9

exceedingly, not far from the forum which is named after the Emperor Constantine; and furthermore, the church dedicated to the martyr Mocius, all of whose sacred edifices are 1.4.28 smaller in size. And in addition, the shrine of the martyr Thyrsus and indeed the sanctuary of Saint Theodore, lying before the city in a place called Rhesius, and the church of the martyr Thecla, which is beside the city's harbor, which happens to be named after Julian, and that of Saint Theodote 1.4.29 in the suburb called Hebdomon. For this emperor built all these from their foundations during the reign of the divine Justin, structures not easy to describe in words, and impossible to admire with the eye according to their worth. 1.4.30 The church of Saint Agathonicus draws my account to itself and compels me, though I no longer have a voice nor 1.4.31 words to fit the reality. Therefore it will suffice for us to have spoken thus far; but to declare its beauty and its magnificence in every respect we leave to others, whose powers of description may be at their height and not yet completely exhausted. 1.5.1 And other sanctuaries in the place called Anaplus and on the opposite continent he found not fitting to be dedicated to any of the saints, and furthermore also around the gulf, which the natives call the Horn eponymously after Ceroessa the mother of Byzas, the founder of the city, in all of them he has displayed a munificence fitting for an emperor, which I shall presently describe, after first relating in what manner the sea adorns Byzantium. 1.5.2 In addition to its other good fortune, the sea also contributes to its beauty, especially embracing it and gathering into straits and pouring out into a great sea, thereby making the city remarkably beautiful and providing the quiet shelter of harbors for sailors, and making it easy for sustenance and prosperous for commerce. 1.5.3 For two seas are around it, the Aegean and the so-called Euxine Pontus, which meet one another to the east of the city, and clashing with the mingling of their currents, and forcing the continent with their influx, 1.5.4 they beautify the city on all sides. Therefore three straits surround it, separated from one another, but arranged for its beauty and utility, all most pleasant to sail around, desirable to look out from, 1.5.5 and very well-harbored for anchoring. And the middle one of these, proceeding from the Euxine Pontus, makes straight for the city as if to adorn it, and on either side both 1.5.6 the continents have been allotted. By their banks it is constrained, rippling and seeming to exult, because riding upon 1.5.7 both Asia and Europe it approaches the city. You would think you were looking at a river flowing gently forward. The one on