“And as he wished to make the holy table more beautiful than the rest, and more precious with gold, he collected numerous craftsmen, and consulted with them. Their opinion and advice was to cast into the melting pot (_choneuterion_) gold, silver, stones of every kind, and pearls, copper, electron, lead, tin, iron, glass, and every other metallic substance. And they ground them all together and formed them into masses (_olboi_), and poured them into the pot; and when it had been melted, they took it from the fire and poured it out into a mould (_tupos_). Thus the holy table was made. And it was then set up by the emperor on solid columns of gold, studded with precious stones. And the ‘sea’ (_thalassa_) of the holy table was ornamented with gold and precious stones. Who can see the holy table without being astonished? and who can gaze at it on account of the many glinting surfaces? so that at one time it all appears of gold, from another place all of silver, and in another of glittering sapphire; and altogether there are eighty-two different colours of metals and stones and pearls. “He made also, above and below, carved ivory doors overlaid with gold, to the number of 365. In the first entrance into the louter he made the doors of electron; doors also of electron were in the narthex, two of them smaller than the middle one, which was much larger, and of silver dipped in gold (_chrusembaphos_). The architraves also were overlaid with gold. Three or the doors inside, instead of being made of new wood, were made of wood from the Ark. He wished to make the pavement entirely of silver [Codinus says gold], but his advisers dissuaded him, saying that in the future poor emperors might have it taken up. And those who persuaded him were Maximian and Hierotheus, Athenian philosophers and astronomers, saying that in the latter days poorer rulers would come and take it all away. And following these counsels the thought was given up. And every day the emperor had 2,000 miliarisia put in a heap and mingled with earth; and when work was finished, in the evening, the craftsmen dug out the mound and found the miliarisia, and this the emperor did that they might be eager for their work. And collecting the materials, as was said, took seven and a half years. But the completion of the temple, even with the crowd of workmen I have mentioned, all labouring with the greatest eagerness, took nine years two months. “The ambo with the solea he paved with sardonyx, and inserted precious stones; its columns were of solid gold, with carbuncles and crystals and sapphires; and he overlaid the upper part of the solea richly with gold. The ambo had also a golden dome studded with pearls, lychnites, and emeralds. “The gold cross of the ambo weighed 100 pounds. It had also seizae,[226] and lychnites, and was embroidered with pearls. And the ambo above had a hat-shaped covering (_petasion_), upon[227] supports (_stethea_).