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So numerous were the inhabitants already in 378, that the Goths, who then appeared before the city after the defeat of the Roman arms at Adrianople, abandoned all hope of capturing a stronghold which could draw upon such multitudes for its defence.^[155]

The Land Walls of Constantinople.

Three years later, Athanaric^[156] marvelled at the variety of peoples which poured into the city, as they have ever since, like streams from different points into a common reservoir. Soon the corn fleets of Alexandria, Asia, Syria, and Phœnicia, were unable to provide the city with sufficient bread.^[157] The houses were packed so closely that the citizens, whether at home or abroad, felt confined and oppressed, while to walk the streets was dangerous, on account of the number of the beasts of burden that crowded the thoroughfares. Building-ground was in such demand that portions of the sea along the shores of the city had to be filled in, and the erections on that artificial land alone formed a considerable town.^[158] Sozomon goes so far as to affirm that Constantinople had grown more populous than Rome.^[159]