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De aedificiis (lib. 16)

OF PROCOPIUS THE RHETOR OF CAESAREA CONCERNING THE BUILDINGS OF THE LORD JUSTINIAN.

BOOK I. 1.1.1 Not wishing to make a display of virtue, nor trusting in the power of words, nor being ambitious for my experience of places, I have set about the writing of this history; since I had nothing by which I might be le1.1.2d. But the thought has often occurred to me of how many and how great are the blessings which history is wont to bestow upon cities, by transmitting to posterity the memory of what has gone before, and by struggling against the effort of time to conceal events, and by always extolling virtue through the praises of those who read of it, and of vice, by continually censuring it, and in this way 1.1.3 repelling its power. Therefore we must take care of this one thing alone, that the events shall be clearly manifest, and by which of all men they were accomplished. And these things, I think, are not impossible even for a tongue that lisps 1.1.4 and is weak of voice. But apart from these things, history shows that subjects who have been well-treated have become grateful toward their benefactors, and have paid them even greater thanks, since they, as it might happen, enjoyed for a time the good deeds of their rulers, but preserve their virtue as immortal for them in the memory of those who are to come 1.1.5 hereafter. For it is for this reason that many of those who come after, emulating the honors of their predecessors, practice virtue, and being averse to reproaches, they naturally shun the most evil practices. And for what reason I have said these things, I shall at once declare. 1.1.6 In our time there has been an emperor, Justinian, who, having taken over the state when it was disturbed and in a bad way, has made it greater in size and much more glorious, by driving out from it the barbarians who had from of old violently possessed it, as has been set forth by me in de1.1.7tail in my books on the Wars. And yet they say that Themistocles, the son of Neocles, once boasted that he was not unskilled in making a small city 1.1.8 great. But this one is not unpracticed in acquiring other states. Indeed, he has already added many other states to the Roman empire which were not his own, and he has created countless cities which did not exist before. 1.1.9 And finding that the belief in God was formerly wandering and forced into many paths, he crushed all the roads leading to these errors, and brought it about that it should stand on a single foundation in 1.1.10 the security of the faith. Furthermore, taking the laws, which were unnecessarily numerous and were obscure and were clearly confused by contradicting one another, and having cleared them of their mass of verbiage, he preserved them securely by strengthening them against their mutual disagreements; and while he voluntarily remitted the charges for those who plotted against him, and sated with wealth those in need of a livelihood, and mastered for them their spiteful fortune, 1.1.11 he settled the state in a life of prosperity. But also the Roman empire, which lay exposed to barbarians on all sides, he both strengthened with a multitude of soldiers and walled all its frontiers with the construc1.1.12tions of strongholds. But most of his other achievements have been described by me in other books, while all the good works which were created by him in his building, will be written in the present work. They say, indeed, that Cyrus the Persian was the best king, of those whom we know by hearsay, and the chief cause of the kingdom for his kins1.1.13men. But if that Cyrus was such a person as indeed under Xenophon the Athe1.1.14

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De aedificiis (lib. 16)

ΠΡΟΚΟΠΙΟΥ ΡΗΤΟΡΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΕΩΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΩΝ ΤΟΥ ∆ΕΣΠΟΤΟΥ ΙΟΥΣΤΙΝΙΑΝΟΥ ΚΤΙΣΜΑΤΩΝ.

