There is a maritime town of the Thracians on the borders of the Euxine Sea, named Anchialus,[71] which it would be more proper to mention in my description of Thrace; since, however, the course of my narrative has led me to speak of the works of our Emperor on the shores of the Euxine Sea, it will be well at this point to describe the buildings which he erected at Anchialus. At this place, fountains of warm water, which spring up not far from the city, supply the inhabitants with natural baths. This place was neglected and left unfortified by the former Emperors, although so many tribes of barbarians dwell in the neighbourhood of it, so that the sick persons, who resorted to it, could not enjoy its benefits without considerable danger; however, the Emperor Justinian has now fortified it, and enabled them to be healed in safety. These were the fortifications built in the East, in Armenia, in the country of the Tzani, and on the shores of the Euxine Sea, by the Emperor Justinian. Let us now proceed from this region to the buildings which he has constructed in the rest of Europe. BOOK IV. I. I count it a toilsome and perilous task, to cross a great ocean in a crazy vessel; and it is the same thing to describe the buildings of the Emperor Justinian in a feeble narrative; for this Emperor, one may say, showed greatness of mind in all that he did, and in his buildings performed works surpassing description. In Europe especially, wishing to construct works on a scale worthy of the need which existed for them, his buildings are difficult, nay, almost impossible to describe, being worthy of their position in the neighbourhood of the river Danube and the barbarian tribes beyond it, whose invasions they are intended to repel; for along its banks dwell the nations of the Huns and the Goths, and the empire is threatened by the tribes of the Tauri and the Scythians, the Sclavonians and the rest, whom the ancient historians call the ‘dwellers in waggons’ or Sauromatæ, and all the other wild tribes which either inhabit or roam through that region. With all these tribes, ever eager for war, Justinian was forced to contend, so that he could neglect no point, but was forced to construct a chain of innumerable fortresses, establish in them numberless garrisons of soldiers, and do everything else in his power to hold in check a foe, with whom neither truce nor intercourse could be held; for these enemies were accustomed to make war without any pretext or declaration, and not to terminate it by any treaty, or cease fighting after a time, but to take up arms without any cause only to lay them down when compelled by main force. However, let us proceed to what remains of our description; for when a work is begun, it is better to bring it to an end in any fashion whatever, rather than to give it up and leave it unfinished; besides which, we might reasonably be blamed if our Emperor