Kitabı oku: «The Antiquities of Constantinople», sayfa 21
The Sixth Ward
THE sixth Ward, upon the Entrance of it, is a short Piece of level Ground, all the rest is upon the Descent; for it extends itself from the Forum of Constantine to the Stairs, where you ferry over to Sycæna. It contains the Porphyry Pillar of Constantine; the Senate-house in the same Place; the Neorian Port; the Stairs of Sycæna; twenty two Streets; four hundred and eighty four great Houses; one large Portico; nine private Baths; one publick, and seventeen private Mills; it has also one Curator, one Vernaculus; forty nine Collegiati, and five Vico-Magistri.
NOTES
The Porphyry Pillar of Constantine.] This Pillar stood in the Forum of Constantine, which was pav’d with square Stones. Zonaras, speaking of Nicephorus Phocas the Emperor, has this Passage: The People curse Nicephorus even to the pav’d Forum, in which is erected the round Porphyry Pillar. Cedrinus in his History tells us, that Constantine in the twenty fourth Year of his Reign, built a Forum with two Rostrums, or Pleading Desks made in the form of Pulpits, and that he plac’d in the Forum, a Pillar which he brought from Rome. It was one solid Piece of Porphyry Marble, and was bound with three Fasciæ, or Wreaths of Brass round it, with Inscriptions upon them. On the Top of it he erected his own Statue, with this Inscription, CONSTANTINUS. It blazed like the Sun, was made by the famous Phidias, and was brought from Athens. Upon the Pedestal of the Pillar were carved in Basso Relievo, the seven and twelve Baskets of Fragments, which were taken up in the Miracles of the Loaves and Fishes, and beneath were inscribed the following Verses.
To thee, O Saviour, Lord of th’ Universe,
Who rulest the unmeasurable Globe
With 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 the mighty Force and Pow’r of Rome.
Let thy good Providence with watchful Eye
Look down, and guard the City from all Ills.
Zonaras mentions the same Thing, tho’ in different Words. He placed, says he, meaning Constantine, the round Porphyry Pillar which he brought from Rome, in the Forum, paved with square Stones. For this Reason it was called by the Greeks Πλακότον. At the Top of the Pillar he placed his own Statue in Brass, which for its Largeness, and the Exquisiteness of its Work, was scarce to be matched in the whole World, as being finished to the Life, by an antient and eminent Statuary. It was thought that it was originally designed for Apollo, and brought from Troy; but Constantine gave it his own Name, making some Alteration by fattening some of those Nails in the Head of it, with which the Jews crucified the Lord of Life. This Statue continued standing upon the Pillar till very lately, when in the Reign of Alexius Comnenus, it was thrown down by an Earthquake, and crushed some People to Death. Nicephorus in the Fourth Book, Chap. 8. of his Eccles. Hist. gives a better Description of it. He built, says he, a large Porphyry Pillar, upon which he placed his own Statue, holding in his right Hand a Globe, with a Cross fixed upon it. By this Symbol he intimated, that by Virtue of that invincible Trophy the Cross, the whole Earth and Sea was subject to his Power. Gyllius writes, that this Pillar was made of eight Stones, and that at the Joints of it, it was covered round with Wreathed Laurels made of Brass, so that you could not perceive where it was cemented; but that upon the Removal of the Brass-work, you might easily discern that it was a jointed Structure, and that the Number of the Stones might be plainly seen. This Pillar is eighty six Foot high, besides the Basis, the Steps, and the Pedestal.
The Senate-House, in the same Place.] This Building stood on the North Side of the Forum of Constantine. The Senators and principal Men of the City used to assemble here upon publick Affairs, and the Emperor took upon him in this Place the Consular Habit. It was curiously beautified with Brass, and Porphyry Marble. Zonaras, and Cedrinus tell us, that in the Reign of Leo the Great, it was destroyed by Fire.
