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10 The Emperor bestowed the same careful attention on all the towns and forts which lie on the farthest borders of Euphratesia, namely Barbalissus38 and Neocaesarea,39 and Gaboulôn,40 as it is called, and the Pentacomia which is on the Euphrates River, and Europus.41 Also he found the walls of the place called Hemerium42 to be in part carelessly built and of unsafe construction and in part actually to consist of nothing but mud, while the place suffered from great scarcity of water, so that it was in every way an object of contempt to the enemy; so he razed it to the ground and immediately rebuilt it all carefully with courses of very hard stone, rightly giving the work generous proportions of both breadth and height, and he fashioned many cisterns for water in all parts of the defences, filling all these amply with rain-water; moreover, he established a large garrison there and so brought about the state of security which we now see there, and made the city's dominance sure. 11 And if one should consider these fortresses very carefully, disregarding all the other useful works of the Emperor Justinian, he would say that it was solely for this purpose that he succeeded to the imperial power, since God unceasingly provides for the safety of the Roman people.
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15 Ὅσα δὲ καὶ ἀμφὶ τῷ χειμάρρῳ πεποίηται, ὃς p168ἐκ τούτων δὴ τῶν ὀρέων κάτεισιν, εἰπεῖν ἄξιον. ὄρη μὲν ἀπότομα δύο τῇ πόλει ἐπῆρται, ἀλλήλοιν ξυνιόντα ὡς ἀγχοτάτω. 16 τούτων67 θάτερον μὲν Ὀροκασσιάδα καλοῦσι, τὸ δὲ δὴ ἕτερον Σταυρὶν κέκληται. ἀπολήγοντα δέ πη αὐτὰ νάπη τις ζεύγνυσι καὶ χαράδρα μεταξὺ οὖσα, χειμάρρουν ἀποτελοῦσα, ἐπειδὰν ὕοι, Ὀνοπνίκτην ὄνομα, ὃς δὴ ἐξ ὑπερδεξίων κατιὼν ὕπερθέν τε τοῦ περιβόλου φερόμενος ἐπὶ μέγα τε, ἂν οὕτω τύχῃ, ἐξανιστάμενος, διεσκεδάννυτο μὲν ἐς τοὺς τῆς πόλεως στενωπούς, ἀνήκεστα δὲ κακὰ τοὺς ταύτῃ ᾠκημένους εἰργάζετο. 17 ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτου τὴν ἄκεσιν Ἰουστινιανὸς βασιλεὺς εὕρατο τρόπῳ τοιῷδε. πρὸ τοῦ περιβόλου ὅνπερ ἄγχιστα τῆς χαράδρας ξυμβαίνει εἶναι, ἐξ ἧς ὁ χειμάρρους ἐπὶ τὸ τείχισμα ἵετο, τοῖχον ἐδείματο ὑπερμεγέθη, ἐκ κοίλης χαράδρας διήκοντα ἐς ἑκάτερον τοῖν ὀροῖν μάλιστα, ὡς μηκέτι περαιτέρω ἰέναι κυματοῦντι τῷ ποταμῷ δυνατὰ εἴη, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ μακρότερον ξυνιστάμενος ἐνταῦθα λιμνάζοι. 18 ἐν δὲ τῷ τοίχῳ θυρίδας ποιησάμενος ἐνθένδε ἀπορρέοντα ὑπολήγειν κατὰ βραχὺ ἀνάγκῃ χειροποιήτῳ τὸν χειμάρρουν διεσκευάσατο, οὐκέτι λάβρως τῷ παντὶ ῥεύματι τῷ περιβόλῳ προσβάλλοντα, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὑπερβλύζοντά τε καὶ τὴν πόλιν κατεργαζόμενον, ἀλλὰ πρᾴως τε καὶ προσηνῶς ὑπορρέοντα, ᾗπέρ μοι εἴρηται, ταύτῃ τε τῇ ἐκροῇ διὰ τῆς ὀχεταγωγίας ἰόντα ὅποι ἂν αὐτὸν βουλομένοις ᾖ περιάγειν οὕτω μέτριον γεγενημένον τοῖς πάλαι ἀνθρώποις.
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