Long Wall of Thrace
Anastasian Wall
View of the Long Wall of Thrace by Evcik cliffs near church ruins
The Long Wall of Thrace, also called the Anastasian Wall, was a system of fortifications erected west of Constantinople. The remains of walls, which are about 65 km from Constantinople, extended from Selymbria (modern Silivri) to the Black Sea. The Wall is part of the additional defenses for Constantinople constructed during the 5th century AD and probably continued in use until the 7th century. Originally the Wall was around 56 km long, but less than half of the total length now survives above ground. It is best preserved in the rolling woodland of the northern sector where the Wall stands in place up to 4m in height. Associated with the Wall is a well preserved ditch, outerwork, gates and forts. As it survives it is the most monumental linear fortification dating from antiquity in continental Europe, comparable only with Hadrian's Wall in its complexity and preservation. Recent road construction and other developments associated with the expansion of Greater Istanbul are now posing a major threat to the surviving remains.The wall proved ineffective (probably because of its length and the lack of a sufficient garrison to man it) and was many times penetrated by invaders, beginning in 559. According to the preface to novel 26 of Justinian I, there were two vicarii of the Long Walls: one for military affairs, the other for civil administration. In later centuries the commander responsible for the defense of the wall was the Komes ton Teicheon.
Panegyric on the Long Wall of Thrace by Procopius of Gaza
What was the grandest and passes all imagination was to raise a high and powerful wall crossing all of Thrace. It passes from sea to sea, barring the route of barbarians, an obstacle to enemy aggression. The wall of Themistocles in Athens was smaller by report.
From The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus
And one very great and memorable work was completed by the same emperor [Anastasius], the so-called Long Wall, which is well positioned in Thrace. This is about 280 stades distant from Constantinople, and links the two seas over a distance of 420 stades in the manner of a channel. It made the city almost an island instead of a peninsula, and for those who wish provides a very safe transit from the so-called Pontus to the Propontis and the Thracian sea, while checking the barbarians who rush forth from the so-called Euxine Sea, and from the Colchians and the Maiotic lake, and from the regions beyond the Caucasus, and those who have poured forth over Europe.
From The Novels of Justinian
Thrace: praetor
Emperor Justinian Augustus to John, for the second time Most Illustrious prefect of the sacred praetoria of the East, ex-consul, patrician
It is an admitted fact that any mention of the province of Thrace is at once accompanied by some talk of its courage, its vast forces, and its preoccupation with wars and battles, those being its native, traditional characteristics. We have thus had it in mind – not for the first time – to set that region’s affairs in order; and it is on the basis of those deliberations that we are now making the present law.
As we all know, there are two persons, known as vicarii, in position at the Long Walls, one in command of the military units, there being numerous forces in that area, and the other in charge of civil affairs. The function of this pair is to discharge, in one case, the office of the Most Illustrious prefects, and in the other, that of the most gallant generals; but they are never in agreement with each other. While the public treasury pays both of them their stipends and the rest of their remuneration, they have just one perpetual, endless activity, which is quarrelling with each other everlastingly.
From On Buildings by Procopius
Thus, when it comes about that any of the enemy overrun the land of the Romans suddenly, the damage caused there is much greater than in other places, and the region is then overwhelmed with irreparable calamities. The Emperor Anastasius had determined to put a stop to this and so built long walls at a distance of not less than forty miles from Byzantium, uniting the two shores of the sea on a line where they are separated by about a two-days' journey. By this means he thought that everything inside was placed in security. But in fact this was the cause of greater calamities. For neither was it possible to make safe a structure of such great length nor could it be guarded rigorously. And whenever the enemy descended on any portion of these long walls, they both overpowered all the guards with no difficulty, and falling unexpectedly upon the other people they inflicted loss not easy to describe.