The Neorian Port.] This was the Haven, or Dock, where they built their shipping, from whence the Gate, which hands near it, is called by some Writers, the Gate of the Neorium; but by Zonaras, and Cedrinus, as will appear in my Notes upon the twelfth Ward, it was called Porta Aurea, the gilded or beautiful Gate. Some have given it the Name of the Imperial Gate, because it joins to the Palace.
The Stairs of Sycæna.] These are the Stairs upon the Shore, from whence you go off to a neighbouring Island called Sycæna but which at present is called Pera. In the Creek here, there are many Thousand small Boats, more in Number than at Venice. They are generally called Ferry-boats, because they carry their Fare to and fro’ across the River.
One large Portico.] This Portico reached as far as the Forum of Constantine, and was burnt down in a tumultuous Manner, in the Reign of Justinian.
The Seventh Ward
THE seventh Ward, if compared with the former, lies more upon the Level, although at the Extremity on one Side of it, it falls with a greater Declivity into the Sea. It stretches its self with very long Portico’s, from the right Hand of the Pillar of Constantine, to the Forum of Theodosius; as it does also on another Side of it as far as the Sea, by Portico’s extended in the same Manner. It contains in it three Churches, that of St. Irene; St. Anastasia, and St. Paul; the Pillar of Theodosius, which you ascend on the Inside by Winding Stairs; two large Equestrian Statues; Part of the Forum of Theodosius; the Bagnio’s of Corosia; eighty five Streets; seven hundred and eleven great Houses; six large Portico’s; eleven private Baths; twelve private Mills; and sixteen Gradus. It is governed by one Curator, has one Vernaculus, eighty Collegiati, and five Vico-Magistri.
NOTES
The Church of St. Irene.] This Church stood in a Street of this Ward, which was called Taurus. It was called the Church of St. Irene, i. e. of Peace; and which, as Socrates and Cedrinus inform us, was built by Constantine the Great, and burnt down in the Reign of Justinian.
The Church of St. Anastasia.] The Reliques of St. Anastasia, in the first Year of Leo the Great, were brought from Syrmium to Constantinople, and reposited in this Church which was built by the Catholicks, because St. Gregory Nazianzen had there revived the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, or as Sozomen reports, because a Woman big with Child falling from a Gallery over the Church-porch died upon the Spot, and revived by the Prevalency of the Prayers of the Congregation.
But it seems to me more agreeable to Truth, that there were at Constantinople two Churches which went under this Name: One was the Church of the Novatians, which was pull’d down by the Arians, and which was afterwards rebuilt by them, as Sozomen observes, Lib. IV. Cap. 19, and was therefore call’d the Church of St. Anastasia. The other was so call’d, from the Revival of the Doctrine of the Trinity, just mentioned. The Church here meant was anciently the House of Nicobulus, where St. Gregory Nazianzen was hospitably entertained by him, as appears in his Oration to the Hundred and fifty Bishops. This House was afterwards made a Church, and became a most magnificent Basilica. But Sozomen tells us, Lib. V. Cap. 5. That the Church was so called for the Reason above-mentioned. Martian, one of the Principal, and most wealthy Citizens, built there a large and beautiful Church. The Reliques of Anastasia, were reposited there, because the Church bore her Name.
The Pillar of Theodosius, which is ascended on the Inside by Winding Stairs.] Zonaras, in his Life of Justinian, writes concerning this Pillar as follows: In the seventeenth Year of his Reign, says he, the great Pillar placed before the Porch of the great Church was finished, upon which he placed his own Statue on Horseback. In the same Place had stood formerly the Pillar of Theodosius, supporting a silver Statue, made at the Cost of his Son Arcadius. This Statue was seven Thousand four hundred Pound in Weight. Justinian took down the Statue, and demolished the Pillar, and laid them both up; so that the Statue, with the Stones of the Pillar, is to be seen at this Day. As the Treatise, I am, upon was wrote when this Pillar was standing, it must of Consequence be wrote before the Time of Justinian. Cedrinus, in his Life of Zeno, speaks of this Pillar in another Manner, or else he is speaking of another Pillar. In the Street called Taurus, says he, Theodosius the Great erected a Pillar, on which was carved the History of his Battles with the Scythians, and the Trophies of his Success. This Pillar, continues he, has Winding-Stairs within it. At the Top of it, in a Place where two Ways meet, sat Theodosius on Horseback, with his right Hand stretched towards the City, and pointing downwards to the Trophies carved upon it. This Pillar, with the Statue, was thrown down by an Earthquake in the fourth Year of the Reign of Zeno the Emperor. The same Historian, speaking of Anastasius, says, that he ordered to be melted down many of the Statues, and other Curiosities set up by Constantine the Great, out of which his own Statue was made, which he placed upon the Pillar in the Taurus. For before the Statue of Theodosius the Great was placed there, the Pillar of Anastasius was thrown down, and dashed to Pieces by an Earthquake.
