The Antiquities of Constantinople

Chap. I.

Of several Places in the fifth Ward, and the second Hill; of the Neorium; of the Port nam’d the Bosporium; of the Strategium, and the Forum of Theodosius

IT was impossible for me to discover from the Ancient Description of the Wards, that the fifth Ward stood on the North Side of the second Hill, and in a Plain at the Bottom of it, and that it descended jointly with the fourth Ward from the Ridge of the Promontory to the Bay call’d Ceras, although the Author takes Notice that a great part of it fell down in winding Descents into the Bosom of a Plain. For this Description of it is no less agreeable to other Wards. Nor could I find out its Situation from any Buildings remaining in it, or from the Information of the most ancient Inhabitants. All the Light I could get was from the Situation of the Phosphorian or, as some call it, the Bosphorian Port, and the Stairs of Chalcedon, which do not take that Name, because they are built in the Eastern Part of the City facing Chalcedon, for they stand full North; and so it is call’d the Bosphorian Port, not from the Sea of Bosporus, but from a depraved Custom of the People, who pronounce it so; whereas, according to the Authorities of Stephanus and Eustathius, they ought to call it the Phosphorian Port. For these Writers assert, that it took its Name from hence; viz. that when Philip of Macedon besieged Byzantium, and his Soldiers were digging a Passage under Ground into the Town, the Moon, which is call’d Phosphora, shone out in its full Brightness, and discover’d the Stratagem; so that the Byzantians, the Siege being raised, call’d it the Phosphorium. But as they give some Reason why it may be thought the same Haven, though under different Names, yet are they silent as to its Situation, whether it stood on the Eastern, Northern, or Southern Side of the City; though it is reasonable to believe, if we consider the Situation of the Stairs of Chalcedon, which the Ancient Description of the Wards places in the same Ward with the Bosphorian Haven, that it stood on the South Side of the City, and not on the East Side, although it directly faces Chalcedon. For the Force and Rapidity of the Bosporus makes it very difficult to sail from Chalcedon to the Eastern and Southern Parts of Constantinople; but ’tis an easy Passage to those who sail between that and Chalcedon, to go in or out of Port on the North Side of the City. It is observable farther, that the Ancient Description of the Wards mentions no Stairs which lie over-against Chalcedon; or if the Author had taken Notice of any, he had placed them in the first or second Wards, opposite to Chalcedon, or in the third Ward, which stands Southward, where the Neorium or the new Dock stood, as I observ’d before. But it would be of little Significancy to enlarge on this Matter, since I shall be very particular in naming and producing such Authorities, as will make it evident, that the Bosphorian Port, and the Stairs of Chalcedon were not only situate on the North Side of the City, but shall mention the very Place where they stood. The first Historian I shall quote is Dionysius, a Native of the City, who places, just without the Walls of Old Byzantium, the Temple of Tellus upon the Bay of the Bosporus, and a little below it the Temple of Ceres and Proserpina, whom he does not call Proserpina, but only κόρη the Virgin; yet by the Situation of the Place we may easily understand that Virgin to be Hecate, whose Tripos Cedrinus mentions to have been in the Strategium, where, or at least not far from it, as appears from the same Author, stood the Temple of Proserpina: But Evagrius is more clear upon this Occasion, who tells us, that in the Reign of Leo there happen’d a great Fire on the North Side of the City, where the Dock stood, which consumed all before it, from the Bosphorian Haven, to the old Temple of Apollo; on the South Side, from the Port of Julian to the Temple of Concord, in the Middle of the City, from the Forum of Constantine, to the Taurus; and Zonaras adds, that the same Fire destroy’d all the Buildings between the North and the South Sea. Cedrinus reports, that the same Fire began at the Dock, and burnt down all before it, as far as the Church of St. John; from whence I observe, that the Bosphorian Port and the Dock were near to one another, although the Author of the Description of the Wards, places the former in the fifth, and the latter in the sixth Ward. For since both these Wards join’d together, and descended from the Ridge of the Promontory down to the Sea, it is not possible that they should stand at any great Distance from one another. Zosimus, an ancient Historian, points out the very Place where the Dock was built in his Description of Old Byzantium. He tells us, that ’twas situate upon a Hill, which made part of the Isthmus, which