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is raised, but the prow rests on the land, as if the elements were competing with each other, as to which of them might be better able to undertake the service for the city. 1.6.1 Such then are the features of this gulf. But the Emperor Justinian, by creating beauty around it with his buildings, has made it more distinguished. 1.6.2 For the martyrium of Saint Lawrence on the left of the gulf, which was formerly without light and simply full of darkness, he remodelled, to speak briefly, and rebuilt in the form which is now seen. 1.6.3 And in front of it he has built the church of the Theotokos in the place called Blachernae, of a kind which I have recently described. 1.6.4 And beyond that he built a sanctuary for Saints Priscus and Nicolaus, newly building it himself, where indeed the people of Byzantium, frequenting the place, spend most of their time, on the one hand revering and admiring the saints who have come to dwell among them, and on the other enjoying the beauty of the sacred precinct, since the emperor, having forced back the roaring of the sea and having laid the foundations for a very long way above the surging wave, established the sanctuary. 1.6.5 But at the end of the gulf, on the uphill and very steep part, a sacred precinct has from of old been dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian; where indeed, when he himself had once fallen most grievously ill and gave the impression that he would surely die, and had been given up by the physicians as one already lying among the dead, these saints appeared in a vision and saved him miraculously and unexpectedly and set him on his feet. 1.6.6 Whom indeed he repaid with gratitude, as far as is humanly possible, by entirely changing and rebuilding the former structure, which was unadorned and inglorious and not worthy to be dedicated to such great saints, and he made the church brilliant with beauty and size and with the splendour of light, and he dedicated many other things that were not there before. 1.6.7 And whenever some people encounter illnesses too strong for physicians, they, despairing of human help, proceed to the only hope left to them, and getting into boats they sail through the gulf to this very church. 1.6.8 And at the beginning of their voyage in they immediately see this sacred precinct, as if on an acropolis, made venerable by the gratitude of the emperor and allowing them to enjoy the hope that comes from it. 1.6.9 On the other side of the gulf, the emperor, having built a martyrium which had not existed before, dedicated it to Anthimus the martyr, right beside the shore of the gulf. 1.6.10 And the foundations of the sanctuary, being washed by the gentle inflow of the sea, are exceedingly charming. 