Procopius, De Ædificiis. Einige Überlegungen zu Buch II, Syrien

Abstract

The present reflections on Procopius’ De aedificiis focus on some selected monuments of the middle Euphrates region. Our object was to review the statements of Procopius by providing and contrasting results of recent archaeological investigations, and we came to the conclusion that, especially when dealing with places not personally known to him, Procopius works mainly with topoi. This becomes obvious in a most striking manner in his description of fortresses, when it comes to the walls and all water-supplying facilities. It is well known that since ancient times military installations created by the Romans for purposes of frontier protection were either sited near natural water supplies, or storage possibilities were artifically created for them. In the case of Resafa-Sergioupolis we examined the statement of Procopius in asserting that the new city wall and the cisterns derived from the building activities of Justinian. In view of recently discovered inscriptions, we may at least doubt this; most probably, most of the local monuments seem to derive from the rich episcopate of Resafa. Consequently, Procopius does not mention the city’s main Christian monuments. In the case of the Euphrates fortress Sura, however, his statements are more consistent with the surviving remains of the construction. There can be no doubt that archaeological field work and the investigation of building remains will be of growing importance in the discussion on De aedificiis.