Les édifices de Justinien au témoignage de Procope et de l’épigraphie

Abstract

For a thorough assessment of Procopius’s De Aedificiis and its value as a source one must refer to the epigraphic record. The author has drawn up a systematic inventory of inscriptions on buildings constructed by Justinian in Constantinople and the provinces from 518 to 565. The inventory comprises nearly eighty documents, arranged by regions, following a plan similar to that of Procopius. Some fifty monuments are represented, roughly half of which are mentioned in De Aedificiis. By way of introduction the epigraphic material is analysed from various points of view: 1) the different sorts of monumental inscriptions; 2) local disparity of documentation; 3) chronological distribution; 4) the role of the emperor and empress; 5) the prosopography of the buildings: architects, officials, bishops. In addition to imperial dedications in the strict sense, the inventory contains other epigraphic categories: acclamations in honour of Justinian and Theodora, imperial monograms, dedications of statues of Justinian, etc. Two further groups of inscriptions, less closely related to imperial foundations, are treated in an appendix: boundary-markers of sanctuary granted to churches by Justinian and inscriptions dated simply by the year of his reign. The texts in the inventory have not been re-edited, but each is presented with a bibliography, translation and commentary. Likewise, an analysis is given of the passages in Procopius where he mentions the same locality or monument. The article ends with an index of dated buildings and a concordance of De Aedificiis and the inscriptions.