The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus - Coptic ...

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY: BOOK II 95
sixth, 132 after 347 years had elapsed from that which occurred under
Trajan: for that one occurred when the city was enjoying the 159th year
of its autonomy, 133 whereas that under Leo in the 506th, as is expounded
by diligent men. Now this quake overthrew almost all the buildings of
the New City, which was very heavily populated and had no empty or
totally neglected space, but rather had been exceptionally adorned by
the liberality of emperors who competed with each other. Of the palace
the ¢rst and second buildings were overthrown, but the others survived
together with the adjacent bath which, [64] whereas previously unused,
because of the disaster in fact bathed the city; this was necessary
because of what befell the other baths. It also overthrew the colonnades
in front of the palace and the nearby Tetrapylon, and in the Hippodrome
the towers at the doors and some of the nearby colonnades. 134 In the old
city collapse did not a¡ect the colonnades or buildings at all, but small
parts of the baths of Trajan, Severus and Hadrian were shaken and
collapsed. 135 And it threw down parts of the so-called neighbourhood
of Ostrakine, as well as the colonnades, and it cast down the
Nymphaeum, as it was called. 136 The details about each of these are
discussion by Downey, Antioch 476^81, 597^604; also Grumel, Chronologie 194; Festugie'
re, Antioche 365^8. September of the eleventh indiction points to 457, but the other indications,
especially Leo’s second year and Sunday the 14th denote 458, which is to be
preferred.
132 In Malalas (369:6) it is reckoned as the fourth.
133 Malalas (275:3^10) dated this earthquake to year 164 of the Era of Antioch, AD 115;
the origin of Evagrius’ error is unknown.
134 For discussion of the buildings destroyed, see Downey, Antioch 476^80. The New
City was located on an island in the Orontes; it was dominated by a large imperial palace
and adjacent Hippodrome, both of which were approached by colonnaded streets running
north^south; the palace was divided into four quarters, like that of Diocletian at Split, and
the ¢rst two buildings probably refer to the quarters adjacent to the main entrance; the Tetrapylon
was located at the intersection between the colonnade approaching the palace and a
major east^west street. Although the island was heavily built up, its population may not
have been large, since the palace was not in use (to the extent that a Holy Man pitched his
tent outside the entrance: Rufus, Plerophories 88).
135 The location of these baths is not known.
136 Evagrius is the only source to mention the Ostrakine quarter (also at vi.8), probably
the Potters’ area, and its location is unknown; Antioch’s famous Nymphaeum, a shrine to
the Nymphs which would have contained some water feature, was located near the intersection
of the main colonnaded streets in the old city, but there were several such shrines in the
city and Evagrius appears to be referring to one in the Ostrakine (Downey, Antioch 478).