E04282: Procopius of Caesarea, in his On Buildings, reports that the emperor Justinian (r. 527-565) demolished a small old church of *Michael (the Archangel, S00181) in Constantinople, originally constructed by a patrician senator, and rebuilt it in splendid style. Written in Greek at Constantinople, in the 550s.

Procopius of Caesarea, On Buildings , 1.3.14-18

Τοῦ δὲ ἀρχαγγέλου Μιχαὴλ ἱερὸν εὗρεν ἐν Βυζαντίῳ βραχύ τε καὶ ἀφεγγὲς ἄγαν καὶ ὡς ἥκιστα τῷ ἀρχαγγέλῳ ἀνεῖσθαι πρέπον πρὸς σενάτορός τινος τῶν πατρικίων ἐν χρόνῳ γεγενημένον τῷ ἔμπροσθεν, κοιτωνίσκῳ οἰκίας ἀτεχνῶς ἐμφερὲς οὐδὲ λίαν εὐδαίμονος. διὸ δὴ καθεῖλε μὲν αὐτὸ ἐς τὸ ἔδαφος ἐκ τῶν θεμελίων, ὡς μή τι αὐτῷ τῆς προτέρας ἀκοσμίας ἀπολειφθείη. εὐμέγεθες δὲ τεκτηνάμενος κατὰ τὸν νῦν φαινόμενον τρόπον, ἐς κάλλος μεταβιβάζει θαυμάσιον οἷον.

'He found a shrine (hieron) of the Archangel Michael in Byzantium [= Constantinople] which was small and very badly lighted, utterly unworthy to be dedicated to the Archangel; it was built in earlier times by a certain patrician senator, quite like a tiny bedroom of a dwelling-house, and that, too, of the house of one who is not very prosperous. So he tore this down, even to the lowest foundations, so that no trace of its earlier unseemliness might remain. And increasing its size to the proportions which it now displays, he transformed it into a marvellously beautiful building.'

A description of the church follows (§17-18).

Text: Haury 1913. Translation: Dewing 1940.