XL. CHAP. ened by the labours of Juftinian. From the edge of the fea-shore, through the forests 'and vallies, and as far as the fummit of the Theffalian mountains, a ftrong wall was continued, which occupied every practicable entrance. Instead of an hafty crowd of peasants, a garrifon of two thousand foldiers was stationed along the rampart; granaries of corn, and refervoirs of water, were provided for their ufe; and by a precaution that inspired the cowardice which it forefaw, convenient fortreffes were erected for their retreat. The walls of Corinth, overthrown by an earthquake, and the mouldering bulwarks of Athens and Platea, were carefully restored; the Barbarians were discouraged by the profpect of fucceffive and painful fieges; and the naked cities of Peloponnefus were covered by the fortifications of the ifthmus of Corinth. the extremity of Europe, another peninsula, the Thracian Cherfonefus, runs three days journey into the fea, to form, with the adjacent shores of Afia, the ftreights of the Hellefpont. The intervals between eleven populous towns were filled by lofty woods, fair paftures, and arable lands: and the isthmus, or thirty-seven stadia or furlongs, had been fortified by a Spartan general nine hundred years before the reign of Justinian ". In an age of freedom and valour, the flighteft rampart may prevent a surprise; and Procopius appears infenfible of the fuperiority of ancient times, while he 117 At 117 Xenophon Hellenic. 1. iii. c. 2. After a long and tedious converfation with the Byzantine declaimers, how refreshing is the truth, the fimplicity, the elegance of an Attic writer ! praises XL. praises the folid conftruction and double parapet CHA P. of a wall, whofe long arms ftretched on either fide into the fea; but whose strength was deemed infufficient to guard the Cherfonefus, if each city, and particularly Galipoli and Seftus, had not been fecured by their peculiar fortifications. The long wall, as it was emphatically ftyled, was a work as difgraceful in the object, as it was refpectable in the execution. The riches of a capital diffuse themselves over the neighbouring country, and the territory of Conftantinople, a paradise of nature, was adorned with the luxurious gardens and villas of the fenators and opulent citizens. But their wealth served only to attract the bold and rapacious Barbarians; the nobleft of the Romans, in the bofom of peaceful indolence, were led away into Scythian captivity, and their fovereign might view, from his palace, the hoftile flames which were infolently spread to the gates of the Imperial city. At the distance only of forty miles, Anaftafius was constrained to establish a last frontier ; his long wall, of fixty miles from the Propontis to the Euxine, proclaimed the impotence of his arms; and as the danger became more imminent, new fortifications were added by the indefatigable prudence of Juftinian 118. Afia Minor, after the fubmiffion of the Ifaurians 19 ", remained without enemies and without Security of the con quest of 118 See the long wall in Evagrius (1. iv. c. 38.). This whole ar- Ifauria. ticle is drawn from the fourth book of the Edifices, except Anchialus (1. iii. c. 7.). 119 Turn back to vol. i. p 454. In the courfe of this hiftory, I have fometimes mentioned, and much oftener flighted, the hafty inroads of the Ifaurians, which were not attended with any confequences.*: VOL. VII. K forti 130 XL. CHA P. fortifications. Those bold favages, who had dif dained to be the fubjects of Gallienus, perfifted two hundred and thirty years in a life of independence and rapine. The most fuccessful princes respected the strength of the mountains and the defpair of the natives; their fierce fpirit was fometimes foothed with gifts, and fometimes reftrained by terror; and a military count, with three legions, fixed his permanent and ignominious station in the heart of the Roman provinces 20. But no fooner was the vigilance of power relaxed or diverted, than the light-armed fquadrons defcended from the hills, and invaded the peaceful plenty of Afia. Although the Ifaurians were not remarkable for ftature or bravery, want rendered them bold, and experience made them skilful in the exercise of predatory war. They advanced with secrecy and speed to the attack of villages and defencelefs towns; their flying parties have fometimes touched the Hellefpont, the Euxine, and the gates of Tarfus, Antioch, or Damafcus 12; and the fpoil was lodged in their inacceffible mountains, before the Roman troops had received their orders, or the diftant province had computed its lofs. The guilt of rebellion and robbery excluded them from the rights of national enemies; and the magistrates were inftructed by an edict, that the trial or punishment of an Ifaurian, even on the festival of Eafter, was 120 Trebellius Pollio in Hift. Auguft. p. 107. who lived under Diocletian, or Conftantine. See likewife Pancirolus ad Not. Imp. Orient. C. 15. 141. See Cod. Theodof. 1. ix. tit. 35. leg. 37. with a copious collective Annotation of Godefroy, tom. iii. p. 256, 257. 121 See the full and wide extent of their inroads in Philoftorgius (Hift. Ecclef. 1. xi. c. 8.), with Godefroy's learned Differtations. a me 122 XL. a meritorious act of justice and piety If the CHA P. 122 Cod. Juftinian. 1. ix. tit. 12. leg. 10. The punishments are fe- XL. A. D. 492-498. CHAP. Phrygia by the valour and discipline of the Goths; but a war of fix years almost exhausted the courage of the emperor. The Ifaurians retired to their mountains; their fortreffes were fucceffively befieged and ruined; their communication with the fea was intercepted; the bravest of their leaders died in arms; the furviving chiefs, before their execution, were dragged in chains through the hippodrome; a colony of their youth was tranfplanted into Thrace, and the remnant of the people fubmitted to the Roman government. Yet fome generations elapfed before their minds were reduced to the level of flavery. The populous villages of Mount Taurus were filled with horsemen and archers; they refifted the impofition of tributes, but they recruited the armies of Juftinian; and his civil magiftrates, the proconful of Cappadocia, the count of Ifauria, and the prætors of Lycaonia and Pifidia, were invested with military power to restrain the licentious practice of rapes. and affaffinations 124. Fortifications of the empire, If we extend our view from the tropic to the mouth of the Tanais, we may obferve on one hand 123 The Ifaurian war and the triumph of Anaftafius are briefly and darkly represented by John Malala (tom. ii. p. 106, 107.), Evagrius (1. iii. c. 35.), Theophanes (p. 118-120.), and the Chronicle of Marcellinus. 124 Fortes ea regio (says Justinian) viros habet, nec in ullo differt ab Ifauria, though Procopius (Perfic. l. i.^c. 18.) marks an effential difference between their military character; yet in former times the Lycaonians and Pifidians had defended their liberty against the great king (Xenophon. Anabasis, l. iii. c. 2 ). Juftinian introduces fome false and ridiculous erudition of the ancient empire of the Pifidians, and of Lycaon, who, after vifiting Rome (long before Æneas), gave a name and people to Lycaonia (Novell. 24, 25. 27.30.). the |