6

shaken as it is presented,1.2.10 and a certain radiance flashes forth from it. One might say poetically that it is that autumn star. And it looks toward the rising sun, making its drive 1.2.11, I think, against the Persians. and in its left hand it carries a globe, the sculptor thereby indicating that all earth and sea have been enslaved to him, but it has neither sword nor spear nor any other weapon, but a cross is set upon the globe, through which alone both the imperial 1.2.12 power and the victory in war have been secured. and stretching forth its right hand toward the rising sun and spreading out its fingers, it commands the barbarians in that quarter to remain at home and come no further. So much, then, for this. 1.2.13 The church named after Peace, which was adjacent to the Great Church and had previously been burned down along with it, Emperor Justinian built of exceeding great size, second to none of almost all the sanctuaries in Byzantium, after, at least, the church 1.2.14 of Sophia. And there was a certain hospice between these two churches, dedicated to people who were both destitute and suffering from the most extreme illnesses, if, in addition to their substance, their 1.2.15 body was also sick. This a certain pious man had built in former times, Samson by name. And it did not itself remain untouched by the rioters, but having been burned down together with each of the two churches,1.2.16 it was destroyed. But Emperor Justinian rebuilt it, more worthy in the beauty of its construction, and far larger in the number of its rooms; and he has endowed it with a great annual income of money, so that it might forever heal the sufferings of more people in distress. 1.2.17 Having not the least bit of satiety or surfeit in his reverence for God, he established two other hospices opposite it in the houses called those of Isidorus and Arcadius, the Empress Theodora undertaking with him 1.2.18 this most sacred of works. And all the other sanctuaries, indeed, which this emperor dedicated to Christ, are so many in number and so great in size, that it is impossible to go into detail 1.2.19 about them. For neither speech nor all our time would suffice for us, having made a list, to recite by name each one of these. It will suffice for us to speak thus far. 1.3.1 But one must begin with the churches of Mary, the Mother of God. For we know that this is pleasing to the emperor himself, and true reason clearly indicates that one must proceed from God 1.3.2 to his mother. Emperor Justinian, then, built many churches to the Mother of God everywhere in the Roman empire, so magnificent and immense and constructed with an extraordinary mass of money, that if one were to look at a single one of them by itself, one would suppose that he had accomplished this work alone and, being occupied with this, had spent all the time of his reign. 1.3.3 But now, as I said, the sanctuaries in Byzantium will be described by me. So, then, he built one church of the Mother of God outside the city-wall in a place called Blachernae; for to him must be credited also the works of his uncle Justin, since he himself administered his empire with full authority, and the church is on the sea, most holy and exceedingly revered, oblong indeed, but with its width proportioned to its length, both the upper and the lower parts being supported by nothing else except by blocks of Parian 1.3.4 stone standing here in the form of columns. and in the other parts of the church the columns stand in a straight line, but in the middle 1.3.5 they recede inwards. And one would especially admire this sanctuary on entering it, seeing its immense size arranged without risk, and its magnificence free from bad taste. 1.3.6 And another sanctuary to her he dedicated in a place called Pege. here there is a dense grove of cypresses, a meadow blooming with flowers in the soft soil, a garden bearing its seasonal fruits, a spring silently bubbling forth calm and drinkable water, all things exceedingly befitting a sanctuary. 1.3.7 Such is the place around the sacred precinct; but the church itself it is not easy even to grasp with fitting words, nor to sketch in outline in the mind, 1.3.8 nor to whisper in speech.