Two large Equestrian Statues.] One of these was the Statue of Theodosius the Great. The other is unknown.
The Bagnio’s of Corosia.] These Bagnio’s took their Name from Corosia, the Daughter of Valens the Emperor, as Sozomen observes in the Ninth Chapter of his Sixth Book. Martian, says he, a Man of consummate Learning, and great Austerity of Life, who had formerly been one of the Emperor’s Life-Guard, but at that Time a Priest, was a Novatian, and Tutor to Anastasius and Corosia, the Son and Daughter of Valens, in the Rudiments of Grammar. He adds, that there were some Bagnio’s at Constantinople that were named from them.
The Eighth Ward
THE eighth Ward, on the Side of the Taurus, is not bounded by the Sea, and may be looked upon to be rather a narrow, than a broad Piece of Ground; yet is this Defect sufficiently amended by its great Length. It contains part of the Forum of Constantine, a Portico on the left Side of it, reaching as far as the Taurus; the Basilica of Theodosius; the Capitol; twenty two Streets; a hundred and eight spacious Houses; five large Portico’s; fifteen private Baths; five private Mills; five Gradus, and two Flesh Markets. It has one Curator, one Vernaculus, seventeen Collegiati, and five Vico-Magistri.
NOTES
This Ward is wholly encompassed by the Land, and contains part of the Taurus, which was a Street of Constantinople. Zonaras in his Life of Nicephorus Botoniates, takes Notice of it, and tells us, that it contained Part of the Forum of Constantine, a Portico on the left Side of it, reaching as far as the Taurus, the Basilica of Theodosius, and the Capitol: In such magnificent Buildings, more especially, did Constantinople much resemble Old Rome.
The Ninth Ward
THE ninth Ward is all a Declivity, and bounded by the Sea. It contains the two Churches of Cænopolis, and Omonæa; the Granaries of Alexandria; the House of the most illustrious Arcadia; the Bagnio’s of Anastasia; the Granaries of Theodosius; sixteen Streets; a hundred and sixteen great Houses; two large Portico’s; fifteen private Baths; fifteen private, and four publick Mills. ’Tis governed by one Curator, one Vernaculus, thirty eight Collegiati, and five Vico-Magistri.
NOTES
The two Churches of Cænopolis, and Omonæa.] I am of Opinion, that the first of these Churches took its Name from some Place in the City. Perhaps it was call’d so from a Spring without the Porta Aurea, which had made the Ground foul, and oozy. Leo, before he came to the Government, as the Story goes, anointed the Eyes of a blind Man with the Dirt of that Place, and he recover’d his Sight. When he arriv’d afterwards to the Imperial Dignity, he dedicated a Church to the Virgin Mary, who foretold his Accession to the Government. Nicephorus, in Lib. XV. Cap. 25. Hist. Ecclesiast. (and Procopius confirms it) says, that in the Suburbs, which was called Fons, or the Spring, Justinian repair’d the Church of the Blessed Virgin. The other Church is call’d Ὁμόνοια, or the Church of Concord; because, probably in the Times of Heathenism, the Temple of Concord stood there; as there were no less than three such Temples at Rome. One of which was dedicated to her by M. Furius Camillus, upon a Suppression of a Military Tumult; the second by M. Manlius Prætor, upon quelling such another Tumult in Gaul; and the third in the Forum Romanum, near the Græcostasis, by L. Opimius the Consul, upon the Defeat of Gracchus and his Party, in Opposition to the strongest Resentments of the People; so that the Inscription over this Temple was Opus Vecordiæ, and not Concordiæ. There was also another Temple dedicated to Concord, which was either built, or repair’d by Livia Augusta, as is observed by St. Austin. Lib. III. Cap. 2. de Civit. Dei. One of these Temples was repaired by Constantine for Christian Worship, as is evident from an antient Inscription in the Lateran.
