evil genius, while others declared that the Divinity, in detestation
of his works, having turned away in disgust from the Roman Empire, had
given permission to the avenging deities to inflict these misfortunes.
The river Scirtus overflowed Edessa, and brought the most grievous
calamities upon the inhabitants of the district, as I have already
related. The Nile, having overflown its banks as usual, did not
subside at the ordinary time, and caused great suffering among the
people. The Cydnus was swollen, and nearly the whole of Tarsus lay for
several days under water; and it did not subside until it had wrought
irreparable damage to the city.

Several cities were destroyed by earth-quake--Antioch, the chief city
of the East, Seleucia, and Anazarbus, the most famous town in Cilicia.
Who could calculate the numbers of those who were thereby destroyed?
To these cities we may add Ibora, Amasea (the chief city of Pontus),
Polybotus in Phrygia (called Polymede by the Pisidians), Lychnidus in
Epirus, and Corinth, cities which from ancient times had been thickly
populated. All these cities were overthrown at that time by an
earthquake, during which nearly all their inhabitants perished.
Afterwards the plague (which I have spoken of before) began to rage,
and swept away nearly half the survivors. Such were the disasters that
afflicted mankind, from the day when Justinian first commenced to
manage the affairs of the kingdom to the time, and after he had
ascended the Imperial throne.




CHAPTER XIX