The Antiquities of Constantinople

Chap. VIII.

Of the Statues, and the antient Tripos of Apollo, standing in the Xerolophon

SUIDAS writes, that the Xerolophon was formerly call’d Thema, because it was a kind of Repository, and contained in it fifteen winding Apartments, the Statue of Diana, and Severus, who built it; besides a Thermation, a Tripos from whence many Oracles were deliver’d. In this Place, the Founder of it us’d to offer Sacrifices; and among others he sacrificed a Virgin. Priscian, whom I find mention’d by Benedictus Ægius, indefatigably curious in his Search of Antiquity, observes, That the Azoles sometimes inserted in a Word the Letter Ϝ, as I have taken Notice of in some Inscriptions of a very antient Tripos of Apollo, still remaining in the Xerolophon; the Words of which are written after this Manner; Δημοφάϝων, Λαϝονάϝων. He tells us, that ’tis customary in another Place, meaning among the Æolians, to place an Ϝ between two Vowels of the same Word; as in ὄϝις, ovis, Δάϝος, Davus, ὦϝον, ovum. I have seen, says he, the same in some old Inscriptions, in very antient Characters, on some Tripos’s, especially on the Tripos of Apollo, which is at Constantinople; as Δημοφόϝων for Δημοφόων, Λαϝοκόϝων for Λαοκόων. Others add, that there were the like Insertions in the Xerolophon, a little above the Basis of the Pillars of Marcian, Valentinian, and Theodosius the Less. Zonaras tells us, that Simeon, a Prince of the Bulgarians, a Man of a cruel and turbulent Spirit, march’d an Army against the Chrobatians; when he was conquer’d, and lost his Army, partly by the Badness of the Roads, some Body inform’d the Emperor that the Statue plac’d above the Arch in the Xerolophon, looking Westward, was carv’d for the Statue of Simeon of Bulgaria, and that if any one cut off the Head of the Statue, Simeon should immediately die. The Emperor commands the Head of the Statue to be chopt off, and soon received the News that Simeon was dead of a violent Pain of the Stomach. For he watch’d to a Minute the Time of his Death. As to the Port of Theodosius, that was in the same Place where the Gardens, which are now call’d the Blancha, stand at present. These Gardens are enclos’d with a Wall, and are seated in a Plain, adjoyning to the Shore of the Propontis, at the Foot of the sixth Hill. The Mouth of the Port stood Eastward, from whence the Pier extended it self Westward, in a direct Line, where at present stand the Walls of the City. The Pier was twelve Foot in Thickness; and, as I found by walking it, ’twas six Hundred of my Paces in length. ’Tis now entirely ruin’d. The Gardens, which are very spacious, abound with Sallets and Potherbs, but have very few Fruit-Trees. These Gardens are water’d with Pools, which they have within them, and which are the Remains of the old Port. I discover’d by the Pier, and Situation of the Place, that ’twas above a Mile in compass. In the Mouth of the Port, not altogether unfit for Ships at present, without the City Wall, you still see a Fortress in its Ruins, surrounded by the Sea. The unknown Writer of the Empire of Constantinople asserts, That it was first called Thema, afterwards the Forum of Theodosius; tho’ it seems to me rather to be the Forum of Arcadius, by Reason the Pillar of Arcadius joyns to it. For the Forum of Theodosius, in all Probability, stood near the Port of Theodosius. This is no more than what is conformable to the Rules of Architecture, which prescribe, that a Market should be built near a Port. I am of Opinion, that it was formerly call’d the Port of Eleutherius, if we may credit those Writers who affirm, That Constantine the Great built a Wall from the Ridge of the first Hill to the Port of Sophia, and the Port of Eleutherius, built by Constantine the Great, to prevent the Inundations of the Sea. ’Tis called the Port of Eleutherius, because, when ’twas built, he was Surveyor of the Works. It was for this Reason, that there was a Marble Statue erected to him in that Port, bearing on his Shoulders a Basket of Marble, and holding in his Hand a Marble Spade. They add further, that Irena, and her Son Constantine, built him a noble Seat; and that from that Seat, as far as the Amastrianum, reach’d the Hippodrom, which was built by Theodosius the Great, and was demolish’d by Irena. Zonaras writes, that Irena, after she was remov’d from the Government by Constantine her Son, liv’d in a House which she built in the Port of Eleutherius. The Portico’s, which the ancient Description of the Wards of the City names with the Epithet Troadeæ, others mention with that of Troadesiæ, and tell us, that Constantine the Great built the Walls of the City as far as the Portico’s call’d Porticus Troadesiæ (that is, the Trojan Portico’s) and the Porta Aurea, which stood in the twelfth