1.6.11 For the surge does not rise up with noise and then dash against the stones there, nor does the wave, resounding loudly as sea-waves do, separate, breaking up into foam, but it approaches gently, and being silent it touches the land, and only turns back. 1.6.12 Next after this comes a courtyard, level and very open, elegantly adorned on all sides with marble and columns, and made beautiful by its view towards the sea. 1.6.13 After this a portico, and the church within on a square plan is raised up high, beautified by the elegance of its stones and by overlaid gold. 1.6.14 The length exceeds the width only by so much as the unprofaned space, in which it is lawful for the unutterable mysteries to be performed, happens to extend along the side which is turned toward the rising sun. So these things are in this manner. 1.7.1 And beyond, right at the mouth of the gulf, a church of Irene the martyr has been established. which indeed has been so magnificently and wholly built by the emperor that I for my part would not be able to describe it adequately. 1.7.2 For vying in magnificence with the sea for the beauty of the gulf, he has set these sanctuaries in it as an adornment, as if to a circular harbour. But since I have mentioned this church of Irene, it will not be out of place for me to write here what happened there. 1.7.3 Here lay from of old the relics of holy men, not less than forty in number; who happened to be Roman soldiers, and were enrolled in the twelfth legion, which in the city of Melitene of the

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ἐπῆρται, ἡ δὲ πρῷρα ἐν τῇ γῇ κάθηται, ὥσπερ ἀλλήλοις τῶν στοιχείων ἁμιλλωμένων, ὁπότερον ἂν αὐτοῖν δύναιτο μᾶλλον τὴν ἐς τὴν πόλιν ἐνεργολαβεῖν ὑπουργίαν. 1.6.1 Τὰ μὲν οὖν τοῦ κόλπου τοῦδε τοιαῦτά ἐστι. βασιλεὺς δὲ Ἰουστινιανὸς κάλλος ἀμφ' αὐτὸν ἐξ οἰκοδομίας 1.6.2 πεποιημένος ἐπιφανέστερον ἐξειργάσατο. τό τε γὰρ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τοῦ κόλπου Λαυρεντίου ἁγίου μαρτύριον ἀφεγγές τε τὰ πρότερα ὂν καὶ σκότους ἀτεχνῶς ἔμπλεων μεθαρμοσάμενος, ὡς διὰ βραχέων εἰπεῖν, ἐς τὸν νῦν φαι1.6.3 νόμενον ἀνέθηκε τρόπον. καὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπίπροσθεν τὸν τῆς θεοτόκου νεὼν ἐν χώρῳ καλουμένῳ Βλαχέρναις τοιοῦτον 1.6.4 δεδημιούργηκεν οἷός μοι ἔναγχος δεδιήγηται. ἐπέκεινά τε Πρίσκῳ τε καὶ Νικολάῳ ἁγίοις ἱερὸν ᾠκοδομήσατο, καινουργήσας αὐτός, οὗ δὴ οἱ Βυζάντιοι ἐμφιλοχωροῦντες ἐνδιατρίβουσιν ἐκ τοῦ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον, πὴ μὲν σέβοντές τε καὶ τεθηπότες τοὺς ἁγίους ἐνδήμους σφίσι γινομένους, πὴ δὲ τῆς τοῦ τεμένους ἀπολαύοντες εὐπρεπείας, ἐπεὶ τῆς θαλάσσης τὸ ῥόθιον βιασάμενος βασιλεὺς ὕπερθέν τε τοῦ κλυδωνίου ἐπὶ μακρότατον ἐνθέμενος τὰ θεμέλια τὸ ἱερὸν κατεστήσατο. 