impossible accurately to describe the treasure of gold and silver plate and gems, which the Emperor Justinian has presented to it; but by the description of one of them, I leave the rest to be inferred. That part of the church which is especially sacred, and where the priests alone are allowed to enter, which is called the Sanctuary, contains forty thousand pounds’ weight of silver! The above is an account, written in the most abridged and cursory manner, describing in the fewest possible words the most admirable structure of the church at Constantinople which is called the Great Church, built by the Emperor Justinian, who did not merely supply the funds for it, but assisted it by the labour and powers of his mind, as I will now explain. Of the two arches which I lately mentioned (the architects call them ‘lori’[6]), that one which stands towards the east had been built up on each side, but had not altogether been completed in the middle, where it was still imperfect; now the piers upon which the building rested, unable to support the weight which was put upon them, somehow all at once split open, and seemed as though before long they would fall to pieces. Upon this Anthemius and Isidorus, terrified at what had taken place, referred the matter to the Emperor, losing all confidence in their own skill. He at once, I know not by what impulse, but probably inspired by heaven, for he is not an architect, ordered them to carry round this arch; for it, said he, resting upon itself, will no longer need the piers below. Now if this story were unsupported by witnesses, I am well assured that it would seem to be written in order to flatter, and to be quite incredible; but as there are many witnesses now alive of what then took place, I shall not hesitate to finish it. The workmen performed his bidding, the arch was safely suspended, and proved by experiment the truth of his conception. So much then for this part of the building; now with regard to the other arches, those looking to the south and to the north, the following incidents took place. When the arches called ‘lori’ were raised aloft during the building of the church, everything below them laboured under their weight, and the columns which are placed there shed little scales, as though they had been planed. Alarmed at this, the architects again referred the matter to the Emperor, who devised the following plan. He ordered the upper part of the work that was giving way, where it touched the arches, to be taken down for the present, and to be replaced long afterwards when the damp had thoroughly left the fabric. This was done, and the building has stood safely afterwards, so that the structure as it were bears witness to the Emperor.