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is instructed, I am unable to know. For perhaps even the skill of him who wrote them, with the elegant power of his words, was sufficiently strong to become an adornment of the deeds 1.1.15. But if one were to examine accurately the reign of our Emperor Justinian (whom one might, I think, rightly call a king by nature, since he is as gentle as a father, in Homer's words), he will think the rule of Cyrus a kind of child's play 1.1.16. And a proof of this will be the state under him, which, as has been said by me just now, has become more than doubled in both its territory and its other power, while those who contrived a plot against him even to the point of murder, not only are living to this day and have their own possessions, although clearly convicted, but are even serving as generals of the Romans and are enrolled in the dignity of the consuls 1.1.17. But now, as I said, we must proceed to the buildings of this emperor, so that it may not befall those who view them in later time to disbelieve in both their number and their size, seeing that they happen to be the works of a single man 1.1.18. For many achievements of the past have, by the excess of their excellence, become objects of disbelief, not being confirmed by a written account. And reasonably the buildings in Byzantium 1.1.19 would be the foundation for the whole account. For at the beginning of a work, according to the ancient saying, one must set a far-shining face. 1.1.20 Common men and the rabble once rose up against the Emperor Justinian in Byzantium and brought about the sedition called 'Nika,' which has been related by me with unsparing accuracy in the books on the Wars 1.1.21. And showing that they had raised their profane arms not against the emperor alone, but no less against God, they dared to burn the church of the Christians (the Byzantines call the temple 'Sophia,' having most appropriately ascribed this name to God), and God allowed them to accomplish the impiety, foreknowing into 1.1.22 what great beauty this shrine was destined to be transformed. So the church then lay entirely a charred ruin. But the Emperor Justinian built it not long afterwards on such a scale that if any of the Christians had been asked before whether it would be their wish that the church be destroyed and become such as this, showing them a model of the present building, it seems to me they would have prayed to see their church suffer this fate at once, so that it 1.1.23 might be changed into its present form. So the emperor, disregarding all expense, hastened to begin the construction, and he gathered all the craftsmen from the whole earth 1.1.24. And Anthemius of Tralles, most learned in the science called mechanics, not only of all his contemporaries, but also of those who had lived long before him, ministered to the emperor's zeal, regulating the tasks of the craftsmen, and preparing in advance models of what was to be made, and with him another master-builder, Isidorus by name, a Milesian by birth, intelligent in other ways and fit 1.1.25 to serve Emperor Justinian. And this too was an instance of God's honour for the emperor, that He had prepared beforehand men who would be most serviceable to him for the tasks to be accomplished 1.1.26. And one might rightly admire the mind of the emperor himself for this reason, that he was able to select from all men those who were most suitable for the most important of his undertakings. 1.1.27 The church, therefore, has become a most glorious spectacle, extraordinary to those who behold it, and altogether incredible to those who hear of it; for it is raised to a heavenly height, and as if floating on air from the other buildings it stands out and overhangs the rest of the city, adorning it because it is part of it, but being glorified because, being part of it and rising so high, the city is viewed from it as from a watchtower 1.1.28. And its breadth and length have been so fittingly arranged that it will not inappropriately be called both very long and altogether broad. And it is made august by its indescribable 1.1.29 beauty. For it is distinguished both by its size and by the harmony of its proportions, having nothing in excess and nothing lacking,

