοις περιβόλοις ἐτειχίσατο τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχήν. τῶν τε γὰρ ἄλλων προὐνόησε πάντων καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα τῶν ἐν Θερμοπύλαις ἀνόδων.
[2] And above all else one might wonder at the number of walled cities with which he fortified the Roman Empire. For he made provision for all of them and especially for the by-paths up the mountains at Thermopylae.
[3] πρῶτα μὲν οὖν τὰ τείχη ἐς ὕψος αὐτῷ ἀνέστη μέγα. ἦν γάρ, εἴ τις προσίοι, εὐπετῶς ἁλωτὰ καὶ οὐ τετειχισμένα τὰ ὄρη, ἃ ταύτῃ ἀνέχει, ἀλλ᾽ ἀποτετριγχωμένα ἐδόκει εἶναι.
[3] First of all he raised the walls there to a very great height. For the mountains which rise in that region were easy to capture, if one should assault them, they being not really walled, but simply supplied with what appeared to be a cornice of masonry.
[4] οἷς δὴ καὶ διπλᾶς τὰς ἐπάλξεις ἐντέθειται πάσας. κατὰ ταῦτα δὲ κἀν τῷ φρουρίῳ ἐξείργασται, ]ὅπερ ἐνταῦθα ἐκ παλαιοῦ ἦν παρέργως οὕτω πεποιημένον τοῖς πάλαι ἀνθρώποις.
[4] On all these walls he even placed double battlements, and he likewise carried out this same improvement in the fortress which had stood there from an ancient date, carelessly constructed, as it was, by men of former times.
[5] διαρκές τε γὰρ αὐτῷ ὕψος ἐντέθεικε καὶ διπλοῦς τοὺς προμαχῶνας πεποίηται.
[5] For he built it up to an adequate height and made the ramparts double.
[6] πρὸς ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ καὶ ἀνύδρῳ παντάπασιν ὄντι ταμιεῖον ὑετίων ὑδάτων ἐπετεχνήσατο.
[6] In addition to this he also devised for the fort, which was entirely without water, a storage-cistern for rain-water.
[7] ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ ἀνόδους πολλὰς ἀφυλάκτους τε καὶ ἀτειχίστους τὰ πρότερα οὔσας ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς ἐτειχίσατο.
[7] Furthermore, he carefully walled off many paths up the mountains which previously had been both unguarded and unwalled.
[8] θαυμάσειεν ἂν τις εἰκότως τὸν Περσῶν βασιλέα, ὅτι δὴ χρόνον ἐνταῦθα κατατρίψας πολύν, μίαν τινὰ στενὴν ἀτραπὸν εὕρατο, καὶ ταῦτα προδοτῶν Ἑλλήνων τυχών, ὁδῶν τε ἀτειχίστων ἐκείνῃ πολλῶν καὶ ἁμαξιτῶν σχεδόν τι ὅσων.
[8] One might marvel with good reason at the Persian King for spending so much time there and finding only a single narrow path, and that too with the help of Grecian traitors, while in fact there are many unwalled routes there which are practically waggon-roads.
[9] ἥ τε γὰρ θάλασσα τοὺς πρόποδας ἐπικλύζουσα τῶν ὀρῶν, ἀνεστομωμένας ἐκ τοῦ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐποιεῖτο εἶναι τὰς ἐνθένδε ἀνόδους, καὶ σηράγγων τε καὶ χαραδρῶν ἀδιεξόδων ἐνταῦθα οὐσῶν, ἀμήχανα ἔδοξεν εἶναι τοῖς πάλαι ἀνθρώποις τειχίσμασιν ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς περιβαλέσθαι τὰ διῃρημένα τῇ φύσει, τῇ τε πρὸς τὰ χαλεπώτατα τῶν ἔργων ὀκνήσει ἀταλαίπωρον ἀφέμενοι τὴν ἀσφάλειαν ἐπὶ τῇ τύχῃ κατέλιπον, ἐς τὴν ἐσομένην βαρβάροις τῆς ὁδοῦ ἄγνοιαν ἀποθέμενοι τὰς τῆς σωτηρίας ἐλπίδας.