But the Emperor [Justinian] rebuilt those portions of these walls which had suffered, and making the weak parts very strong for the sake of the guards, he added the following devices. He blocked up all the exits from each tower leading to those adjoining it; and he built from the ground up a single ascent inside each individual tower, which the guards there can close in case of emergency and scorn the enemy if they have penetrated inside the circuit-wall, since each tower by itself was sufficient to ensure safety for its guards. Also inside these walls he diligently made provision for safety, not only doing what has just been mentioned, but also restoring all the parts of the circuit-wall of the city of Selymbria which happened to have been damaged. These things then were done by the Emperor Justinian at the long walls.
From The Histories of Agathias
Indeed the fortunes of the Roman state had sunk so low that on the very outskirts of the Imperial City such atrocities were being committed by a handful of barbarians. But that was not the limit of their audacity: pressing on they passed without difficulty inside the Long Walls and approached the inner fortifications. Age and neglect had in fact caused the structure of the great wall to crumble and collapse in many places. Some parts of it the barbarians themselves knocked down, setting about their task with the nonchalant air of men demolishing their own property. There was nothing to stop them, no sentries, no engines of defence, nobody to man them. There was not even the sound of a dog barking, as would at least have been the case with a pig-sty or a sheep-cot.
At first the Huns, under the impression that they were being pursued, fled in consternation from the Long Walls. But when they discovered that Belisarius had been recalled and that no one else had been sent out against them, they slowly began to drift back.
From The Chronicle of John Malalas
In the month of March of the 7th indiction [559] the Huns and the Slavs made an attack on Thrace. They killed many in battle and took some captives, including the magister militum Sergius, the son of Bacchus, and Edemas, major domo of Kalopodios, making them prisoners. They found parts of the wall of Constantinople had collapsed and, entering there, they raided as far as St Stratonikos. Everyone fled with their possessions into the city. On being informed of this, the emperor conscripted many and sent them to the Long Wall. They engaged the enemy and many Romans, especially the scholarii, were killed. When the emperor saw that the barbarians were staying put, he ordered the patrician Belisarius to march out against them with some other members of the senate.
From The History of Theophylact Simocatta
So the two then came to the Chagan at Anchialus, and asked about a treaty, as they had been ordered. The Chagan did not act moderately in his crimes, but even added more wilful threats that he would destroy the Long Walls, as they are called.
In the following year, Elpidius was again appointed and sent out on the same mission. When he reached the Chagan, he asked that an ambassador should come with him to the emperor [Maurice], so that he might reanimate the treaty and they should permit the addition of a further twenty thousand gold coins to the agreement. The Chagan adopted the proposal and sent Targitius, a respected man in the tribe of the Avars, to the Caesar with Elpidius. They both came to the emperor, and a covenant and accord was reached, namely that the Romans should pay out twenty thousand gold coins in addition to the eighty thousand, or be repaid with war if they neglected this. Therefore the agreement seemed to have been somewhat revived, and warfare accepted an armistice. After a brief moment of time the wellbeing of the peace was adulterated, and once again the tribe of the Avars attacked the Romans, not openly, however, but in a rather knavish and crafty manner. For the Avars let loose the nation of the Sclavenes, who ravaged very many areas of the Roman territory, suddenly invaded like lightning as far as the Walls named Long, and wrought great slaughter on their captives. Wherefore, in fear, the emperor both garrisoned the Long Walls and led out from the city his personal body of soldiers, instantly devising a most distinguished defence, as it were, around the city.
A certain brigadier Ansimuth (this man was in command of an infantry army stationed in Thrace) collected his host as soon as he learned ofthe Avar incursion, and retreated for refuge towards the Long Walls. He himself was in fact at the rear of the force, pushing the army inwards; it was this that handed him over alive to the barbarians: for he was captured, and became a spoil ready to hand for the enemy vanguard, since the fool did not have his rear under guard. Shortly afterwards the Chagan also poured the remaining portion of his horde into Thrace, and they made their entry through innumerable points, while Comentiolus’ men were marching from the left. It was for this reason that the Romans hid in die forests of Haemus and the enemy bypassed them to scatter in several sections across Thrace.
