CHAPTER IX
THE BUILDING OF ST. SOPHIA: THE ARCHITECTURAL WORK OF JUSTINIAN
Whilst it is evident that the distinctive character of
Justinian impelled him to be incessantly active in
every branch of the monarchical profession, the devastation
wrought at Constantinople by the Nika rebellion might
have awakened a passion for building in the breast of the
most phlegmatic Emperor.[1] A mass of sightless ruins had
taken the place of those architectural adornments which are
the essential feature of a capital and the foundations of the
dignity of a throne.
The restoration of the precincts of the Palace was the most pressing necessity, and Justinian applied himself to the task without a moment's delay. At the same time he determined that the new buildings should surpass in beauty those which had been destroyed, and he devoted himself to the restoration of the great metropolitan church with especial zeal. More fortunate than Constantine, he had not to complain that architects of reputation were undiscoverable; and in Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus,[2]*