The Granaries of Alexandria.] There were yearly carried from Alexandria to Constantinople, eight Millions of Medimni of Wheat, (each Medimnus of Attick Measure consisted of six Bushels) for which the Masters of the Ships by an Edict of Justinian, received the Sum of ninety Thousand Aurei. There was antiently rais’d by Order of the Senate, and the principal Inhabitants, the Sum of six hundred and eleven Pounds in Gold, which was lodged in the Hands of the Prefect of the City, for purchasing Provision; to which the Emperor added another Import, for purchasing Corn from Alexandria, Lib. III. Cod. Theod. de Frumen. Urb. Constan. This Corn, when brought to Constantinople, was laid up in Granaries, which were therefore called the Granaries of Alexandria.
The House of the most illustrious Arcadia.] This Lady, as Cedrinus relates, was the Daughter of Arcadius. She had another House in the tenth Ward. Arcadius had by the Empress Eudocia, three Daughters, Pulcheria, Marina, and Arcadia, who all lived in a State of Celibacy.
The Bagnio’s of Anastasia.] These Bagnio’s were so call’d from Anastasia, the Daughter of Valens, as others were from her Sister Carosia abovementioned. Marcellinus, in his Seventeenth Book observes, that these Bagnio’s took their Name from Anastasia. Paulas Diaconus tells us in his Thirteenth Book, that there’s a very large House in Constantinople called Carya, which signifies a Nut: For, says he, there stands in the Porch of this House a Nut-tree, on which, as the Report goes, St. Achatius suffered Martyrdom. Upon this Account, there is also an Oratory built in the same Place. Procopius also mentions a Man, who went to the Bagnio’s of Anastasia, which took their Name, says he, from the Sister of Constantine.
The Tenth Ward
THE tenth Ward, on the other Side of the City, is divided from the ninth by a broad Way, yet is it much more upon the Level; nor is it, in any Part of it uneven, but near the Sea Shore. ’Tis of a proportionable Length and Breadth, and contains in it; the Church of St. Achatius; the Bagnio’s of Constantine; the House of Augusta Placidia; the House of Augusta Eudocia; the House of the most illustrious Arcadia; a large Nympheum; twenty Streets; six hundred and thirty six great Houses; six large Portico’s; twenty two private Baths; two publick, and sixteen private Mills; and twelve Gradus. It has one Curator, one Vernaculus, ninety Collegiati, and five Vico-Magistri.
NOTES
The Church of St. Achatius.] This good Man suffered Death at Constantinople, as I just observed, upon a Nut-tree, which Nicephorus says, remained in the Middle of the Church, sacred to his Memory in the Reign of Arcadius, though he was martyr’d in the Time of Dioclesian an hundred Years before. For, speaking of Procopius the Tyrant, The Church, says he, which was demolished with Age, was rebuilt, and beautified by Justinian. And Procopius the Historian tells us in Lib. de Ædif Just. That Justinian rebuilt it from the Ground, and that it cast such a Lustre, that it struck the Spectators with Admiration, its Marble being very glossy, and white as Snow. He adds farther, that this Church was called the Martyrdom of St. Achatius, because he was buried there, which happened on the sixth of May.
The Bagnio’s of Constantine.] Gyllius says they were the Bagnio’s of Constantius, and which, indeed, are often mentioned by Sozomen, Socrates, and Suidas; but ’tis more probable that these Bagnio’s were built by Constantine, who was indefatigable in beautifying the City with many Decorations.