[9] The sea, washing the base of the mountains, continually made new ascents from this point; and since glens and impassable ravines abound there, it seemed to the men of ancient times impossible to close up thoroughly with walls the openings which had been made by nature; and because of their reluctance to undertake a difficult task, they carelessly abandoned their safety to chance, basing their hope of salvation on the assumption that the barbarians would be ignorant of the road.
[10] ἐπεὶ πρὸς τὴν ταλαιπωρίαν ἀπολέγοντες ἀεὶ ἄνθρωποι, τὰ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς δυσκολώτατα δόξαντα �
�ἶναι οὐδὲ ἄλλοις τισὶν οἴονται ῥᾴδια ἔσεσθαι.
[10] For since men always shrink from hard work, they imagine that what has seemed very difficult to them will not be easy for any others.
[11] διὸ δὴ οὐκ ἄν τις ἔτι φιλονεικοίη μὴ οὐχὶ ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων οἳ δὴ ἐς τὸν πάντα αἰῶνα γεγένηται, Ἰουστινιανὸν βασιλέα προμηθέστατον γεγονέναι καὶ διαφερόντως ἐπιμελέστατον, ᾧ γε οὐδὲ θάλασσα χαλεπὴ γέγονε, γειτνιῶσά τε τοῖς ὄρεσι καὶ περιχεομένη καὶ ἐπικλύζουσα, ἐν κλυδωνίῳ ]τε καὶ ψάμμῳ ὑγρᾷ τοῖς θεμελίοις στηρίζεσθαι, καὶ τοῖς ἐναντιωτάτοις διαφανῶς ἐναρμόζεσθαι, ἀνθρώπων τε προσχωρεῖν τέχνῃ καὶ βιαζομένοις ὑπείκειν.
[11] So no man will any longer dispute the assertion that the Emperor Justinian has shewn himself most provident and most exceptionally careful as compared with all other men who have ever lived, seeing that even the sea, though it comes close to the mountains and surrounds them and beats against them, has not proved an obstacle sufficient to prevent the foundations from being securely laid in the midst of the surging water and on the wet sand, or to forestall the most striking union of the most opposite elements, which are thus forced to yield to man’s skill and to bow to his superior power.
[12] οὐ μέντοι οὐδὲ τάς τε λόχμας καὶ νάπας ἀλλήλαις ἀνάψας, οὐδὲ τὴν θάλασσαν τῷ ὄρει ἐναρμοσάμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς οὗτος, ὅλην τε τὴν Ἑλλάδα περιβαλὼν τοῖς ὀχυρώμασι, κατέπαυσε τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν κατηκόων σπουδήν, ἀλλὰ καὶ φρούρια πολλὰ τοῦ τείχους ἐντὸς ἐτεκτήνατο, ἄξια τύχης τῆς ἀνθρωπείας βεβουλευμένος, ᾗ βέβαιον οὐδὲν οὐδὲ ἀκαταγώνιστον γίνεται.
[12] Yet this Emperor, even after joining the forests and the glens to each other, and fastening the sea to the mountain, and encircling all Greece with strongholds, did not stop his zeal for his subjects, but he also constructed many forts inside the wall, planning for all the contingencies which sway man’s fortune,
[13] ὥστε εἰ τοῖς τείχεσι τούτοις τρόπῳ ὁτῳοῦν ἢ χρόνῳ ἁλῶναι ξυμβαίη, ἐν τοῖς φρουρίοις τὰ φυλακτήρια διασώζοιτο.
[13] so that if these walls in any manner or at any time chanced to be captured, the garrisons might still be maintained in the fortresses.
[14] καὶ μὴν καὶ σιτῶνας ἐν τῷ ἀσφαλεῖ καὶ ὑδάτων ἔλυτρα πανταχόθι πεποίηται, στρατιώτας τε φρουρούς ἐς δισχιλίους μάλιστα τῇδε ἱδρύσατο· ὃ οὐδέ τις τῶν πρώην βασιλέων πώποτε ἐκ τοῦ παντὸς χρόνου πεποίηκεν.
[14] Furthermore, he placed granaries and reservoirs of water in safe places everywhere and established there about two thousand soldiers as a garrison, a thing which not one of the former Emperors has done in all time.
