aste. There also stood a
hostel for the special accommodation of Syrian monks on a visit to
Constantinople, and a hospital for diseases of the eye.[511]

In this account of the early history of the Chora, there may be, as
Schmitt[512] thinks, many inaccuracies. It was easy, even for a member
of the House who aspired to authorship, to confuse persons, to err in
the matter of dates, and to overlook the changes which the buildings
with which he was familiar had undergone before his day. But surely the
biographer of S. Theodore can be trusted where his statements are
supported by more reliable authorities, and we may therefore accept his
testimony on the following points: that the original church of the Chora
was earlier than the reign of Justinian; that under Justinian the old
sanctuary was replaced by a new and statelier building; that the Chora
maintained intimate relations with monasteries in Syria; and that with
it was associated a church dedicated to the Archangel Michael.

NOTE

The association of a church dedicated to S. Michael with the Chora,
and the fact that the Chora stood on the property of Charisius, raise
an interesting question. For among the subscriptions to the letter of
the monks to Pope Hormisdas in 518, and the subscriptions to the Acts
of the Synod held in Constantinople in 536, stands the name of the
abbot of the monastery of the Archangel Michael of Charisius.[513] Was
that monastery identical with the Chora? If it was, that fact would be
additional evidence that the Chora was earlier than Justinian's time.
On the other hand, it is always dangerous to identify buildings
because they were situated in the same quarter of the city and
dedicated to the same saint. The absence of all reference to the
monastery of S. Michael of Charisius after the reign of Justinian, and
yet the association of a church of S. Michael with the Chora after his
reign, may be due either to the ruin of that monastery in the
earthquake of 558, or to the subsequent union of the two
establishments on account of their proximity.

The next important event in the history of the House was the confinement
there of the celebrated general Priscus, Count of the Excubiti, at the
command of the Emperor Heraclius (610-641).[514] Priscus had taken a
leading part in the revolution which overthrew his father-in-law, the
infamous Phocas, and placed Heraclius upon the throne. But
notwithstanding that servic