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ναίῳ παιδεύεται, οὐκ ἔχω εἰδέναι. τάχα γάρ που καὶ ἡ τοῦ γεγραφότος αὐτὰ δεξιότης κεκομψευμένῃ δυνάμει τοῦ λόγου ἐγκαλλώπισμα τῶν ἔργων γενέσθαι διαρκῶς 1.1.15 ἴσχυσε. τοῦ δὲ καθ' ἡμᾶς βασιλέως Ἰουστινιανοῦ (ὃν δὴ καὶ φύσει βασιλέα καλῶν τις, οἶμαι, ὀρθῶς ἂν εἴποι, ἐπεὶ καὶ πατὴρ ὣς ἤπιός ἐστι, καθ' Ὅμηρον) εἴ τις ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς τὴν βασιλείαν διασκοποῖτο, παιδιάν τινα τὴν Κύρου 1.1.16 ἀρχὴν οἰήσεται εἶναι. τεκμηριώσει δὲ τὸ τοιοῦτο ἡ μὲν πολιτεία πρὸς αὐτοῦ, ᾗπέρ μοι ἔναγχος εἴρηται, τῇ τε χώρᾳ καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ δυνάμει πλεῖν ἢ διπλασία γεγενημένη, οἱ δὲ τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν αὐτῷ σκαιωρησάμενοι μέχρι ἐς φόνον μὴ ὅτι βιοτεύοντες ἐς τόδε τοῦ χρόνου καὶ τὰ σφέτερα αὐτῶν ἔχοντες, καίπερ ἐξεληλεγμένοι διαφανῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ στρατηγοῦντες Ῥωμαίων ἔτι καὶ ἐς τὸ τῶν ὑπάτων ἀνα1.1.17 γεγραμμένοι τελοῦσιν ἀξίωμα. τανῦν δὲ, ὅπερ εἶπον, ἐπὶ τὰς οἰκοδομίας τούτου δὴ τοῦ βασιλέως ἡμῖν ἰτέον, ὡς μὴ ἀπιστεῖν τῷ τε πλήθει καὶ τῷ μεγέθει ἐς τὸν ὄπισθεν χρόνον τοῖς αὐτὰς θεωμένοις ξυμβαίη, ὅτι δὴ ἀνδρὸς ἑνὸς 1.1.18 ἔργα τυγχάνει ὄντα. πολλὰ γὰρ ἤδη τῶν προγεγενημένων οὐκ ἐμπεδωθέντα τῷ λόγῳ τῷ ὑπερβάλλοντι τῆς ἀρετῆς ἄπιστα γέγονεν. εἴη δ' ἂν εἰκότως τὰ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ 1.1.19 παρὰ πάντα τῷ λόγῳ κρηπίς. ἀρχομένου γὰρ ἔργου, κατὰ δὴ τὸν παλαιὸν λόγον, πρόσωπον χρὴ θέμεναι τηλαυγές. 1.1.20 Ἄνδρες ἀγελαῖοί ποτε καὶ ὁ συρφετὸς ὄχλος Ἰουστινιανῷ βασιλεῖ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ἐπαναστάντες τὴν Νίκα καλουμένην στάσιν εἰργάσαντο, ᾗπέρ μοι ἀπαρακαλύπτως ἀκριβολογουμένῳ ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ τῶν πολέμων δεδιήγηται 1.1.21 λόγοις. ἐνδεικνύμενοι δὲ ὡς οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸν βασιλέα μόνον, ἀλλ' οὐδέν τι ἧσσον ἐπὶ τὸν θεὸν ἅτε ἀποφράδες τὰ ὅπλα ἀντῆραν, ἐμπρῆσαι τῶν Χριστιανῶν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐτόλμησαν (Σοφίαν καλοῦσιν οἱ Βυζάντιοι τὸν νεὼν ἐπικαιριώτατα τῷ θεῷ τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν ἀπεργασάμενοι), ἐπεχώρει δὲ αὐτοῖς ὁ θεὸς διαπράξασθαι τὸ ἀσέβημα, προειδὼς εἰς 1.1.22 ὅσον τι κάλλος τοῦτο τὸ ἱερὸν μεταστήσεσθαι ἔμελλεν. ἡ μὲν οὖν ἐκκλησία ἐξηνθρακωμένη τότε ξύμπασα ἔκειτο. βασιλεὺς δὲ Ἰουστινιανὸς τοιαύτην ἀποτετόρνευται οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον ὥστε, εἰ τῶν Χριστιανῶν τις ἐπύθετο πρότερον εἰ βουλομένοις αὐτοῖς διολωλέναι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἴη καὶ τοιάνδε γενέσθαι, δείξας τι αὐτοῖς τῶν νῦν φαινομένων ἐκτύπωμα, δοκοῦσιν ἄν μοι ὡς συντομώτατα εὔξασθαι πεπονθυῖαν σφίσι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν θεάσασθαι, ὅπως δὴ 1.1.23 αὐτοῖς ἐς τὸ παρὸν μεταβάλοιτο σχῆμα. ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεὺς ἀφροντιστήσας χρημάτων ἁπάντων ἐς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν σπουδῇ ἵετο, καὶ τοὺς τεχνίτας ἐκ πάσης γῆς ἤγει1.1.24 ρεν ἅπαντας. Ἀνθέμιος δὲ Τραλλιανὸς, ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ τῇ καλουμένῃ μηχανικῇ λογιώτατος, οὐ τῶν κατ' αὐτὸν μόνον ἁπάντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ προγεγενημένων πολλῷ, τῇ βασιλέως ὑπούργει σπουδῇ, τοῖς τεκταινομένοις τὰ ἔργα ῥυθμίζων, τῶν τε γενησομένων προδιασκευάζων ἰνδάλματα, καὶ μηχανοποιὸς σὺν αὐτῷ ἕτερος, Ἰσίδωρος ὄνομα, Μιλήσιος γένος, ἔμφρων τε ἄλλως καὶ πρέπων 1.1.25 Ἰουστινιανῷ ὑπουργεῖν βασιλεῖ. ἦν δὲ ἄρα καὶ τοῦτο τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ περὶ τὸν βασιλέα τιμῆς, προκαταστησαμένου τοὺς ἐς τὰ πραχθησόμενα χρησιμωτάτους αὐτῷ ἐσο1.1.26 μένους. καὶ αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως τὸν νοῦν εἰκότως ἄν τις ἀγασθείη τούτου δὴ ἕνεκα, ὅτι δὴ ἐκ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐς τῶν πραγμάτων τὰ σπουδαιότατα τοὺς καιριωτάτους ἀπολέξασθαι ἔσχε. 1.1.27 Θέαμα τοίνυν ἡ ἐκκλησία κεκαλλιστευμένον γεγένηται, τοῖς μὲν ὁρῶσιν ὑπερφυές, τοῖς δὲ ἀκούουσι παντελῶς ἄπιστον· ἐπῆρται μὲν γὰρ ἐς ὕψος οὐράνιον ὅσον, καὶ ὥσπερ τῶν ἄλλων οἰκοδομημάτων ἀποσαλεύουσα ἐπινένευκεν ὑπερκειμένη τῇ ἄλλῃ πόλει, κοσμοῦσα μὲν αὐτήν, ὅτι αὐτῆς ἐστιν, ὡραϊζομένη δέ, ὅτι αὐτῆς οὖσα καὶ ἐπεμβαίνουσα τοσοῦτον ἀνέχει, ὥστε δὴ ἐνθένδε ἡ πόλις ἐκ 1.1.28 περιωπῆς ἀποσκοπεῖται. εὖρος δὲ αὐτῆς καὶ μῆκος οὕτως ἐν ἐπιτηδείῳ ἀποτετόρνευται, ὥστε καὶ περιμήκης καὶ ὅλως εὐρεῖα οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου εἰρήσεται. κάλλει δὲ ἀμυ1.1.29 θήτῳ ἀποσεμνύνεται. τῷ τε γὰρ ὄγκῳ κεκόμψευται καὶ τῇ ἁρμονίᾳ τοῦ μέτρου, οὔτε τι ὑπεράγαν οὔτε τι ἐνδεῶς ἔχουσα,