6

κατασείοιτο παρεχό1.2.10 μενον, αἴγλη τέ τις ἐνθένδε αὐτοῦ ἀπαστράπτει. φαίη τις ἂν ποιητικῶς εἶναι τὸν ὀπωρινὸν ἐκεῖνον ἀστέρα. βλέπει δὲ πρὸς ἀνίσχοντά που τὸν ἥλιον, τὴν ἡνιόχησιν 1.2.11 ἐπὶ Πέρσας, οἶμαι, ποιούμενος. καὶ φέρει μὲν χειρὶ τῇ λαιᾷ πόλον, παραδηλῶν ὁ πλάστης ὅτι γῆ τε αὐτῷ καὶ θάλασσα δεδούλωται πᾶσα, ἔχει δὲ οὔτε ξίφος οὔτε δοράτιον οὔτε ἄλλο τῶν ὅπλων οὐδέν, ἀλλὰ σταυρὸς αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τοῦ πόλου ἐπίκειται, δι' οὗ δὴ μόνου τήν τε βασι1.2.12 λείαν καὶ τὸ τοῦ πολέμου πεπόρισται κράτος. προτεινόμενος δὲ χεῖρα τὴν δεξιὰν ἐς τὰ πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἥλιον καὶ τοὺς δακτύλους διαπετάσας ἐγκελεύεται τοῖς ἐκείνῃ βαρβάροις καθῆσθαι οἴκοι καὶ μὴ πρόσω ἰέναι. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὧδέ πη ἔχει. 1.2.13 Ἐκκλησίᾳ δὲ τῇ μεγάλῃ ὅμορον οὖσαν καὶ συγκαταφλεχθεῖσαν αὐτῇ πρότερον τὴν τῆς Εἰρήνης ἐπώνυμον Ἰουστινιανὸς βασιλεὺς ὑπερμεγέθη ἐδείματο, ἱερῶν τῶν ἐν Βυζαντίῳ σχεδόν τι ἁπάντων, μετά γε τῆς Σοφίας τὸν 1.2.14 νεών, οὐδενὸς δεύτερον. ἦν δέ τις μεταξὺ ταύταιν δὴ ταῖν ἐκκλησίαιν ξενών, ἀνθρώποις ἀνειμένος ἀπορουμένοις τε καὶ νοσοῦσι τὰ ἔσχατα, εἰ πρὸς τῇ οὐσίᾳ καὶ 1.2.15 τὸ σῶμα νοσοῖεν. τοῦτον ἀνήρ τις θεοσεβὴς ἐν τοῖς ἄνω χρόνοις ἐδείματο, Σαμψὼν ὄνομα. ἔμεινε δὲ οὐδὲ αὐτὸς τοῖς στασιώταις ἀνέπαφος, ἀλλ' ἐκκλησίᾳ ἑκατέρᾳ συγκα1.2.16 ταφλεχθεὶς ἀπολώλει. Ἰουστινιανὸς δὲ αὐτὸν ἀνῳκοδομήσατο βασιλεύς, κάλλει μὲν κατασκευῆς ἀξιώτερον, πλήθει δὲ οἰκιδίων παρὰ πολὺ μείζω· προσόδῳ τε αὐτὸν ἐπετείων δεδώρηται χρημάτων μεγάλων, ὅπως δὴ πλείοσιν ἐς ἀεὶ ταλαιπωρουμένοις ἀνθρώποις ἰῷτο τὰ πάθη. 1.2.17 κόρον δὲ τῆς εἰς τὸν θεὸν τιμῆς ἢ πλησμονήν τινα ὡς ἥκιστα ἔχων, δύο ξενῶνας ἑτέρους ἀπ' ἐναντίας αὐτῷ ἔθετο ἐν ταῖς Ἰσιδώρου τε καὶ Ἀρκαδίου καλουμέναις οἰκίαις, τῆς βασιλίδος Θεοδώρας αὐτῷ τοῦτο δὴ τῶν ἔργων ξυν1.2.18 επιλαμβανομένης τὸ ἱερώτατον. τὰ δὲ δὴ ἄλλα ἱερὰ ξύμπαντα, ὅσα τῷ Χριστῷ ὁ βασιλεὺς οὗτος ἀνέθηκε, τοσαῦτα τὸ πλῆθος καὶ τοιαῦτα τὸ μέγεθός ἐστιν, ὥστε λεπτολο1.2.19 γεῖσθαι μὲν ἀμφ' αὐτοῖς ἀμήχανα εἶναι. οὐ γὰρ ἂν οὐδὲ ὁ λόγος οὐδὲ ὁ πᾶς ἡμῖν αἰὼν ἐπαρκέσοι κατάλογον πεποιημένοις ἀποστοματίσαι πρὸς ὄνομα τούτων δὴ ἕκαστον. ἄχρι τοῦδε εἰπεῖν ἡμῖν ἀποχρήσει. 