From The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor
In the same year the Huns and Slavs—a great mass of them—rose up against Thrace, made war there, and killed or captured many people. They caught Sergius, the magister militum, son of the presbyter Bakchos, and Edermas, the general, [in the service of] Kalopodios, the most glorious cubicularius and praepositus. Having discovered that some parts of the Anastasian wall had collapsed from the earthquakes, they got in and took prisoners as far as Drypia and Nymphai and the village of Chiton. Everyone fled with their possessions into the city. On being informed of this, the emperor conscripted many and sent them to the Long Wall. They engaged the enemy there and many Romans, especially scholarii, were killed. Then the emperor ordered that the silver ciboria and silver altar tables that were outside the city be removed while the scholae, the protectores, the numeri, and the whole Senate guarded all the gates of the Theodosian wall. When the emperor saw that the barbarians were persisting, he ordered the patrician Belisarius to march out against them with some other members of the Senate. Belisarius took every horse, including those of the emperor, of the Hippodrome, of religious establishments, and from every ordinary man who had a horse. He armed his troops and led them out to the village of Chiton. He made an entrenched camp and began to capture some of the enemy and kill them. Next he ordered trees to be cut and dragged behind the army. The wind blew up a cloud of dust, which drifted over the barbarians. They, thinking that an enormous force was there, fled and went to the district of St. Stratonikos at Dekaton. When they learned from scouts that a great garrison force was at the walls of Constantinople, they went to the region of Tzouroulon, Arkadioupolis, and St. Alexander of Zoupara and remained encamped there until holy Easter. After the Easter festival, the emperor went out to Selymbria and everyone from the city went with him to rebuild the Long Wall where the barbarians had entered. The emperor remained there until August. Likewise the barbarians wandered about outside the city until August. Then the emperor ordered double-prowed ships to be built to go to the Danube and oppose the barbarians as they crossed and make war on them. When the barbarians discovered this, they asked through an envoy to be allowed to cross the Danube safely. The emperor sent Justin, his nephew, the curopalates, to conduct them.
The emperor [Maurice], out of eagerness for peace, accepted this. [The Chagan] asked for an elephant, an Indian animal, to be sent to him so he could look at it. The emperor sent to him the largest one of all. After gazing at it, the Chagan sent it back to the emperor. Likewise he asked for a golden bed to be sent to him. The emperor sent it and again the Chagan returned it after disparaging it. He then asked for another 20,000 to be added to the 100,000. When the emperor refused, the Chagan marched out, destroyed the city of Singidunum and captured many other cities belonging to Illyricum. He seized Anchialos4 and threatened to destroy the Long Walls. The emperor sent out the patrician Elpidios with Komentiolos as ambassadors to the Chagan. The barbarian vowed to keep the peace in accordance with the terms of the treaty.
The Chagan hastened to break the peace through treachery. For he armed the tribes of the Sklavini against Thrace. They wrought much devastation, coming as far as the Long Walls. The emperor [Maurice], after leading out the palace guard and the demes from the City, ordered them to protect the Long Walls. He appointed Komentiolos as general, equipped his forces, and sent him out against the barbarians. He fell upon the barbarians unexpectedly, destroyed a great many of them, and drove them back. When he reached Adrianople he came upon Ardagastos who was leading a mass of Sklavini along with their captives. He fell upon him, saved the captives, and gained a great victory.
Accordingly, the troops were split and each man fled through the woods as best he could. Some, who were captured by the barbarians, revealed where Castus was hidden. When he had been taken alive, the barbarians danced around him in exultation. The Chagan, marching by way of Mesembria, moved against Thrace and reached the Long Walls. Komentiolos, who had hidden in the forests of the Haimos, came out with Martin. Having caught the Chagan completely unprepared, with the mass of his barbarians scattered across Thrace, he marched against him at the first watch. He would have won great success from this attempt had he not missed his goal by ill luck.