was enclosed by the Propontis, and the Bay call’d Ceras; and adds, that the Wall of Byzantium stretch’d it self over a Hill, from the Western Side of the City to the Temple of Venus, and the Sea facing Chrysopolis; and that it descended on the North Side of the City to the Neorion, or New Haven, which I take to stand near the Gate which the Greeks call Ὡραῖα, and since by a Corruption of Language Porta Neoria, or at least not far from it. There is at present between the Seas and the Porta Neoria, a broad Space of Land, a Market of Merchandize and Sea Goods, which the Turks call Siphont, or Tsiphont, because the Jews inhabit it. It adjoins to the Stairs or Landing-place of Chalcedon, from whence they daily sail to Scutarieum, or Scutaricum, anciently call’d Chrysopolis, a Mart-Town, and a Port of Chalcedon. Near the Stairs of Chalcedon is the Ferry, whence you cross the Water to Galata. It was formerly called the Sycæne Ferry, and is placed in the Description of the Wards, near the Bosphorian Haven, or Dock. But the Situation of these Places seems to be somewhat chang’d, by reason of some Granaries built there, (which are removed farther into the City) or for the greater Enlargement of the Precinct of the Seraglio, or because they are fallen to Decay, and filled up with Earth. For at that Time, when Philip of Macedon undermin’d the Town, ’tis very probable that there was no Port built in that Place, which by the Byzantians was afterwards call’d the Phosphorion. There was no building a Haven there, because of the Rising of the Springs, but the Bosphorian Haven was built afterwards in another Place. And this is no more than what is said of the Dock, or the Neorium, which they tell you was enclosed by Constans, and was made a Market of Merchandize, and other naval Affairs. This Market was afterwards kept near the Port of Julian. Some Historians write, that Leontius the Emperor, who reign’d after Justin, order’d the Dock to be cleansed. Others write, that there was erected, at the Neorium, the Figure of a large Ox in Brass, which much resembled the Brazen Bull. This Figure was set up in the eleventh Ward, which, as some modern Writers would persuade you, bellow’d once a Year, which portended great Mischief and Detriment to the City. But this I look upon to be a Fable taken out of Callimachus and Pindar, who tell you, that upon the Mountain of Artabyris in Rhodes, there are brazen Bulls that used to bellow upon any Calamity impending the City. There is nothing remaining of this Haven, where the Dock was at present. I gather from the Situation of the Bosphorian Port, and the Stairs of Chalcedon, that the fifth Ward stood on the Side of the second Hill, and in a Plain below it; where were also the Bagnio’s of Honorius, the Prytaneum, the Bagnio’s of Eudoxia, the Granaries of Valentinian and Constantius, the Thebean Obelisk, the Bosphorian Port, the Stairs of Chalcedon, the Cistern of Theodosius, and the Strategium, in which was the Forum of Theodosius. Justinian in his Constitutions takes Notice of the Bagnio of Achilles in a Letter, thus: Our Imperial Will and Pleasure is, that the leaden Pipes, conducting the Water to the Achillean Bagnio’s, contrived by your Wisdom, and purchased by your Munificence, be under the same Regulation and Management, as has been appointed by Theodosius and Valentinian in the like Case; and that the said Pipes shall only supply such Bagnio’s and Nymphæa, as your Excellency shall think fit, allowing at the same time full Power, Licence and Authority to the Apparitors of your Excellency, to enter without Fear or Molestation, such Houses and Bagnio’s in the Suburbs, as they shall judge convenient, to enquire into all Evasions of this Order, and to prevent the Stoppage of the Water to the Detriment of the publick. The Law by which Constantine the Great enacts, that Constantinople shall be call’d New Rome, is inscrib’d upon a publick Pillar, near his own Equestrian Statue in the Strategium. I find in the Ancient Description of the Wards, that there were three Fora’s in the City, which took their Name from Theodosius. One was in the fifth Ward, and stood, as I just observ’d, in the Strategium; another stood in the sixth Ward, and a third in the twelfth. The two last of them were Markets for Provision, the first was the Forum Prætorianum, a Court of publick Justice, where the Prætors presided, and this I gather from the Treatise just mention’d, and which was call’d, both by the Latins and Greeks, Prætorium. I am not certain, though it seems very probable to me, that this great Prætorium was beautifully finish’d at the Expence and Care of the Emperor Justin and Domninus, as will appear from the following Verses of Paulus Silentiarius. I shall subjoin them in order to prove, that the Word Prætorium was used by the Greeks, as were also very many other Latin Words.