Ward. I am of Opinion, that they were call’d the Trojan Portico’s, because they contain’d some Things of the like Kind with that which was called the Porticus Varia. ’Tis reported, says he, that in the Portico, formerly call’d Plesiactia, and now Pæcilla, or Porticus Varia, a celebrated Painter drew the Face of Laodice, on the Picture of Elpinica. I had not known it by the Name it goes at present, had it not been for a Spring near it which they call Χρυσοπηγὴ, as deriving its Name from the Porta Aurea. This Spring, to this Day, constantly flows, and is drank with great Devotion by the Greeks, who hold all Springs, near their Churches, to be sacred. There’s nothing of the Church remaining at present, tho’ Procopius takes Notice of it. Justinian, says he, built two Churches to the Virgin Mary, before the Walls of the City one in the Blachernæ, the other in a Place call’d Πηγὴ, where there is a large Wood of Cypresses, a verdant Meadow, and a delightful Garden, which produces a great Store of fine Fruit, and where there is also a gentle Spring, which affords very good drinking Water. One of the Churches stood near the Sea-shore, the other near the Porta Aurea. Both of them, he adds, were near the end of the City Walls, and were upon Occasion impregnable Fortresses to it. From hence I would remark, that in the Time of Justinian, the Angle of the City, which they call the Angle of the seven Towers, was not within the City; but that the Land-wall from the Porta Aurea, straitned the Angle of the City into a more narrow Compass, as appears from the Situation of the Monastery of Studius, which stood upon a piece of Ground, which was formerly look’d upon to be in the Suburbs, but now stands further within the Walls, than the Angle of the seven Towers. He proceeds, and tells us, that Justinian, at a vast Expence, upon the Entrance of the Porta Aurea on the right Hand, rebuilt the Temple of Ja, (which Time had wholly defac’d) for the Service of the True God. The Observation I would make from hence is, that the Porta Aurea stood near the seventh Hill, call’d the Xerolophon, which is also confirm’d by Zonaras, who writes, That in the Time of Leo, many Churches and Houses, the Statue of Arcadius, plac’d upon a Pillar in the Xerolophon, and the Statue of Theodosius the Great, placed upon the Porta Aurea, as also the City Walls, reaching to the Continent on the Field side, were overthrown by an Earthquake. Cedrinus asserts, that the Statue of Victory, near the Porta Aurea, was overturn’d by the same Earthquake. Other Historians mention, that by the same Earthquake, which happen’d the Vth of the Calends of November, many sacred Buildings, and many others of common Use, with Multitudes of People, were destroy’d; and that the Statue of Constantine the Great, which stood upon the Gate of Attalus, with the Gate it self, was demolish’d by it. It is therefore a great Mistake in those, who take the Porta Aurea to be the same Gate which is now call’d Oria, and is seated in the Northern Part of the City, which, as I observ’d before, was called the Port of Neorius, since ’tis plain from what I have mentioned, that the Porta Aurea was in the Western Part of the City. This is also evident from the antient Description of the Wards of Constantinople, which tells us, that the Length of the City, from the Porta Aurea to the Sea-shore, in a direct Line, is fourteen Thousand and seventy five Feet. Cedrinus takes Notice, that the Elephants stabled in the Porta Aurea, were much of that Kind, with which Theodosius made his publick Entry into the City. ’Tis said that Theodosius the Less who built the Walls of the City as far as the Blachernæ, brought the Statues of those Elephants, which are plac’d upon the Porta Aurea, from the Temple of Mars at Athens. Cedrinus asserts, that Philip King of Macedon built the great Church of Mocius the Martyr, and a Church to St. Anne in a Place call’d Secundus. Procopius says, that both these Churches were built by Justinian. I have seen some Remains of the Church of Mocius, near a large Cistern, built by Justinian, on the Top of the seventh Hill. All its Pillars are standing, and it goes still under the Name of Mocius. Some Historians, and Suidas the Grammarian say, that this Cistern was built by Anastasius Dicorus. It may be worth Enquiry, whether the Moneta, which the antient Description of the Wards places in this Ward, was the Temple of Juno Moneta, or the Treasury. For the Grand Seignor, to this Day, makes use of the Castle with seven Towers for a Treasury. Suidas writes, that the Statue of Juno was supported by a Brazen Arch, made somewhat in Form of a Pair of Barbers Scissars, but takes no Notice where it stood; so that I desire the Reader would lay no great Stress upon what I have said of the Moneta.

