Kitabı oku: «The Antiquities of Constantinople», sayfa 7

Chap. V.
Of the Statues discover’d on one Side of the Church of St. Sophia

ON the Side of the Church of St. Sophia, says Suidas, were discovered more than seventy Statues of the Grecian Deities, the Figures of the twelve Signs of the Zodiack, and no less than eighty Statues of Christian Princes and Emperors, which, when Justinian had commanded to be placed in several Parts of the City, he built the great Church. I could give the Reader an Account of the Names of these Deities from an unknown Author, who has wrote a Treatise of Constantinople, and the adjacent Countrey; but I have found him faulty in so many of his Narrations, that I cannot depend upon his Authority.

Chap. VI.
Of the Pharo on the Promontory Ceras, and the Mangana

Ammianus Marcellinus writes, that there was built near the Promontory Ceras, a high Watch-Tower, which was call’d Pharos, and was a Guide to the Ships at a great Distance. The Situation of this Pharos, in all Probability, was near the Church of St. Sophia. For from what Part of the City could it spread a more convenient and diffusive Light to those who sail’d out of the Bosporus and the Propontis? Dionysius calls it the Bosporian Promontory, and tells us, that Io, the Daughter of Inachus, provoked by Juno’s Resentment against her, passed over from thence into Asia. The Place call’d the Mangana was their Armoury, where they kept their Ordnance. It stood in the Imperial Precinct, or by it, near the Chops of the Bosporus. The Emperor Constantine, Surnamed Monomachus, built a handsome and large Monastery, which is also call’d Mangana, in Honour of the noble Martyr St. George. Alexius Comnenus, when he was ill of the Gout, was carry’d to the great Palace, which stands in the Eastern part of the City; but when his Physicians judg’d it not to be so wholsome an Air, he was removed into the Palace of the Mangana.

Chap. VII.
Of the Bagnio’s of Zeuxippus and its Statues

THESE Bagnio’s were so call’d, as Cedrinus relates, because they were built in a Place, where formerly had stood the Temple of Jupiter Zeuxippus. This is said of them by Eusebius, who writes, That there are some of Opinion, that the fine Bathing-place at Constantinople took its Name from the famous Painter Zeuxes, whose Pieces adorn’d it. I collect that it stood near the Church of St. Sophia, not only from the Treatise of the ancient Description of the City, which places them both in the same Ward, but also from the Fire which happen’d in the Reign of Justinian, and burnt down, as Procopius observes, the Church of St. Sophia, and the adjacent Buildings, as the Bagnio of Zeuxippus, and the House of Entrance before the Palace; and Zonaras writes, that Severus the Emperor join’d it to the Hippodrom, and built it on the same Spot of Ground, where formerly had stood the Temple of Jupiter. Leontius, a more ancient and judicious Historian, does not join it to the Hippodrom, but makes it to stand near it, as appears by his Verses inscrib’d over a Door of a House, situate between the Zeuxippum and the Hippodrom.

An Inscription of Leontius upon a House call’d the Zeuxippum and the Hippodrom

 
Between Zeuxippus’ cool refreshing Baths,
And the fam’d Hippodrom’s swift Course I stand.
Let the Spectator, when he baths himself,
Or sees the struggling Steed panting for Breath,
Pay a kind Visit, to enhanse his Pleasures;
He’ll find a hearty Wellcome at my Table.
Or if more manly Sports his Mind affects,
Practise the rough Diversions of the Stadia.
 