Some Verses of Paulus Silentiarius, upon beautifying the great PrætoriumWhen great Justinus had reform’d the World,This noble Structure consecrate to ThemisHe then repair’d with fresh Increase of Beauty;And yet some share of Praise to thee is due,Domninus, skilful Architect, whose HeadLong labour’d nightly in the great Design.

Chap. II.

Of the sixth Ward, and the remaining ancient Buildings of the second Hill

IT had been very difficult to have discover’d, either from the Situation of the Forum of Constantine, or the Pillar of Constantine still standing at Constantinople, or the Description of the Wards (although it takes Notice of the Pillar of Constantine, and tells us, that the sixth Ward enters upon a short Plain, and that ’tis afterwards lengthen’d by a long Descent) whether the sixth Ward had been on the North or the South Side of the City, unless the Author had added, that it reach’d from the Forum of Constantine down to Stairs from whence you sail over the Sycæne Ferry. It was originally call’d the Sycæne Ferry from Syca, but is now call’d Galata, or Pera, as will appear more fully, when I come to speak of it in the thirteenth Ward. That the fifth and sixth Wards join’d together, I observ’d before from the Vicinity of the Dock, the Stairs of Chalcedon, the Sycæne Stairs, and the Bosphorian Port to each other. Having therefore discover’d the Situation of Syca, I take it for granted, that the Dock stood near a Plain on the Sea Shore, which was below the Foot of the second Hill, and that the Ferry Place from whence you passed over to Syca, is the same with that from whence you sail at present to Galata, and that the Porphyry Pillar now standing, is the same with that mention’d by the Author of the Description, &c. and placed by him in the sixth Ward; though he takes no Notice in his Description of the sixth Ward, where he places the Senate-House, how near it stood to the Forum or Pillar of Constantine. But I shall make it plain to the Reader from other Historians, in what follows, that the Senate-House stood on the North Side of the Forum of Constantine, and that this Ward stood partly on the Ridge of the second Hill, where the Porphyry Pillar is now standing, as is also the Poultry Market, which the Turks call Taubasor, or Taouck Baser, the Dyers Shops, the House of Ænobarbus, a Turkish Admiral, and the Mosque of Hali-Bassa. Part of it spreads itself also over the right Side of the second Valley, and part of it covers a Plain near the Sea, below the Valley, and the Foot of the second Hill, which is much inhabited by the Jews.

Chap. III.

Of the Porphyry Pillar, the Forum of Constantine, and the Palladium

THOSE Historians who have treated of the Actions of Constantine the Great, report, that he brought the round Porphyry Pillar from Rome. This Pillar was bound, at the Joints, with circular Wreaths of Laurel made of Brass, and was placed in the Forum, call’d the Placoton, because it was paved with smooth broad Stones, which the Greeks call Placæ. They add farther, that there was erected upon this Pillar a curious Statue of Brass, surprizing both for its Workmanship and Size. ’Twas an ancient Piece of Statuary, exquisitely finish’d, even to the Life. They tell you that ’twas originally the Image of Apollo of Troy, that the Emperor gave it his own Name, and commanded to be fix’d in the Head of it, some of those Nails which fasten’d our Saviour to the Cross. Upon the Statue was cut the following Inscription:

To thee, O Saviour, Lord of th’ Universe,Who rulest the unmeasurable GlobeWith deepest Knowledge, I this People offer.May they be thine, I conquer’d them for thee.I lay m’ Imperial Sceptre at thy Feet,With all th’ united Force, and Power of Rome.Let thy good Providence, with watchful Eye,Look down, and guard the City from all Ills.