1.3.1 Ἀρκτέον δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς θεοτόκου Μαρίας νεών. τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ αὐτῷ βασιλεῖ ἐξεπιστάμεθα βουλομένῳ εἶναι, καὶ διαφανῶς εἰσηγεῖται ὁ ἀληθὴς λόγος ὅτι δὴ 1.3.2 ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ μητέρα ἰτέον. πολλὰς τοίνυν ἐκκλησίας Ἰουστινιανὸς βασιλεὺς τῇ θεοτόκῳ ἐδείματο πανταχόθι τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς οὕτω δὴ μεγαλοπρεπεῖς τε καὶ παμμεγέθεις καὶ χρημάτων ὄγκῳ ἐξεργασθείσας ὑπερφυεῖ, ὥστε, ἤν τις αὐτῶν μίαν κατὰ μόνας θεῷτο, εἰκάσειεν ἂν τοῦτο αὐτῷ μόνον εἰργάσθαι τὸ ἔργον καὶ περὶ τοῦτο ἠσχολημένον ἅπαντα τῆς βασιλείας 1.3.3 κατατρῖψαι τὸν χρόνον. ἀλλὰ νῦν, ὅπερ εἶπον, τὰ ἐπὶ Βυζαντίου ἱερά μοι γεγράψεται. τὸν μὲν οὖν ἕνα τῆς θεοτόκου νεὼν ᾠκοδομήσατο πρὸ τοῦ περιβόλου ἐν χώρῳ καλουμένῳ Βλαχέρναις· αὐτῷ γὰρ λογιστέον καὶ τὰ Ἰουστίνῳ εἰργασμένα τῷ θείῳ, ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτοῦ τὴν βασιλείαν κατ' ἐξουσίαν αὐτὸς διῳκεῖτο, ἐπιθαλάσσιος δὲ ὁ νεώς ἐστιν, ἱερώτατός τε καὶ σεμνὸς ἄγαν, ἐπιμήκης μέν, κατὰ λόγον δὲ περιβεβλημένος τῷ μήκει τὸ εὖρος, τά τε ἄνω καὶ τὰ κάτω ἄλλῳ οὐδενὶ ἀνεχόμενος ὅτι μὴ τμήμασι λί1.3.4 θου Παρίου ἐν κιόνων λόγῳ ἐνταῦθα ἑστῶσι. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα τοῦ νεὼ μέρη κατ' εὐθὺ ἑστᾶσιν οἱ κίονες, κατὰ 1.3.5 δὲ τὰ μέσα ὑποστέλλονται εἴσω. μάλιστα δὲ ἄν τις ἀγασθείη τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦδε εἴσω γενόμενος τὸ μὲν ὑπέρογκον τοῦ σφαλεροῦ χωρὶς τεταγμένον ὁρῶν, τὸ δὲ μεγαλοπρεπὲς τοῦ ἀπειροκάλου ἐλεύθερον. 1.3.6 Ἕτερον δὲ ἱερὸν αὐτῇ ἐν χώρῳ καλουμένῳ Πηγῇ ἀνέθηκεν. ἐνταῦθά ἐστι δάσος κυπαρίσσων ἀμφιλαφές, λειμὼν ἐν ἁπαλαῖς ταῖς ἀρούραις τεθηλὼς ἄνθεσι, παράδεισος εὐφορῶν τὰ ὡραῖα, πηγὴ ἀψοφητὶ βλύζουσα γαληνὸν τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ πότιμον, ἱεροπρεπῆ ἐπιεικῶς πάντα. 1.3.7 ταῦτα μὲν ὁ ἀμφὶ τὸ τέμενος χῶρος· αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν νεὼν οὐδὲ ὀνόμασιν ἐπαξίοις συλλαβεῖν ῥᾴδιον, οὐδὲ διανοίᾳ 1.3.8 σκιαγραφῆσαι, οὐδὲ διαψιθυρίσαι τῷ λόγῳ.