Anastasian Wall

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The Anastasiusmauer or Long Wall is one by the Eastern Roman Emperor Anastasius I ( 491-518 ), named Barrier protecting the capital Constantinople Opel, which ranged from the Marmara Sea to the Black Sea.

The barrier wall represents one of the greatest defenses of Roman antiquity in continental Europe and is about in its dimensions with the Hadrian's Wall comparable. From it has now, however, only less than half of their buildings get. In the forested regions of the northern part of the wall is still in a relatively good condition. Some of them reached here a height of up to four meters. From the southern sector are now hardly remains to be seen. In addition to the wall itself ditches, gates and forts are scattered remains. In the ancient sources it is called the " Long Wall" (Greek: ta makra ponds ) or "Long Wall of Anastasios " (Greek: to makron Teichos to legomenon Anastasiakon ) refers.

In modern times, repeatedly threatened roadworks the plant. From 1994 to 2000, the Anastasiusmauer as part of a British research project under the direction of James Crow ( University of Newcastle -upon- Tyne ) has been extensively researched.

Location

The wall is located about 65 kilometers west of present-day Istanbul, and unbolted the peninsula at the eastern tip is the city, from. It runs in a north -south direction from the village of Evcik İskelesi on the Black Sea to the Maramameer, on whose coast it ends about six kilometers west of Silivri.

Function

The wall served According to John Malalas to secure the capital and the province of Europe before incursions of the Huns, Avars, Slavs and Proto-Bulgarians from the West, but not - how long mistakenly assumed - also the main water line from Konstantin Opel. The aqueducts extend too far west, as that the wall could provide effective protection. The Anastasiusmauer was designed as a preliminary line of defense of the Eastern Roman capital and the westerly of their cities Rhegium and Selymbria ( Silivri ). She stood for a new defense strategy of the Eastern Roman Empire, since the times of aggressive forward defense were over the limit and offered to the Danube frontier has long been no sure protection. Ostrom had no choice einzuigeln be defensive and preservation of the remaining provinces had now a top priority. By Edward Gibbon, the boundary walls were therefore also referred to as the " last frontier ".

Dating

In the - in this context is not very reliable - Chronicon Paschal ( Paschal Chronicle ) of 629 is given as the date of the foundation wall the year 507. But first barrages already Leo I ( 457-474 ) and Zenon probably made ​​around 469 or 478, in the reigns of the emperors ( 476-491 ). 490 and 500 were the Proto-Bulgarians repeatedly in Thrace. After 502 these raids from subsided suddenly. Anastasius was the dam wall so probably completely expand in these years and strengthen even further later. In this relevant sources Anastasios is mentioned several times as the real creator of this building.

In the Life of Daniel Stylites from the time of Emperor Leo I and in a fragment of the historical work of the historian Malchus from the late 5th century is also one of the Long Wall of the question. In ancient times, however, existed much earlier, several such structures, such as the famous dams of docks in Athens, Piraeus and Phalerum. The Gallipoli peninsula was protected by a already in the late 6th century BC under Miltiades the Elder -scale dam for inland towards the so-called Chersonese Wall. On the northern section of the city wall of the port city Salmydessos were found archaeological evidence of a compound of the city fortifications and the Chersonese - Walles with the Anastasiusmauer. Presumably, the references refer to the Daniels- Vita and Malchos on this building. Konstantin Opel was attacked several times in the 5th century and besieged upstream walls but are mentioned in contemporary sources with no word. It is different by 500, as the wall of Anastasius always plays a major role in the descriptions of the chroniclers. Archaeological studies have clearly demonstrated that this wall dates from the time of Anastasius. The Emperor, according to a statement in the "secret history" of Prokopios of Caesarea a treasury of 320,000 pounds of gold left at his death, he -serviced extremely specific in setting up the defense system.

Development

The construction of the Wall was not the only measure that took Anastasios to protect the NW flank of the empire in attack. The Emperor was trying to protect in this way, especially the core areas of the Eastern Empire. He dissolved the diocese of Thrace and imputed the area between the wall and Konstantin Opel two vicars, officials of the civil administration, which were the Praefectus Praetorian Orientis assumed. For the military affairs, was a Master of the Soldiers praesentalis, the highest military commander of the realm, responsible. However, the distribution of the view of the two vicars could not prove in the long run, since Justinian 535 the office of praetor Iustinianus einrichtete in Thracia, the diocese Thracia restored and allowed to manage the area as a new province of Europe. In addition, some forts and cities on the Black Sea coast ( Scythia ) and the lower Danube were rebuilt or reinforced what the contemporary historian Prokopios " The buildings " mentioned in his works. Such military construction work was partially initiated already under Anastasios.