1.6.5 Κατὰ δὲ τοῦ κόλπου τὸ πέρας ἔν τε τῷ ἀνάντει καὶ ἰσχυρῶς ὀρθίῳ τέμενος ἐκ παλαιοῦ Κοσμᾷ τε καὶ ∆αμιανῷ ἁγίοις ἀνεῖται· οὗ δὴ αὐτόν ποτε νενοσηκότα πικρότατα καὶ δόκησιν παρεχόμενον ὅτι δὴ ἀποθάνοι, πρός τε τῶν ἰατρῶν ἀπολελειμμένον ἅτε δὴ ἐν νεκροῖς κείμενον, ἐς ὄψιν ἐλθόντες ἐσώσαντο οἱ ἅγιοι οὗτοι ἐκ τοῦ παρα1.6.6 δόξου καὶ τοῦ παραλόγου καὶ ὀρθὸν ἔστησαν. οὓς δὴ εὐγνωμοσύνῃ ἀμειβόμενος ὅσα γε τὰ ἀνθρώπεια, ὅλην ἐναλλάξας τε καὶ μετασκευασάμενος τὴν προτέραν οἰκοδομίαν ἄκοσμόν τε καὶ ἄδοξον οὖσαν οὐδὲ ἀξιόχρεων τηλίκοις ἁγίοις ἀνεῖσθαι, κάλλει τε καὶ μεγέθει τὸν νεὼν κατελάμπρυνε καὶ φωτὸς αἴγλῃ, ἄλλα τε πολλὰ οὐ πρό1.6.7 τερον ὄντα ἀνέθηκεν. ἐπειδάν τέ τινες ἀρρωστήμασιν ὁμιλήσαιεν ἰατρῶν κρείττοσιν, οἵδε τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν ἀπογνόντες ἐπικουρίαν ἐπὶ τὴν μόνην αὐτοῖς ὑπολελειμμένην ἐλπίδα χωροῦσι, καὶ γενόμενοι ἐν ταῖς βάρεσι πλέουσι 1.6.8 διὰ τοῦ κόλπου ἐπὶ τοῦτον δὴ τὸν νεών. ἀρχόμενοί τε τοῦ εἴσπλου εὐθὺς ὁρῶσιν ὥσπερ ἐν ἀκροπόλει τὸ τέμενος τοῦτο ἀποσεμνυνόμενόν τε τῇ τοῦ βασιλέως εὐγνωμοσύνῃ καὶ παρεχόμενον τῆς ἐντεῦθεν ἐλπίδος αὐτοῖς ἀπολαύειν. 1.6.9 Τοῦ δὲ κόλπου ἐπὶ θάτερα μαρτύριον οἰκοδομησάμενος βασιλεὺς οὐ πρότερον ὂν ἀνέθηκεν Ἀνθίμω μάρτυρι παρ' 1.6.10 αὐτὴν μάλιστα τὴν τοῦ κόλπου ἠϊόνα. καὶ τὰ μὲν κράσπεδα τοῦ ἱεροῦ πραϋνομένῃ ἐπικλυζόμενα τῇ τῆς θα1.6.11 λάσσης ἐπιρροῇ τὸ εὔχαρι ἐπιεικῶς ἔχει. οὐ γὰρ ξὺν θορύβῳ τὸ κλυδώνιον ἐπανεστηκὸς εἶτα εἰς τοὺς ἐκείνῃ λίθους ἀράσσεται, οὐδὲ μεγάλα τὸ κῦμα ἠχῆσαν, οἷά γε τὰ θαλάττια, καὶ σχιζόμενον ἀποκρίνεται, εἰς εἶδος ἀφρῶδες, ἀλλὰ πρόεισι μὲν προσηνές, σιωπηλὸν δὲ ὂν ἐπιψαύει 1.6.12 τῆς γῆς, ἀναστρέφει δὲ μόνον. ἐκδέχεται δὲ τὸ ἐνθένδε αὐλὴ ὁμαλή τε καὶ λίαν ὑπτία, μαρμάροις μὲν πανταχόθι κεκομψευμένη καὶ κίοσιν, ὄψει δὲ ὡραϊζομένη τῇ 1.6.13 ἐς τὴν θάλασσαν. στοὰ μετὰ ταύτην καὶ ὁ νεὼς ἐντὸς ἐν τετραγώνῳ ἐς ὕψος ἐπῆρται λίθων εὐπρεπείᾳ καὶ χρυσῷ 1.6.14 κατακεχυμένῳ καλλωπιζόμενος. τοσοῦτον δὲ προέχει μόνον τοῦ εὔρους τὸ μῆκος ἐς ὅσον δὴ χῶρον τὸν ἀβέβηλον, ἐν ᾧ ὄργια τὰ ἄρρητα τελεῖσθαι θέμις, κατὰ τὴν πλευράν, ἣ πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἥλιον τέτραπται, διήκειν ξυμβαίνει. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τῇδέ πη ἔχει. 1.7.1 Ἐπέκεινα δὲ κατ' αὐτὸ μάλιστα τοῦ κόλπου τὸ στόμα Εἰρήνης μάρτυρος νεὼς ἵδρυται. ὃς δὴ οὕτω μεγαλοπρεπῶς τῷ βασιλεῖ ὅλος ἐξείργασται ὡς οὐκ ἂν ἔγωγε 1.7.2 φράσαι ἱκανῶς ἔχοιμι. ἀντιφιλοτιμούμενος γὰρ τῇ θαλάσσῃ ἀμφὶ τοῦ κόλπου τῇ εὐπρεπείᾳ, ὥσπερ ὅρμῳ περιφερεῖ ἐγκαλλώπισμα τὰ ἱερὰ ταῦτα ἐντέθεικεν. ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ τούτου δὴ τοῦ τῆς Εἰρήνης νεὼ ἐπεμνήσθην, καὶ τὸ ἐκείνῃ 1.7.3 ξυνενεχθὲν οὔ μοι ἀπὸ τρόπου τῇδε γεγράψεται. ἐνταῦθα ἔκειτο λείψανα ἐκ παλαιοῦ ἀνδρῶν ἁγίων οὐχ ἧσσον ἢ τεσσαράκοντα· οἳ στρατιῶται μὲν Ῥωμαῖοι ἐτύγχανον ὄντες, ἐν λεγεῶνι δὲ δυοδεκάτῃ ἐτάττοντο, ἣ ἐν πόλει 1.7.4 Μελιτηνῇ τῆς