its left is constricted for a great distance on both sides by its shores, revealing the groves and beauties of meadows and the other things of the opposite continent 1.5.8 lying under the view of the city. And from there it widens, pushing away from it towards the south wind 1.5.9 and carrying Asia as far away from it as possible. But even so the current continues to encircle the city up to about the setting of the sun. The third strait, adjoining the first on the right and beginning from the place called Sycae, extends for a very great distance along the city towards 1.5.10 the north wind, where indeed it ends, terminating in a gulf. Thus, then, the sea crowns the city, and the land takes up the remaining part, being of such an extent between them as to bind together there the crown made by the sea. 1.5.11 This gulf is perpetually calm and is by nature never disturbed, as if boundaries were set here for the surging waves and all surge from this point onward were kept away by the honor of the city. 1.5.12 In winter, should it so happen that harsh winds fall upon both the open seas and the strait, whenever ships reach the entrance of the gulf, they proceed for the rest of the way without a pilot 1.5.13 and anchor without forethought. For the perimeter of the gulf extends for more than forty stades, and it is a harbor in its entirety everywhere; so that, when a ship is anchored here, its stern is naturally in the sea

9

ἄγαν, οὐ πολλῷ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἄποθεν, ἣ βασιλέως Κωνσταντίνου ἐπώνυμός ἐστιν· ἔτι μέντοι καὶ τὸν Μωκίῳ μάρτυρι ἀνειμένον νεών, οὗπερ τὰ ἱερὰ πάντα 1.4.28 μεγέθει ἐλάσσω. πρὸς δὲ καὶ τὸ Θύρσου μάρτυρος ἕδος καὶ μὴν τὸ Θεοδώρου ἁγίου τέμενος πρὸ τῆς πόλεως κείμενον ἐν χώρῳ καλουμένῳ Ῥησίῳ, καὶ τό τε Θέκλης μάρτυρος ἱερόν, ὃ παρὰ τὸν τῆς πόλεως λιμένα ἐστίν, ὅνπερ ἐπώνυμον Ἰουλιανοῦ ξυμβαίνει εἶναι, καὶ τὸ Θεο1.4.29 δότης ἁγίας ἐν προαστείῳ καλουμένῳ Ἑβδόμῳ. ταῦτα γὰρ ἅπαντα ὁ βασιλεὺς οὗτος ἐπὶ τοῦ θείου Ἰουστίνου βασιλεύοντος ἐκ θεμελίων ἐδείματο, ἀπαγγέλλεσθαι μὲν οὐ ῥᾴδια λόγῳ, θαυμάζεσθαι δὲ ὄψει κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν 1.4.30 ἀμήχανα. ἕλκει τὸν λόγον ἐς αὑτὸν ὁ Ἀγαθονίκου τοῦ ἁγίου νεὼς καὶ βιάζεται οὐδὲ φωνὴν ἔτι ἔχοντα οὐδὲ 1.4.31 ὀνόματα ἐφαρμόσαι τοῖς πράγμασι. διόπερ ἡμῖν μὲν ἄχρι τοῦδε εἰπεῖν ἀποχρήσει· φράσαι δὲ αὐτοῦ τό τε κάλλος καὶ τὸ ἐς ἅπαντα μεγαλοπρεπὲς ἑτέροις ἀφίεμεν, οἷς ἂν ὁ λόγος ἀκμάζων τε καὶ οὔπω πεπονηκὼς παντάπασιν εἴη. 1.5.1 Καὶ ἄλλα δὲ τεμένη ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ Ἀνάπλῳ καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀντιπέρας ἤπειρον εὗρεν οὐ πρέποντα τῶν τινι ἀνεῖσθαι ἁγίων, ἔτι μέντοι καὶ ἀμφὶ τὸν κόλπον, ὅνπερ Κέρας οἱ ἐπιχώριοι Κεροέσσῃ τῇ Βύζαντος μητρὶ τοῦ τῆς πόλεως οἰκιστοῦ ἐπωνύμως καλοῦσιν, ἐν τοῖς ἅπασιν ἐπιδέδεικται πολυτέλειαν ἐπιτηδείως βασιλεῖ ἔχουσαν, ἅπερ ἐγὼ αὐτίκα δηλώσω, ὑπειπὼν πρότερον ὅντινα διακοσμεῖ τρόπον ἡ θάλασσα τὸ Βυζάντιον. 