Chap. IX.

Of the Columns now remaining on the Seventh Hill

THE Church standing here is called Studios, because it was built by one Studius an eminent Citizen of Constantinople. It was he, says Suidas, who built this Church with a handsome Monastery. Justinian, in his Constitutions, takes Notice of him, when he says, That there were two Biers plac’d in the sacred Treasury; one to the Memory of the Famous Studius, and the other to the Memory of the Magnificent Stephanus. The Monastery built by Studius was call’d Studium, which is entirely demolish’d. The Church remains, tho’ converted into a Mosque. In its Porch are four Pillars with a Trabeation curiously finish’d. In the Inside of the Mosque, there are on each side seven green Pillars, streak’d with black Veins, and look as if they were inlay’d with Pieces of Stone of another kind. Each of them measures in Circumference six Foot and six Digits. Their Capitals, and Architraves, are finish’d after the Corinthian Manner, as are those which stand in the Vestibule. In the upper Part of it stands another Order of six Pillars. In the Courts of the Mosque is a Cistern; the Roof of it, which is Brick-work, is supported by twenty three lofty Corinthian Pillars. The Monastery of Studius is now within the Walls of the City, tho’ it formerly stood without it, near the way you go from the Pillar of Arcadius to the Gate of the seven Towers. The Passage of this Gate is at present fill’d up; the Jambs of it are two Corinthian Pillars of spotted Marble, streak’d with green Veins, which sustain eight smaller Pillars, which support three Arches above. On the left Side of the Gate are six Marble Tables, all of which are enclos’d, some with round, some with square Pilasters, upon which are carv’d many fine Statues. They are all of them Naked, of exquisite Workmanship, in a fighting Posture, with Clubs in their Hands, the tallest of which have engrav’d over them winged Cupids. On the right Side of the Gate are six more Tables, enclos’d as the former. Upon the lowest of these there lies a young Man, with his Face upwards, and his Legs folded, holding a musical Instrument in his Hand. There hangs over him a little Figure, in the Likeness of a Cupid, and above the Cupid there rises a Woman. Upon the highest Table there’s carved a naked Statue, with a Club in his Hand; his right Arm is cover’d with a Lyon’s Skin, and with his left Hand he is leading Dogs. Above him is the Statue of a Lyoness with full Dugs. Upon another Table are carv’d two Husbandmen carrying Baskets full of Grapes; and upon another is the Statue of a flying Horse. The Bridle is held by a Woman, behind whom stand two Women more: At the Top of the Table there’s another Woman in a recumbent Posture, and opposite to her a young Man lying on the Ground. I took particular Notice of these Figures, by Reason of the Antiquity, and the admirable Sculpture of them. I saw also upon the seventh Hill, among others, four Mosques of curious Workmanship. Their Vestibules and Pillars were all of Marble. Three of them stood on the Eastern Side of the Hill, two of whose Vestibules were adorn’d with six lofty and large Pillars; two of which were of Thebean Marble, and the other four of different kinds of Marble, vein’d with a dark green. The other stands near the Pillar of Arcadius, lately built by the Consort of Solyman the Grand Seignor, (with a handsome Caravansera, and a College, where the Turkish and Arabian Learning is profess’d) in which I counted more than sixty Pillars of different kinds. On the Top of the Hill there are two other Mosques, one of which has Bagnio’s, and Colleges joyning to it. The Vestibule of it is beautify’d with six Pillars of Thebean Marble, which measure each six Foot in Circumference. Their Bases and Capitals are finish’d after the Turkish Manner. The Shafts of the Pillars are very ancient, especially of those two which face the Door of the Mosque, whose Hypotrachelions at Top are more slender than the Shafts, tho’ in the lower Parts of them, they are equal to them, as a Man’s Neck is less in Circumference near the Head, than the Shoulders. ’Tis adorn’d with one Annulet, which rises in the manner of a Ring. Above it there’s another Annulet, which is broad and flat. I saw no Hypotrachelion, all the Time I was at Constantinople, which came so near the Model of Vitruvius, as this; who delivers it as his Judgment, that the Hypotrachelion ought to be contracted in the upper Part of it, as you may see in his third Book de Ionicis. There’s another Mosque on the same Hill, the Vestibule of which is beautify’d with six very lofty Pillars; in the College Court there are fourteen, and as many in a Portico adjoyning to it.