Cedrinus relates, that at the Bottom of the Pillar were carved the twelve Baskets, full of the Fragments which were left, after the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes. This Pillar has no Winding Stairs, but is all solid Marble, and therefore Fulvius, otherwise a good Antiquary, is visibly in an Error, when he tells us, that it had an ascent within it. Zonaras says, that the Statue of Constantine was standing upon the Pillar in his Time, and that in the Spring Time, in the Reign of Alexius Comnenus, among many other Buildings which were thrown down by a violent Storm of Wind, the Statue of Constantine the Great was blown down and demolished, and that by the Fall of it, several People who were passing by, were dashed to Pieces. The Author who has wrote the History of Alexius Comnenus, tells us, that not only the Statue was struck down with Lightning, but also that three of the Tores, or round Circles of the Pillar, were also removed. The Pillar is still standing on the Top of the second Hill; ’tis somewhat impair’d, not so much by Time, altho’ it is very ancient, as by Fires and Earthquakes, and Tempests. The Statue and the three upper Wreaths are gone, and in the Room of them there’s a plain round Superstructure, almost of the same Thickness and Size with the other Part of the Shaft. The Pedestal of it is made of squar’d Marble, and is, every Way, eleven Foot nine Inches broad, and eighteen Foot high. Upon this is placed a Cornice, but after the Doric Manner, consisting of a Plinth, an upper and a lower Tore, and a Scotia between them. Upon the Cornice stands the Shaft of the Pillar, which is about eleven Yards in Circumference. It consists of eight large Pieces of Marble; each of which is encircled at the Joints, with a Wreath of Laurel-Work, which covers the Cement of the Fissures. And if it had not been injured by Time, it would look like one entire Stone of Marble, and has therefore been thought so by some Historians, who have handed it down to Posterity, that it consisted only of one Piece of Marble, and ridicule the Ignorance and Injudiciousness of those, who, they tell you, have been imposed upon by the Wreaths of Brass, which were only added for the sake of Ornament. There’s nothing of these brazen Wreaths or Tores to be seen at present, the Pillar, to prevent its falling to pieces, being bound round with Iron Hoops. At the Top of the Pillar is carv’d the Name of the Emperor, who after the Statue was thrown down, lay’d the uppermost Stone of it. This Pillar bore some Resemblance to those mention’d by Athenæus, who writes, that there were some tall round Pillars erected in Ægypt, made after the same Manner. They were cover’d at the Fissures with circular Wreaths, alternately white and black, one below another. Their Capitals were also round, about which was a fine Sculpture of Roses just opening. There were no Flutings in these Pillars, nor any coarse Foliage (according to the Grecian Model) which enfolded it; but it was adorn’d with Dates, and the Fruit of young Lote Trees, and a Sculpture of all kind of Flowers. Below these, is an Expression of Ægyptian Beans, intermix’d with Flowers, and a Foliage which projects beyond the Fissure of the Capital. Thus it is that the Ægyptians make and adorn their Pillars; and in building their Walls, it is their constant Practice to lay alternately a Row of white over a Row of black Bricks. I have seen the same Method in building their Walls among the Persians and Syrians; the finest of which they built with Bricks, or Stones naturally variegated, the meaner sort they colour’d several ways with Paintings, and other Inventions of Art. The Wreaths or Tores beforemention’d, which were fix’d to the Pillar of Constantine, were carv’d, as some Writers tell us, to presignify the many Years Constantine should live, and the many Victories he should obtain over his Enemies. I believe the Design of the Sculptor was only to express, that the Laurel was sacred to Apollo, and that this ancient Pillar supported the Image of him made in a stupendous Size. However that may be, it is certain that Constantine order’d it to be call’d his own Statue, whether on the account of his many Victories, or whether he was better pleased with the Heathen Notion of that God than any other, so that when he demolish’d other Heathen Idols, he commanded the Statue of a Delphick Apollo, and his Tripos to be set up in the Hippodrom, as is observ’d by a German Orator, who address’d himself in a Panegyrick to Constantine, after the following Manner: When your Imperial Majesty turn’d down to the Temple of Apollo, the most stately, the most beautiful Building in the World, you saw your favourite God offering to you his Crowns, a happy Presage of Length of Days, and a Life extended beyond that of Nestor. You saw him, you gazed on his Features, and beheld your own Likeness in him; who, as the ancient Poets have sung, deserv’d the Empire of the World. That auspicious Period of Time seems to be now come, since you, like that God, are gay and youthful; like him salutary; like him a personable and a beautiful Prince.