1.5.2 Πρὸς τῇ ἄλλῃ εὐδαιμονίᾳ καὶ ἡ θάλασσα ἐν καλῷ τίθεται ἀμφ' αὐτὸ μάλιστα ἐγκολπουμένη τε καὶ εἰς πορθμοὺς ξυναγομένη καὶ χεομένη ἐς πέλαγος μέγα, ταύτῃ τε τὴν πόλιν εὐπρόσωπόν τε διαφερόντως ἐργαζομένη καὶ σκέπας λιμένων ἡσύχιον τοῖς ναυτιλλομένοις παρεχομένη, τά τε εἰς τὴν δίαιταν εὔπορον καὶ τὰ ἐς τὴν χρείαν 1.5.3 εὐδαίμονα. πελάγη γὰρ δύο ἀμφ' αὐτὴν ὄντα, ὅ τε δὴ Αἰγαῖος καὶ ὁ Εὔξεινος καλούμενος Πόντος, ξυνίασιν ἀλλήλοις ἐς τὰ πρὸς ἕω τῆς πόλεως, καὶ ξυγκρουόμενα τῇ τοῦ ῥοθίου ἐπιμιξίᾳ, ταύτῃ τε τὴν ἤπειρον τῇ ἐσβολῇ 1.5.4 βιαζόμενα, καλλωπίζουσι κύκλῳ τὴν πόλιν. πορθμοὶ τοίνυν αὐτὴν περιβάλλουσι τρεῖς, ἀλλήλοις μὲν ἀπερηρεισμένοι, ἐς κάλλος δὲ αὐτῇ διατεταγμένοι καὶ χρείαν, περιπλεῖσθαι μὲν ἥδιστοι ἅπαντες, ἀποσκοπήσασθαι δὲ 1.5.5 ποθεινοί, ἐνορμίσασθαι δὲ λίαν εὐλιμένες. καὶ ὁ μὲν αὐτῶν μέσος ἐκ Πόντου προϊὼν τοῦ Εὐξείνου εὐθὺ τῆς πόλεως ὡς διακοσμήσων αὐτὴν ἵεται, ἐφ' ἑκάτερα δὲ ἄμφω 1.5.6 τὰ ἠπείρω διακεκλήρωται. ὧν δὴ ταῖς ὄχθαις πεπίεσται, ἐπιφρίττων τε καὶ γαυρουμένῳ ἐοικώς, ὅτι δὴ ἐποχού1.5.7 μενος τῇ τε Ἀσίᾳ καὶ τῇ Εὐρώπῃ προσβαίνει τῇ πόλει. δόξαις ἂν ποταμὸν τεθεᾶσθαι ἐπίπροσθεν προσηνεῖ τῷ ῥείθρῳ ἰόντα. ὁ δὲ δὴ αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ θλίβεται μὲν ἑκατέρωθεν ἐπὶ μακρότατον ταῖς ἀκταῖς, τά τε ἄλση καὶ λειμώνων κάλλη καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τῆς ἀντιπέρας ἠπείρου ἐν1.5.8 δεικνύμενος ὑποκείμενα τῇ τῆς πόλεως ὄψει. εὐρύνεται δὲ τὸ ἐντεῦθεν ἐξωθούμενος αὐτῆς πρὸς ἄνεμον νότον 1.5.9 καὶ τὴν Ἀσίαν αὐτῆς ὡς πορρωτάτω ἀποκομίζων. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς περιβάλλον διαμένει τὴν πόλιν τὸ ῥόθιον ἄχρι ἐς δύοντά που τὸν ἥλιον. ὁ δὲ δὴ τρίτος πορθμὸς τοῦ μὲν πρώτου ἐχόμενος ἐπὶ δεξιᾷ, ἐκ δὲ Συκῶν τῶν καλουμένων ἀρχόμενος, ἐπὶ πλεῖστον διήκει τῆς πόλεως πρὸς 1.5.10 βορρᾶν ἄνεμον, οὗ δὴ ἐς κόλπον τελευτῶν παύεται. οὕτω μὲν οὖν στεφανοῖ τὴν πόλιν ἡ θάλασσα, ἐκδέχεται δὲ ἀνὰ τὸ λειπόμενον ἡ γῆ, μεταξὺ τοσαύτη οὖσα, ὅσον τὴν ἀπὸ 1.5.11 τῆς θαλάττης στεφάνην ἐνταῦθα ξυνδεῖσθαι. πραΰνεται δὲ διηνεκὲς ὁ κόλπος οὗτος καὶ ἀναθολοῦσθαι οὐδαμῆ πέφυκεν, ὥσπερ ὁρίων τῷ κλύδωνι κειμένων ἐνταῦθα καὶ σάλου τὸ ἐνθένδε παντὸς τῇ τῆς πόλεως εἰργομένου 1.5.12 τιμῇ. χειμῶνος δέ, ἂν οὕτω τύχῃ, καὶ ἀνέμων σκληρῶν τοῖς τε πελάγεσι καὶ τῷ πορθμῷ ἐπιπεσόντων, ἐπειδὰν ἐς τὴν εἴσοδον ἵκωνται τοῦ κόλπου αἱ νέες, ἀκυβέρνητοί 1.5.13 τε τὸ λοιπὸν ἴασι καὶ ἀπροβουλεύτως ὁρμίζονται. ἐς σταδίους μὲν γὰρ πλεῖν ἢ τεσσαράκοντα τὸ περίμετρον τοῦ κόλπου διήκει, λιμὴν δὲ ὅλος πανταχῆ ἐστιν· ὥστε ἀμέλει ὁρμιζομένης ἐνταῦθα νηὸς ἡ μὲν πρύμνα τῇ θαλάσσῃ