Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 2).djvu/191

 their fluviatile vicinage. By means of walls, embankments, dams, cutting away of obstacles, and the provision of emergency channels these towns were secured for the future from damage by inundation. As a specimen of the magnitude of some of these operations the case of Edessa best deserves to be cited. The course of the river Scirtus, as it approached that city, was restrained on one side by a rocky and precipitous bank, whilst a tract of low ground extended for a considerable distance on the other. Hence, in flood time, a vast volume of water rolled over the flat and, entering the town, swept everything away before it. The abolition of this source of destruction was effected by reversing the natural relations of the river banks. Along the shallow margin a wall was built of sufficient strength to resist the overflow, and the rocky boundary opposite was broken away until the ground was made level with the surface of the water. From this side a canal was then cut, which skirted the city and rejoined the Scirtus after its issue from the walls. Bridge building was also undertaken successfully, the most notable examples being that over the Sangaris near Nicomedia, and one of stone which replaced the old wooden bridge across the Golden Horn.

Fortification engrossed much of Justinian's attention, and his constructions in that category exceeded, perhaps, in bulk all the rest of his architectural work. The repair and