When Komentiolos reached Byzantium, utter confusion and uproar descended on the city, so much so that the inhabitants out of fear wanted to abandon Europe and move across to Chalcedon in Asia. The emperor [Maurice], taking the excubitors and having assembled an armed band, kept guard at the Long Walls.
When Herakleios had reached Abydos, he found Theodore, comes of Abydos, whom he interrogated and learnt what was happening at Constantinople. Phokas, for his part, dispatched his brother, the magister Domentziolos, to guard the Long Walls; and when the magister learnt that Herakleios had reached Abydos, he abandoned the walls and fled to Constantinople. As for Herakleios, he received at Abydos all (the dignitaries who had been exiled) by Phokas and came with them to Herakleia.
In this year [617/618] the Avars invaded Thrace and Herakleios sent ambassadors to them asking for peace. When the Chagan had agreed to conclude peace, the emperor went outside the Long Wall with the full imperial retinue and many costly gifts so as to meet the Chagan after receiving from him pledges that they would make a peace settlement with one another. But the barbarian, transgressing the agreements and oaths, suddenly attacked the emperor in a treacherous manner. Discomfited by this unexpected event, the emperor took to flight and returned to the City. As for the barbarian, he captured the imperial baggage and retinue and as many men as he could take by surprise (deceived as they were by the hope of peace) and returned home after devastating many villages of Thrace.
The same year [754/755] the Bulgarians asked for tribute because of the forts that had been built, and when the emperor [Constantine V] had treated their emissary dishonourably, they made a military expedition and came as far as the Long Walls in an advance on the Imperial City. After causing much destruction and taking many prisoners, they returned home unharmed.
From that time on the pious began to speak freely. God's word spread about, those who sought salvation were able to renounce the world without hindrance, God's praises rose up to heaven, the monasteries recovered, and all good things were manifested. During this year [780/781] a man who was digging by the Long Walls of Thrace found a coffin and, after cleaning it and removing its lid, he discovered a corpse inside and, engraved on the coffin, an inscription conceived as follows: “Christ will be born of the Virgin Mary and I believe in Him. Ο sun, you will see me again in the reign of Constantine and Irene.”
From The Suda
The emperor Anastasios himself built the long wall 60 miles from the city, extending from the sea on the north to the south for a length of 50 miles and with a width of 20 feet; and he placed moles on the harbour of Julian. The same man also built the great dining hall, the one in Blachernai, which is called “Anastasian” even to this day; and the Mocisian cistern. (Translated by Jennifer Benedict)
References
Crow, J. and Ricci, A. “Anastasian Wall Project 1995”, (Bulletin of British Byzantine Studies 22)
Bayliss, B., Crow, J. and Bono, P. “The Water Supply of Constantinople: archaeology and hydrogeology of an early medieval city”, (Environmental Geology 40)
Crow, J., Bardill, J. and Bayliss, R. The Water Supply of Byzantine Constantinople
Crow, J. “Travels of an exarch: Smaragdus and the Anastasian Walls” from T. MacMaster and N. Matheou. Italy and the East Roman World in the Medieval Mediterranean
Kulzer, A.Tabula Imperii Byzantini 12: Ostthrakien
Primary Sources
Whitby, M. (trans.) The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus
Miller, D. and Sarris, P. (ed.) The Novels of Justinian: A Complete Annotated English Translation
Dewing, H. (trans.) The Buildings by Procopius
Frendo, J. (trans). The Histories of Agathias
Jeffreys, E., Jeffreys, M. and Scott, R. (trans.) The Chronicle of John MalalasWhitby, M. and Whitby, M. (ed.) The History of Theophylact Simocatta
Mango, C. and Scott, R. (trans.) The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor
Whitby, M. and Whitby, M. (trans.) Chronicon Paschale 284-628 AD
Resources
Church of St. George at Evcik Album (Byzantine Legacy Flickr)
Long Wall of Thrace Album (Byzantine Legacy Flickr)