[15] ἀφύλακτα γὰρ τὸ παράπαν τὰ τείχη ταῦτα ἄνωθέν τε καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἦν, ἀγροίκων τε τῶν ἐπιχωρίων τινὲς τῶν πολεμίων καταθεόντων μεθαρμοσάμενοι τὴν δίαιταν ἐν τῷ παραυτίκα, ἐπὶ καιροῦ τε αὐτοσχεδιάζοντες τὰ πολέμια, ἐκ περιτροπῆς ἐνταῦθα ἐφρούρουν, ἁλώσιμοί τε τοῖς πολεμίοις ἀπειρίᾳ τοῦ ἔργου ῥᾷστα ξὺν τῇ Ἑλλάδι ἐγίνοντο, ταύτῃ τε τῇ σμικρολογίᾳ ἡ χώρα ἐπὶ μακρότατον ἀπέκειτο ἐπιοῦσι βαρβάροις.
[15] For these walls were entirely unguarded from early times even to my day, and some of the peasants from the neighbourhood, when the enemy came down, would suddenly change their mode of life, and becoming makeshift soldiers for the occasion, would keep guard there in turn; and because of their inexperience in the business they, together with Greece itself, proved an easy prey to the enemy, and on account of this niggardliness the country through its whole extent lay open to the oncoming barbarians.
[16] Οὕτω μὲν Ἰουστινιανὸς βασιλεὺς τὰ ἐν Θερμοπύλαις ἐρύματα ἐκρατύνατο. καὶ πόλεων δὲ ἁπασῶν, αἵπερ αὐτῶν ἐκτὸς τῇ χώρᾳ ἐξικανοῦσιν ]οὖσαι, ξὺν ἐπιμελείᾳ πολλῇ τείχη ᾠκοδομήσατο ἰσχυρά, ἐν τε Σάκκῳ καὶ Ὑπάτῃ καὶ Κορακίοις καὶ Οὐννῷ καὶ Βαλέαις καὶ τῷ καλουμένῳ Λεονταρίῳ.
[16] Thus did the Emperor Justinian secure the defences at Thermopylae. And in all the cities outside the pass, which in that region are sufficiently numerous, he very carefully built strong walls, both at Saccus and Hypatê and Coracii and Unnum and Baleae and at Leontarium, as it is called.
[17] ἐν δὲ τῇ Ἡρακλείᾳ πεποίηται τάδε. ἐξ Ἰλλυριῶν ἐς Ἑλλάδα ἰόντι, ὄρη δύο ἐπὶ μακρότατον ἀλλήλοιν ὡς ἀγχοτάτω ξυνιᾶσι, στενωπὸν ἐν βραχεῖ ἀπεργαζόμενα τὴν μεταξὺ χώραν (κλεισούρας νενομίκασι τὰ τοιαῦτα καλεῖν)·
[17] At Heraclea he did as follows. As one descends from Illyricum into Greece, one is confronted by two mountains which rise very close together for a long distance, forming between them a narrow pass of the sort which they are wont to call cleisurae.
[18] πηγὴ δὲ κατὰ μέσον κάτεισιν, ἐν μὲν ὥρᾳ θερινῇ πότιμον ἀποβλύζουσα καὶ καθαρὸν ὕδωρ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀρῶν ἃ ταύτῃ ἀνέχει, ἐς ῥύακά τε ἀποκεκριμένη βραχύν.
[18] A small stream comes down between them, in the summer season flowing with pure drinking-water from the mountains which rise there and forming a tiny brook.
[19] ἐπειδὰν δὲ ὕοι, χειμάρρους ἐνταῦθα ἐπικυρτοῦται ὑψηλός τε ὑπερφυῶς καὶ δεινῶς ἄγριος ἐπὶ πλεῖστον τῶν ἐκείνῃ σκοπέλων ἀπὸ τῶν χαραδρῶν συνάγων τὸ ῥεῦμα.
[19] Whenever it rains, however, an exceedingly deep and very violent torrent billows down, gathering its volume chiefly from the streams which course down from the mountain peaks thereabout.