ΛΟΓΟΣ Αʹ. 1.1.1 Οὐκ ἀρετῆς ἐπίδειξιν ποιεῖσθαι ἐθέλων, οὐδὲ λόγου δυνάμει θαρσῶν, οὐδὲ χωρίων ἐπὶ τῇ ἐμπειρίᾳ φιλοτιμούμενος, ἐς τῆσδε τῆς ἱστορίας τὴν γραφὴν ὥρμηκα· ἐπεὶ οὐκ εἶχον οὐδὲν ὑφ' οὗ ἂν παρρησίας ἐς τόδε ἀγοί1.1.2 μην. ἀλλά μοι πολλάκις ἔννοια γέγονεν ὁπόσων τε καὶ πηλίκων ἀγαθῶν αἴτιον ἱστορία ταῖς πόλεσι γίνεσθαι εἴωθε, παραπέμπουσά τε εἰς τοὺς ἐπιγόνους τῶν προγεγενημένων τὴν μνήμην, καὶ ἀνταγωνιζομένη τῷ χρόνῳ κρυφαῖα ποιεῖσθαι διατεινομένῳ τὰ πράγματα, καὶ τὴν μὲν ἀρετὴν εὐφημίαις ἀεὶ τῶν ἀναλεγομένων αὐτὴν ἐπαίρουσα, τῆς δὲ κακίας, ἐπιλαμβανομένη διηνεκές, ταύτῃ 1.1.3 τε ἀποκρουομένη τὴν αὐτῆς δύναμιν. τούτου οὖν δὴ μόνου ἐπιμελητέον ἡμῖν, ὅπως δὴ ἔνδηλα τὰ πεπραγμένα διαφανῶς ἔσται καὶ ὑφ' ὅτου ἐργασθείη τῶν πάντων ἀνθρώπων. ταῦτα δέ, οἶμαι, οὐδὲ γλώσσῃ τραυλιζούσῃ 1.1.4 τε καὶ ἰσχνοφώνῳ οὔσῃ ἀμήχανά ἐστι. χωρὶς δὲ τούτων εὐγνώμονας μὲν ἱστορία ἐς τοὺς εὐεργέτας ἐνδείκνυται γεγονέναι τῶν ἀρχομένων τοὺς εὖ πεπονθότας, ἐν μείζοσι δὲ αὐτοῖς ἐκτετικέναι τὰ χαριστήρια, οἵ γε, ἂν οὕτω τύχοι, ἐπὶ καιροῦ μὲν τῆς ἀγαθοεργίας τῶν ἐν σφίσιν ἡγησαμένων ἀπώναντο, ἀθάνατον δὲ αὐτοῖς τῶν εἰς τὸ ἔπειτα 1.1.5 ἐσομένων τῇ μνήμῃ τὴν ἀρετὴν διασώζουσι. διὰ ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ τῶν ἐπιγινομένων πολλοὶ ἀρετῶσι μὲν τὰς τῶν προγεγενημένων ζηλοῦντες τιμάς, ἐς δὲ τὰς βλασφημίας χαλεπῶς ἔχοντες τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων τὰ πονηρότατα, ὡς τὸ εἰκός, ἀναδύονται. ὅτου δὲ δὴ ἕνεκα ταῦτα ὑπεῖπον αὐτίκα δηλώσω. 1.1.6 Ἐν χρόνῳ τῷ καθ' ἡμᾶς Ἰουστινιανὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς γέγονεν, ὃς τὴν πολιτείαν πλημμελῶς κινουμένην παραλαβὼν μεγέθει μὲν αὐτὴν μείζω τε καὶ πολλῷ ἐπιφανεστέραν εἰργάσατο, ἐξελάσας ἐνθένδε τοὺς ἐκ παλαιοῦ βιασαμένους αὐτὴν βαρβάρους, ὥσπερ μοι λεπτολογου1.1.7 μένῳ ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ τῶν πολέμων δεδήλωται λόγοις. καίτοι λέγουσί ποτε Θεμιστοκλέα τὸν Νεοκλέους ἀποσεμνύνεσθαι ὅτι δὴ οὐκ ἀνεπιστημόνως ἔχοι πόλιν μικρὰν 1.1.8 ποιῆσαι μεγάλην. ὁ δὲ δὴ οὐκ ἀμελέτητός ἐστιν ἐμπορίζεσθαι πολιτείας ἑτέρας. πολλὰς ἀμέλει προσεποίησεν ἤδη τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῇ ἀλλοτρίας καθ' αὑτὸν οὔσας, πόλεις δὲ ἀναρίθμους δεδημιούργηκεν οὐ πρότερον οὔσας. 1.1.9 πλανωμένην δὲ εὑρὼν τὴν ἀμφὶ τῷ θεῷ δόξαν τὰ πρότερα ἐς πολλά τε ἀναγκαζομένην ἰέναι, συντρίψας ἁπάσας τὰς ἐπὶ τὰς πλάνας φερούσας ὁδούς, διεπράξατο ἐν 1.1.10 τῷ βεβαίῳ τῆς πίστεως ἐπὶ μιᾶς ἑστάναι κρηπῖδος. πρὸς δὲ καὶ τοὺς νόμους λαβὼν τῷ τε παμπληθεῖς οὐ δέον γεγονέναι σκοτεινοὺς ὄντας καὶ ξυγχεομένους διαφανῶς τῷ ἀπ' ἐναντίας ἀλλήλοις ἰέναι, καὶ τοῦ μὲν ὄχλου αὐτοὺς τῆς τερθρείας ἀποκαθάρας, τὸ δὲ τῷ ἐς ἀλλήλους διχοστατεῖν βεβαιότατα κρατυνόμενος διεσώσατο, καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἐπιβουλεύουσιν αὐτεπάγγελτος τὰς αἰτίας ἀφείς, τοὺς δὲ βίου δεομένους πλούτῳ πεποιημένος κατακορεῖς καὶ τύχην αὐτοῖς τὴν ἐπηρεάζουσαν βιασάμενος, 1.1.11 εὐδαίμονι βίῳ τὴν πολιτείαν ξυνῴκισεν. ἀλλὰ καὶ βαρβάροις πανταχόθεν ὑποκειμένην τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν στρατιωτῶν τε πλήθει ἐπέρρωσε καὶ ὀχυρωμάτων οἰκοδο1.1.12 μίαις ἁπάσας αὐτῆς τὰς ἐσχατιὰς ἐτειχίσατο. ἀλλὰ τῶν μὲν ἄλλων τὰ πλεῖστα ἐν ἑτέροις μοι συγγέγραπται λόγοις, ὅσα δὲ αὐτῷ ἀγαθὰ οἰκοδομουμένῳ δεδημιούργηται, ἐν τῷ παρόντι γεγράψεται. ἄριστον μὲν δὴ βασιλέα γεγονέναι Κῦρον τὸν Πέρσην φασίν, ὧν ἀκοῇ ἴσμεν τοῖς τε ὁμο1.1.13 γενέσιν αἰτιώτατον τῆς βασιλείας. εἰ δὲ τοιοῦτός τις ἦν ὁ Κῦρος ἐκεῖνος οἷος δὴ ὑπὸ Ξενοφῶντι τῷ Ἀθη1.1.14