Chap. X.

Of the Thirteenth Ward of the City, call’d the Sycene Ward, of the Town of Galata, sometimes nam’d Pera

THE Antient Description of the Wards of the City takes Notice, that Galata was formerly a Part of the City. The Thirteenth Ward of New Rome, says the Author, is the Sycene Ward, which is divided from it by a narrow Bay, and preserves an Intercourse with it, by Boats and Shipping. It is seated on the Side of a Hill, except a broad Tract of Land at the Foot of it, which lies upon the Level. Stephanus says, that the Town of Sycæ was situated against New Rome, and that it was call’d in his Time Sycæ Justinianæ, but does not give the Reason why it was call’d so. Probably it was, because Justinian either repair’d or rebuilt it; for which Reasons principally Cities frequently change their Names. I wonder that Procopius never took Notice of this Place, since he has given us an exact Description of all the Edifices of the Bay, call’d the Chrysoceras, which were either built or repair’d by him; unless perhaps the Mistake be in Procopius, by inserting the Word Jucundianæ instead of Justinianæ, when he tells us, that Justinian rebuilt the Palaces of the Suburbs in the Chalcopratia, as also in the Place call’d Sycæ Jucundianæ. If the Fault be not in Procopius, ’tis an Errour of Stephanus, who writes Justinianæ for Jucundianæ. But ’tis plain, that Stephanus wrote long before the Time of Justinian; so that if there be any Blunder, ’tis none of Stephanus, but Hermolaus, a Grammarian of Constantinople, who abridg’d the Commentaries of Stephanus, and dedicated them to Justinian. If I might give my Opinion, I should rather call it Sycæ Justinianæ, than Jucundianæ, because it appears to me it should be so, not only by comparing some Books of Procopius and Justinian which have been publish’d, but also by the Authorities of several MSS. Justinian asserts in his Constitutions, That ’tis agreeable to Equity, if a Corpse be carried to the Grave to a great Distance, that the Deacons attending it, should have some Acknowledgment. He subjoyns a little after, That he is of the same Opinion, if the Corpse be bury’d within the new Walls of the City or this Side of the Sycæ Justinianæ. This is but a small Procession, and it requires not much Time or Pains to walk thither; but, says he, if the Body be carried beyond the Walls of this flourishing City, or beyond any other Stairs, than those which lead to Sycæ – There’s no Occasion to add what follows. I would only have the Reader observe, that the Word πέρασμα which the Latins interpret Terminus, or a Boundary, signifies properly Trajectus, a Ferry, or the Stairs from whence you sail from one Place to another. ’Tis evident, from what I have quoted, that the Town call’d Sycæ is on the other side of the Bay facing Constantinople, altho’ Stephanus has not declar’d against what Part of the City it lies. I observe notwithstanding from the Treatise above mention’d, that the sixth Ward reach’d from the Forum of Constantine to the Ferry against Sycæ, which is now call’d the Ferry of Pera, or Galata. As I would pay a just Regard to the Authorities of some more modern Historians, I hall produce several Testimonies from them. They assert, that Absimarus, the Commander in Chief of the Forces which besieg’d Constantinople, harbour’d in the Port of Sycæ against the City. Evagrius writes, that the Heads of Longinus, and Theodorus, stuck upon Poles, were sent to Constantinople by Johannes a Scythian, and by the Emperor’s Command were fix’d upon the Shore of Sycæ, opposite to Constantinople; a pleasant Spectacle to the Inhabitants of the City! He adds further, That Vitalianus made an Incursion as far as Sycæ, and that when he came to an Anchor there, the Emperor Anastasius sent Marinus an Assyrian Admiral to fight him. Both Fleets prepare for the Engagement; the one facing Constantinople, the other Sycæ. For some Time they kept their Stations; after some small Skirmishes, and Attacks on both Sides, the Fight began near the Places