If the Turk, whom I employ’d to climb the Pedestal, had follow’d my Directions, (while I was obliged to appear a mere accidental Spectator) and held his Pearch true, I had discover’d the lowest Stone of the Shaft, from a Notch he had cut in it, to have been nine Foot and four Digits high; and the Tore, which projected six Digits beyond it, to have been a Foot and a half broad, I mean the Tore at the Foot of the Shaft, so that every Stone was ten Foot nine Inches high. The Height therefore of all the eight Stones was about eighty six Foot and nine Inches. The whole Pillar was lengthen’d besides with an Abacus placed on the uppermost Stone, and below with a Pedestal and its Cornice, and four Marble Steps at the Bottom. The lowermost of these Steps is a Foot and six Digits high; the second of the same Height; the third and fourth, each of them a Foot and a half. There is no Discovery can be made, from what has been said, where this prodigious Column, or rather where this Colossus stood. For since neither Procopius, nor any other Historian of those Times, takes any Notice of the Forum call’d Πλακότον, where Zonaras, and other modern Writers say it was erected, I was in some Suspence, whether or no this was not the same with the Forum of Constantine. For it seem’d very probable to me, that Constantine had herein follow’d the Example of Trajan, in setting up his Statue in the Forum, which went by his own Name. But I was soon clear’d of this Difficulty, by the Authority of Socrates, (the Author of the Dissensions among Christians,) who writes, that they are one and the same Place; and that Arius, when he came near where the Forum of Constantine stood, expired with the falling of the Guts. But this is no less evident, if it be consider’d where the Palladium of Minerva stood; which, as Zonaras says, was convey’d by the Command of Constantine from Troy to the Placotum, and as Procopius adds, into the Forum of Constantine. The Hirpines, says he, report, that Diomedes met Æneas coming out of Troy, and that in Conformity to the Answer of the Oracle, he gave him the Image of Minerva, which he, with the Assistance of Ulysses, had formerly brought from Troy, when they went thither to consult the Oracle, how Troy might be taken. They add farther, that Diomedes being indisposed, and consulting the Oracle concerning his Recovery, it was foretold by it, that he would never be well, till he had given that Image to Æneas. The Romans pretend that they know nothing of this Image at present, yet they shew you an Image cut in Stone, which to this Day stands in the Eastern Part of the Temple of Fortune, before the Statue of Minerva. The Statue is carv’d in a War-like Posture, brandishing, as in Battle, a Spear, dress’d in a long Garment, not representing the Statue of Minerva, as she is figured by the Greeks, but as described by the Ægyptians. The Inhabitants tell you, that Constantine order’d this Statue, which was placed in the Forum, call’d by his own Name, to be bury’d under Ground. The Authorities that the Placoton and the Forum of Constantine are the same Place ought to be regarded, because it is impossible to come to the Knowledge of four of the Wards without them; for the third Ward contains the Tribunal of the Forum of Constantine; the sixth reaches from the Forum of Constantine, to the Stairs against Sycæ, where is erected the Pillar of Constantine. The seventh extends itself with continual Portico’s from the Right Hand Side of the Pillar of Constantine to the Forum of Theodosius, and the eighth contains part of the Forum of Constantine. When I was ask’d by some Gentlemen who were curious that way, how Constantine came by that Palladium, I answer’d, that I was at an Uncertainty as to that. For Zonaras’s Opinion of its being brought from Troy did not look very probable, since Troy was destroy’d so many Ages before it; and Strabo is hard put to it to trace out the Place of its Situation. The Story of its being brought from ancient Rome seems very improbable, since it was often destroy’d by Fire, and the Inhabitants were entirely ignorant where it originally stood. Yet the Latin Historians tell us, that Diomedes presented it to Æneas, that it was kept for some time at Lavinium, and that it was afterwards removed to Rome, and set up in the Temple of Vesta. The Greek Historians are of another Opinion. Among these, Pausanias, who wrote in the Time of Adrian, tells us, that it was held the most sacred of any Thing in Athens, that it fell down from Heaven, that it was consecrated by the Advice of all the Senators, and placed in the Citadel of Athens. There has been some Dispute, whether it was made of Wood or Brass, and whether it was a Figure or a Shield. Some say, that it was a sacred Shield, such as they had at Rome. Dion and Diodorus think otherwise, and tell us, that it was an Image made of Wood, three Cubits high, that it fell from Heaven into Pessinus, a City of Phrygia, holding in her right Hand a Spear, in her left a Spindle and a Distaff. To me it seems to have been the Image of Pallas, whose Statue, whenever it was placed, was call’d the Palladium. Procopius asserts, that the Statue which the Romans shew in the Temple of Minerva, is not cut after the Grecian Manner. For they carve her, as was mention’d before, in a fighting Posture, with a Spear in her Hand, denoting by the Spear, her Courage; by her Shield, her Wisdom, which repels all Attacks: She is cover’d with a Helmet, to intimate, that the Height of Wisdom is not to be seen and discover’d: She bears an Olive-Tree as affording Matter of Light; and upon her Breast is cut a Medusa, to illustrate the Quickness of Thought, and the surprizing Agility of the Mind. She had also a Breast-Plate, on which was the Figure of a Night-Owl and a Gorgon. The Night-Owl was an Emblem of the Depth of Prudence and Conduct; for Wisdom dives into the Secrets and Darknesses of Nature. I wish the divine Palladium may guard all those, who shall in future Times attempt the same Travels as I have done, and pray that they may be defended, as I have been, by that good Providence, and that heavenly Wisdom, the Wisdom of the Father, which amidst all the Treacheries and Insults of a barbarous People, and the almost incredible Dangers of a long Voyage, did not only support and strengthen, but did animate, enliven, and refresh me.