Cedrinus relates, that in this Bagnio there was a pleasant Variety of Prospects of surprizing Art, both in Marble and Stone-work, in Statues of Brass, and Figures of Persons of Antiquity, who seem’d to want nothing but a Soul to animate and enliven them. Among these celebrated Pieces of the most exquisite Workmanship, was the Statue of old Homer, in a thoughtful Posture, just as he was, his Hands folded in his Breast, his Beard carelessly hanging down, his Hair very thin before, his Face wrinkled with Age, and the Cares of the World; his Nose well proportion’d, his Eyes fix’d in their Sockets, as is usual with blind Persons, which he was generally look’d upon to be. Over his close Coat hung a loose Garment, and under his Feet, upon the Pedestal of the Pillar, was a Bridle in Brass. This Place was also beautify’d with the brazen Statues of all those renown’d Personages who had been famous for Wisdom, Poetry, Oratory or Courage, throughout the World, but were all destroy’d by Fire. Among these were the Statues of Deiphobus, Æschines, Demosthenes, Aristotle, Euripides, Hesiod, Theocritus, Simonides, Anaximenes, Calchas, Pyrrhus, Amymone; of Sappho, Apollo, Venus, Chrysa, Julius Cæsar, Plato, Hermaphroditus, Herinna, Terpander, Pericles, Pythagoras, Stesichorus, Democritus; of Hercules, Aurora, Æneas, Creusa, Helenus, Andromachus, Menelaus, Helena, Ulysses, Hecuba, Cassandra, Polyxena, Ajax, Paris, and his Oenone; of Milo, Dares and Entellus, Charidemus, Melampus, Panthous, Demogeron, Isocrates, Amphiaraus, Sarpedon, Achilles, Mercury, Apuleius, Diana, Pherecydes, Heraclitus, Cratinus, Menander, Amphitryon, Thucydides, Herodotus, Pindar, Xenophon, Alcmæon, Pompey and Virgil. There were also many other Statues which have been describ’d in Verse by Christodorus a Poet of Thebes, or, as others report, a Native of Coptos in Ægypt, which, were it not a Work of Prolixity, I would explain to the Reader. There stood near the Bagnio call’d Zeuxippum, a small Bath, taken Notice of by Leontius in the following Lines:

 
Let not thy stately Walls, O proud Zeuxippum,
Resent the Meanness of this little Bath.
In Heaven’s high Tower, near the Constellation
Of Ursa Major shines the Polar Star.
 

There is nothing of the Zeuxippum remaining at present, nor of many other fine Bagnio’s, although we have many Inscriptions relating to them; as of that famous one celebrated by Agathius, in which Venus is said to have bathed her self; also of another call’d Didymum, in which both Sexes used to wash, describ’d in Verse by Paulus Silentiarius, and a third made memorable by an Inscription of the learned Leontius. Besides these, there was another named Cupido, describ’d by the ingenious Marianus; yet are all of them either entirely ruin’d, or so defaced by the Mahometans, that you cannot discover who built them, or to whom they belong’d.

Chap. VIII.
Of the Hospitals of Sampson and Eubulus

THERE was built, as Procopius says, a Hospital for the Relief of poor and sick People. It was founded in ancient Times by a holy Man, whose Name was Sampson. But it did not escape the Flames, occasion’d by a riotous Mob, which burnt down that and the Church of St. Sophia. It was rebuilt by Julian, who beautify’d and enlarged it with a Multitude of small handsome Apartments, and afterwards endow’d it with a yearly Stipend, for the Support and Comfort of the miserable and distressed. But the good Emperor not being content with this Oblation he had made to God, with the Co-assistance of his Imperial Consort Theodora, built over-against it two other Hospitals on the same Ground, where formerly stood the Houses of Isidorus and Arcadius. Thus far Procopius. From whence I would observe, that the Hospital of Sampson was not far from the Church of St. Sophia, and have read in the History of an unknown Author, that it stood over-against it. I am confirm’d in this Opinion by the Authority of Zonaras, who tells us in the like Manner, that there was a Fire occasion’d by a Faction, which burnt down the great Church, that of St. Irene, the Hospital of Eubulus, the Chalca, the Bagnio of Severus, call’d the Zeuxippum, and many other Buildings. This is farther attested by Cedrinus, who speaking of the same Fire, tells us, That a great Part of the City, the Churches of St. Sophia and St. Irene, the Hospitals of Sampson and Eubulus, with the sick People inhabiting them, as also the Augustean Gate-house of the Basilica, the Chalca, the two Portico’s, as far as the Forum, the Octogon and the Bagnio of Zeuxippus, were destroy’d by Fire. After I had made the former Quotation from the printed Works of Procopius, I lighted by chance upon a Manuscript of him, wherein I was inform’d, that the Hospital of Sampson stood between the two Churches of St. Sophia and St. Irene.

Chap. IX.
Of the Statue of Eudoxia Augusta, for which St. Chrysostom was sent into Banishment

Socrates and Sozomen, Writers of sacred History, tells us, that a Silver Statue of Eudoxia Augusta was erected upon a Porphyry Pillar on the South Side of the Church of St. Sophia, though at some Distance from it, near the Senate-House. The People commonly paid their Homage and Acclamations to this Statue. There were publick Entertainments of Dancing, and other mimical Gestures acted before it, according to a Custom which had long prevail’d, of paying Adoration to the Images of Princes. St. Chrysostom reflecting upon this Practice, as contrary to the Precepts of the Christian Religion, publickly condemn’d it in a Sermon. Eudoxia believing her self to be closely struck at in that Discourse, banish’d him. I should here take Notice of the Miliarium and the Basilica, as being near the Church of St. Sophia, but then I shall invert the Method I proposed to observe.

