And among these the very high one of lofty and vigorous narrative stands pre-eminent.

The campaigns of Julian, Belisarius, and Heraclius are painted with a dash and clearness which few civil historians have equalled.

His descriptive power is also very great.

The picture of Constantinople in the seventeenth chapter is, as the writer of these pages can testify, a wonderful achievement, both for fidelity and brilliancy, coming from a man who had never seen the place.
"If we survey Byzantium in the extent which it acquired with the august name of Constantinople, the figure of the imperial city may be represented under that of an unequal triangle.

The obtuse point, which advances towards the east and the shores of Asia, meets and repels the waves of the Thracian Bosphorus.