Long Wall

   A wall of considerable length erected (or rebuilt) by Anastasios I (q.v.) to the west of Constantinople (q.v.) for the purpose of protecting the city from invasion. It extended some 45 kilometers from Selymbria (q.v.), on the north shore of the Sea of Marmara (q.v.), to the shore of the Black Sea (qq.v.). Unfortunately, the garrison defending the wall proved inadequate and occasional earthquakes damaged the wall. Zabergan and his Cotrigurs (qq.v.) penetrated the wall and threatened Constantinople in 559. In effect, the Long Wall was an admission that the empire's northern boundary (limes [q.v.]) was, in effect, at Constantinople's doorstep.