Volume 1
A history of the later Roman Empire : from Arcadius to Irene (395 A.D. to 800 A.D.) / by J.B. Bury.
- J. B. Bury
- Date:
- 1889
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A history of the later Roman Empire : from Arcadius to Irene (395 A.D. to 800 A.D.) / by J.B. Bury. Source: Wellcome Collection.
513/528 page 473
![ducts were constructed/ bridges were built; cities were forti- fied, extended, or restored and enriched with new baths and palaces; the mere enumeration of these results of Justinian’s activity would fill pages.^ It may be doubted whether the expenses which he thus incurred would be justified by the rules of a prudent economy; his “ mania ” for building cer- tainly furnished a ground of complaint for the party of opposi- tion to use against him. Yet his works, both secular and sacred, w'ere useful, and under ordinary conditions should have contributed to the prosperity of the Empire. E’ew roads and secure bridges facilitated commerce, aqueducts and fortifications provided for the health and the safety of the inhabitants, while the erection of churches by the Emperor tended to strengthen the ties between the ]3i‘ovinces and the central government. The enormous outlay on the building of St. Sophia, the crea- tion of Anthemius, needs no justification. Earthquakes were frequent in the days of Justinian, who did his utmost to alleviate their effects. Antioch suffered in 526, Pompeiopolis in 536, Cyzicus in 543. In 551 there were great physical disturbances in Greece; 4000 inhabitants were engulfed at Patrae. Three years later an earthquake destroyed many cities both in the islands and on the mainland, causing great loss of life. Among the rest, it reduced to ruin Berytus, then the pride {l^KaXkwirKjybcx) of Phoenicia,” and hardly a trace of that city’s splendid buildings was left. Berytus was the seat of a law school, and many educated strangers who had gone thither to study law perished, so that the misfortune was unusually tragic. While the city was being rebuilt, the professors of law (vcpTjyyraL) lectured in Sidon. This earthquake was so severe that a slight shock was felt even at Alexandria, where the his- torian Agathias was sojourning at the time.^ All the in- habitants were terrified at the unwonted sensation, and none 1 At Trapezus, Nicaea, Perinthiis, comedia and Nicaea were enriched with Libyan Ptoleinais, and Alexandria. The new buildings. Next to St. Sophia, aqueduct at Alexandria is mentioned the most important church which by Malalas. Justinian strengthened the Justinian erected in the East was that corn magazine at Alexandria ; a strong of the Virgin at Jerusalem (Proc. dc building was necessary, as in times of Aed. v. 6). scarcity the populace tried to storm it. “ See the work of Procopius in Six Caesarea in Cappadocia was improved Books irepi KTia/xaTuu {de Aedificiis). by a change in the fortifications. Ni- ^ Agath. ii. 15.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29353300_0001_0513.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