The House of Placidia Augusta.] This Lady was the Daughter of Theodosius the Less, who afterwards resided in Italy, with her Brother Honorius.
The House of Augusta Eudocia.] She was the most learned Woman of her Age, and wrote the Life of Christ in Greek Hexameters, after the Manner of Homer. At last being suspected by her Husband of Adultery, and divorc’d, she went to Jerusalem, but upon the Death of Theodosius, as Zonaras and Nicephorus write, returned again to Constantinople.
The Eleventh Ward
THE eleventh Ward, much wider in Compass than the former, is, in no part of it, bounded by the Sea. The whole of it, level and rising Ground, contains, the Church of the Apostles; the Palace of Flacilla; the House of Augusta Pulcheria; the Brazen Bull; the Cistern of Arcadius; the Cistern of Modestus; five hundred and three great Houses; four large Portico’s; fourteen private Baths; one publick, and three private Mills; and seven Gradus. It has one Curator; one Vernaculus; thirty seven Collegiati, and five Vico-Magistri.
NOTES
The Church of the Apostles.] Cedrinus and Eusebius write, that this Church was rebuilt by Constantine. Eusebius, Lib. IV. Cap. 58. de Vita Const. says, that to perpetuate the Memory of the Apostles, he began to build a Church, in the City called after his own Name. When he had built the Church to a very great Height, he beautify’d it with Stones of all Kinds, and inlay’d it with Variety of the most delicate Marble, from the Pavement to the Top of the Church; and having closed the Roof with Arches of the best Workmanship, he gilded it over. The Top of the Church, on the Outside of it, was cover’d with Brass, to secure it from the Violence of the Weather, part of which was also gilded; so that the amazing Splendour of it, reflected the Rays of the Sun to a very great Distance. The inward part of the Church he cover’d with Net-work, which was artificially made of Brass and Gold. Thus beautifully was the Church adorn’d by the great Care and Application of the Emperor. Before it stood a spacious Court, with an open Gallery round it. The Church and the Gallery were wholly surrounded with Portico’s. The Palace, the Bagnio’s, the Walks, and many Houses built for the Accommodation of those who look’d after them, had all of them the Conveniency of some Portico. In this Church was laid the Body of Constantine, in a golden Chest, the twelve Apostles standing round his Tomb. This is attested by Socrates. This Church was afterwards rebeautified by Justinian. For Procopius, Lib. de Ædif. Just. speaks of it thus: There was, says he, an ancient Church at Constantinople, just sinking with Age. This Church, for the Reverence he bore to it, was repair’d by Justinian, where the Masons and Workmen found three wooden Chests or Coffins, which proved by their Inscriptions, that the Bodies of St. Luke, St. Andrew and Timothy, were interr’d there, and which were viewed by Justinian, and the Christians of those Times, with the greatest Admiration.
The Palace of Flacilla.] If we read it Falcilla, it is meant of another Daughter of Arcadius; if Placilla, she was the Wife of Theodosius the Great, whom Paulus Diaconus calls Flacilla.
The Brazen Bull.] This Bull, Cedrinus writes, was brought from Troy. There was, says he, a Stove in which St. Antipas the Martyr was burnt to Death. Some are of Opinion, that this Stove was the Brazen Bull here mention’d, which was invented by Perillus, who was forced to undergo the same Torment by Phalaris, a cruel Tyrant of Agrigentum. Zonaras relates, that Phocas the Tyrant was burnt in a Bull, i. e. in a brazen Stove made in the Shape of a Bull, brought from Pergamus, which Place gave its Name to a Place near Constantinople.
The Cistern of Modestus.] Modestus was first chief Governour of the East, and was afterwards, Præfectus Prætorio, or General of the Life-Guard to Valens. As he was an Arian, he persecuted the Catholicks. Afterwards he was recovered from a dangerous Illness by the Prayers of St. Basil, as ’tis recorded by Gregory Nazianzen in his Funeral Oration upon him. I take this to be the same Person who built the Cistern here mention’d.
