“O Christ, God, preserve Thy city undisturbed, and free from war. Conquer the wrath of the enemies.” It is the utterance of the purpose embodied in the erection of the splendid bulwarks of the city, and might have been inscribed upon them at any period of their history. It has been assigned to Constantine IX., when sole ruler after the death of Basil II. (1025-1028);[405] but the employment of brick in the construction of the letters favours the view that the legend belongs to the reign of Leo the Isaurian. (7) Fragments of inscriptions recording repairs by Michael II. and his son Theophilus have been found in the neighbourhood of the Gate of Charisius (Edirnè Kapoussi).[406] These emperors were specially distinguished for their attention to the state of the fortifications along the shores of the city, but it would have been strange if sovereigns so concerned for the security of the capital had entirely neglected the condition of the land walls. (8) The earthquake of 975, towards the close of the reign of Zimisces,[407] left its mark upon the walls of the city, and two inscriptions commemorate the repairs executed in consequence by his successors, Basil II. and Constantine IX. One of the inscriptions is on the huge, pentagonal, three-storied tower at the junction of the land walls with the defences along the Sea of Marmora. The legend reads: [Illustration.] “Tower of Basil and Constantine, faithful Emperors in Christ, pious Kings of the Romans.” The device ΙΣ | ΧΡ ———————— ΝΙ | ΚΑ is found over two windows in the northern side of the tower. The other inscription is on the northern gateway-tower of the Gate of the Pegè: † ΠΥΡΓΟΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ ΕΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΩ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΩΝ † “Tower of Basil and Constantine, Emperors in Christ.” Possibly the two following inscriptions on the northern side of the southern tower of the Gate Rhousiou refer to the same emperors:[408] [Illustration: “The Fortune of Constantine, our God-protected Sovereign, triumphs.”] The second inscription is mutilated, but manifestly refers to repairs in the reign of Basil: † ΑΝΕΝΕΩΘΗ ΕΠΙ ΑΥ ... ΤΑΤΟΥ Λ ... ΤΟΡΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕ ΕΝ ΙΝ ΙΑ † (9) An inscription on the fourth tower from the Sea of Marmora records repairs by the Emperor Romanus: [Illustration: “Romanus, the Great Emperor of all the Romans, the Most Great, erected this tower new from the foundations.”] As four emperors bore the name Romanus, it is not certain to which of them reference is here made. The fact that earthquakes occurred in the reign of Romanus III. Argyrus, first in 1032, and again in 1033,[409] is in favour of the view that the inscription was in his honour.