[20] ἐνθένδε τοῖς βαρβάροις εἰσιτητὰ ἐπί τε Θερμοπύλας οὐδενὶ πόνῳ ἐγίνετο καὶ τὴν ταύτῃ Ἑλλάδα.
[20] At that point it was possible for the barbarians with no difficulty to effect an entrance both against Thermopylae and into that part of Greece.
[21] τοῦ δὲ στενωποῦ ἐφ᾽ ἑκάτερα δύο ἐκ παλαιοῦ ὀχυρώματα ἦν, πὴ μὲν Ἡράκλεια πόλις, ἧσπερ ἐπεμνήσθην ἀρτίως, πὴ δὲ ὁ Μυροπώλης καλούμενος, οὐκ ὀλίγῃ διεστηκώς χώρᾳ.
[21] But on either side of the pass there had been two fortresses from early times, on the one side the city of Heraclea, which I have just mentioned, and on the other, separated by no small distance, Myropoles, as it is called.
[22] ταῦτα δὲ ἄμφω τὰ ὀχυρώματα ἐν ἐρειπίοις ἐκ παλαιοῦ ὄντα Ἰουστινιανὸς ἀνῳκοδομήσατο βασιλεὺς καὶ διατειχίσματι τὸν στενωπὸν ὀχυρωτάτῳ περιβαλών, τούτῳ
τε συνάψας ὄρος ἑκάτερον τοῖς μὲν βαρβάροις τὴν δίοδον ἀνεχαίτισε, τῷ δὲ χειμάρρῳ ἐπάναγκές ἐστι λιμνάζοντι τοῦ τείχους ἐντός, εἶτα ἐφύπερθεν αὐτοῦ φερομένῳ ὅπῃ παρατύχοι ἰέναι.
] [22] Both these fortresses had lain in ruin from ancient times, so the Emperor Justinian rebuilt them and closed the pass with a very strong cross-wall which he made fast to each of the two mountains, thus blocking the entrance for the barbarians, and the stream when it is in flood is now forced to form a pond inside the wall and then to flow over it and go on wherever it chances.
[23] Καὶ πόλεις δὲ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἁπάσας αἵπερ ἐντός εἰσι τῶν ἐν Θερμοπύλαις τειχῶν, ἐν τῷ βεβαίῳ κατεστήσατο εἶναι, τοὺς περιβόλους ἀνανεωσάμενος ἅπαντας.
[23] He also rendered secure all the cities of Greece which are inside the walls at Thermopylae, renewing their circuit-walls in every case.
[24] κατερηρίπεσαν γὰρ πολλῷ πρότερον, ἐν Κορίνθῳ μὲν σεισμῶν ἐπιγενομένων ἐξαισίων, Ἀθήνησι δὲ καὶ Πλαταιᾶσι κἀν τοῖς ἐπὶ Βοιωτίας χωρίοις χρόνου μὲν μήκει πεπονηκότες, ἐπιμελησαμένου δὲ αὐτῶν οὐδενὸς τῶν πάντων ἀνθρώπων.
[24] For they had fallen into ruin long before, at Corinth because of terrible earthquakes which had visited the city; and at Athens and Plataea and the towns of Boeotia they had suffered from the long passage of time, while no man in the whole world took thought for them.
[25] ἐπίμαχον δὲ ἢ ἀφύλακτον οὐδὲν εἴασεν, ἐπεὶ αὐτῷ προεγρηγορότι τῶν κατηκόων ἔννοια γέγονεν ὡς οἱ βάρβαροι καταθέοντες, ἂν οὕτω τύχῃ, τά γε ἀμφὶ Θερμοπύλας χωρία, ἐπειδὰν τάχιστα πύθωνται οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ὄφελος ἔσεσθαι ὑπερβεβληκόσι τὸ ἔρυμα τοῦτο, τειχήρους πανταχόθι γεγενημένης τῆς ἄλλης Ἑλλάδος, ἐθελοκακήσουσιν αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα ἐξεπιστάμενοι ὡς πολιορκεῖν σφίσι πόλιν ἑκάστην ἐπάναγκες ἔσται.
Delphi Complete Works of Procopius Page 601