Due to its exceptional length and the prevailing permanent shortage of soldiers it was very difficult, according to Prokopios, to man the Anastasiusmauer sufficient. That's why he praises the Emperor Justinian in his work that he had reinforced the guards. The Proto-Bulgarians and succeeded Kutrigurs 540 and 558/559 yet to overcome it without much trouble, since that time the kingdom ever suffered from a lack of soldiers and had also directed the earthquake of 557 severe damage. Despite the apparently large parts in their design, the construction can achieve the standard for late antique fortifications quality quite like the inside made ​​of regular ashlar shows. 558 it was due to the strategic skill of the generals Belisarius, that the emperor was spared a catastrophic defeat. Justinian then went to personally Selymbria according to oversee the rebuilding of the long walls themselves. This is an indication that this had a great significance for him, as the Emperor otherwise rarely left his capital. From 577-619 attacks by the Avars and Slavs on the wall could be repelled repeated. In the year 626 it was but then overrun by the Avars, as there was almost the entire Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius on campaign against the Persians. The Avars besieged thereupon Although Constantine Opel, but they could ultimately be defeated using all available forces.

Even if the Anastasiusmauer is repeatedly mentioned in the sources and was apparently also held further repaired, she seems to have played a more important role in later times in the defense of the capital. In the 7th century it was finally abandoned because they had total proved too ineffective and because of the increasingly scarce resources of the empire no security personnel and no more funding for conservation could be applied. The wall has been used over the centuries by the local population as a quarry, what its decline considerably accelerated.

Overall plant

The approximately 3.30m wide and 5 m high wall covered in full configuration over a length of approximately 56 kilometers. According Prokopios is required a total of two days to get from one end to the other. On its top there was a continuous parapet, which was on both sides equipped with battlements as a parapet. Before the enemy side wall was a ditch. In addition, it has been strengthened with numerous towers of different sizes that were used for observation and signaling purposes. Just as with the earlier city walls of Constantinople Opel had this either a rectangular or pentagonal plan, and just as there the wall itself was built apparently from alternating layers of bricks and stones. The slightly larger, pentagonal towers were preferred to particularly exposed locations or points at which the course of the Wall undertook a change of direction; between them, the smaller, square towers were positioned. In the village of Cilingir Tepe is the distance between them is only about 45 m, with Dervis Kapi about half of the total length, however, already 120-160 m. So in the transport network is well served by the Via Egnatia south they were closer together than in the north. Probably one reached only by the towers on the battlements of the wall. The main thoroughfare north of Dervis capital was secured by small forts ( bedesten = stone ), namely by a smaller ( Kücük bedesten ) and a larger ( Büyük bedesten ) with defensive trenches; close this fortress a hexagonal tower was found. The fortlets stood at a distance of 3.5 km apart and housed the guards. In the central sector of the wall was in addition a 250 × 300 m large fort ( castrum ). To the north of Büyük bedesten situated on the hill of Kuskaya Tepe ( 378 m) the highest point of the Wall, where, under favorable circumstances, the view extends both to the Black Sea to the north and the Sea of ​​Marmara to the south. How many soldiers were assigned to guard the wall, is unknown: Probably larger military units were already moved here only in case of need. This is indicated by an episode in October 610, as the reigning Emperor Phocas in Constantinople Opel commissioned a military commander to defend the wall against the advance of his rival Heraclius.

In the northern section of the Anastasiusmauer are still considerable remains to see with a height of about four meters along a road which leads from the village Karacaköy to the Black Sea, where the wall ends on a hill near the village Evcik Iskalesi. The very regularly built inside of the wall consists of layers of blocks that emerge from the dense bush vegetation; inside the cavity wall is a mixture of mortared rubble. In this area not only smaller gates, but also towers can be identified, one of which is a square standing on the hill of Hisar Tepe shortly before the end of the wall on the coast.