call’d the Vitharia. Vitalianus having lost most of his Men, was forced to bear off, so that there was not the least Appearance of an Enemy in all the Bosporus. Nor am I induc’d to change my Opinion by the Authority of Strabo, who seems to place Sycæ at some Distance from the Bay. The Bosporus, says he, straitning it self from the Promontory into the Measure of five Stadia, or Furlongs, widens at the Harbour plac’d below Sycæ into thirty Furlongs, and from Sycæ to the Chrysoceras it contracts it self again into five Furlongs. Nor would this Opinion any ways contradict what I have said before, if my Author had meant by the Ceras of the Byzantians, what Pliny ’tis plain did, viz. the Bosporian Promontory where Byzantium stood. But Strabo immediately subjoins, that the Ceras was a Bay which was sixty Furlongs in length; and therefore it appears to me, that the Mistake lies either in Cod. Strabon. or in the Historian himself, as is fully evident from the Authority of Dionysius, a very ancient Writer of the History of Constantinople, which was his Native Place. This Author has recorded it, that Sycodes, or Sycæ, is the same Place near the Bay call’d Ceras, where Galata stands at present, as I have more evidently shewn in my Treatise of the Bosporus. The People of Pera therefore are grosly in the wrong, when they tell us, that Pera was first built by the Genoese; when it is plain that Pera was built long before they were suppos’d either to have purchas’d the Town, or to have receiv’d it as a Reward of their Sea-Services, from some Emperor of Constantinople; since Justinian places Sycæ within the Walls of the City, and Agathius assures us, it was enclosed with Walls, when he writes, that the People of Constantinople were in such a Consternation upon the Approach of the Enemy, that the Forces of Justinian were obliged to climb the Walls of Sycæ, to make a more vigorous Defence. Sycæ, by Stephanus, is call’d a City, as it is also by some modern Writers; but more antient Authors, who liv’d before Galata was taken by the Genoese, call it the Cittadel of Galata. They tell us farther, that a Fleet of the Saracens was station’d from the Magnaura to the Cyclobion; and that after it had continu’d two Days in that Station, Part of it was driven by a Storm to the Cittadel of Galata, as far as the Clydion, where the Emperor of Constantinople destroy’d it, from Acropolis, with liquid Fire. Zonaras writes, that when Michael the Emperor was besieged both by Sea and Land, he was so terribly distrest, that he was forc’d to lay a Boom across the Sea from Acropolis, to a small Town on the opposite Shore. There is at this Day a Gate at Galata, which is call’d the Boom-Gate. ’Tis however beyond Dispute, that Galata was more than once enlarg’d by the Genoese: This appears from the Walls, which at several Times they have built about it, being fortified on the East by Double, and on the West by Treble Walls, denoting the gradual Increase of the Town. You may see at present the antient Sycæ, enclos’d in the middle of Galata, situate against the sixth Ward, and the Sycene Ferry, all built on the Side of a Hill, just as ’tis represented in the Antient Description of the Wards, except one broad Piece of Ground, which lies upon a Level on the Shore at the Foot of the Hill. This Tract of Land was at least a hundred Roman Paces broad. For at present, between the Hill and the Bay, there is a Plain to be seen of an equal, if not of a larger Breadth; because, in such a Length of Time, it is widen’d, as may be observ’d daily, by the Abundance of Filth and Nastiness, which is cast about it. To make it subside at the Bottom, the Inhabitants have fix’d wooden Troughs upon Piles, which they drive into the Earth by an Engine, much like a Rammer. By this Means the Plain upon the Shore is enlarg’d, and made more commodious for Havens. But that the Reader may understand more perfectly where the Sycene Ward stood formerly, I will describe the Situation of Galata, as it stands at present.