Chap. X.
Of those Parts of the City which are contain’d in the third Ward

THE third Ward is discover’d to have been that Space of Ground upon which stood the Hippodrom, the House of Abraham Bassa, the Gate of Leo, and the Haven which the Inhabitants call the Caterga Limena, where the Three-oar’d Galleys used to anchor, and so on to the Top of the second Hill, as far as the Forum of Constantine. I made this Observation, not only from the Order the Wards stand in, but also from the Treatise of the Description of the Wards, which says, that the third Ward, at the Entrance of it, is a Level Ground, but in the most remote Part of it, it descends with too great a Declivity into the Sea, and contains the Tribunal of the Forum of Constantine, the Circus Maximus, the House of Pulcheria Augusta, the new Port, and the semicircular Portico, made after the Figure of an old Greek Sigma.

Chap. XI.
Of the Hippodrom, its Obelisk, its Statues, and Columns

Modern Historians, as Zonaras and others, write, that the Hippodrom was built by Severus upon his Reconciliation with the Byzantians. Zosimus, a more ancient Writer tells us, that it was built, and curiously beautified by Constantine the Great, part of which he made the Temple of Castor and Pollux, whose Images remain’d in the Portico’s of the Hippodrom down to his Time; that is, ’till the Reign of Theodosius the Less. In the middle of the Circo, which the Greeks call the Hippodrom, there stood an Obelisk made of Thebaick Stone; but as the ancient Description of the Wards takes no Notice of it, tho’ it does of the Square Thebaick Obelisk in the fifth Ward, I should be inclin’d to believe, that the Obelisk, I am speaking of, was overturn’d by an Earth-quake, and remov’d by Theodosius into the Hippodrom, after that Treatise was wrote, if the Author had not taken notice of many of Theodosius’s Works, and omitted some Things in the Wards, which he afterwards mention’d in his General View of the City. ’Tis very probable, that Constantinople had more Obelisks than one. As to that taken notice of in the fifth Ward, it is not now remaining. When first I arriv’d at Constantinople I saw two of them, one in the Circus Maximus, another in the Imperial Precinct, standing on the North-side of the first Hill. This last was of a square Figure, and was erected near the Houses of the Grand Seignor’s Glaziers. A little time after I saw it lying prostrate without the Precinct, and found it to be thirty five Foot in Length. Each of its Sides, if I mistake not, was six Foot broad, and the whole was eight Yards in Compass. It was purchased by Antonius Priolus, a Nobleman of Venice, who sent it thither, and placed it in St. Stephen’s Market. The other is standing in the Hippodrom to this Day. ’Tis supported by four square broad Pieces of Brass, each a Foot and a half high, with a Base and a Pedestal of the same Height. From the Ground there rise two Steps against the Pedestal, the lowermost of which is a Foot high, and of the same Breadth: The upper Step is two Foot high, and projects four Foot and four Fingers Breadth beyond the Pedestal. The Steps are not laid within the Pedestal, but are join’d to it withoutside, as appears by the Cement. Upon the Steps stands the Pedestal, which is every way twelve Foot broad, four Foot eight Digits in Height and projects beyond the Base a Foot and a half: Somewhat above a Foot higher it is more contracted, and does not project beyond its Base; for from the Top of the Pedestal there’s a Fluting on the four Sides of the Obelisk which is cut out of the same Stone of which the Pedestal is made, and is a Foot and thirteen Digits high. The Corners of the Top of the Pedestal are worn, and defac’d, but are repair’d by four Stones of Thebaick Porphyry Marble, each of them a Foot and a half high; for all the fluted Part of the Pedestal that lies between these four angular Stones, together with the upper Part of it, support the Base, which is seven Foot and thirteen Digits high, and projects a Foot and a half beyond the Bottom of the Shaft of the Obelisk, to the Breadth of nine Foot, and as many Digits: ’Tis carv’d on all Sides, as is also the Pedestal, which is covered with curious Statues cut in Basso Relievo. The Sculptures on the North-side of it, stand in two Ranges, the lowermost of which contains eighteen Statues, and two Cap-stands, which are turn’d round with Iron Crows by four Men, and wind the Ropes, which are drawn through Pullies, round the Cap-stand, and so draw the Obelisk along the Ground. In the same Range is engraved the Obelisk in an upright Posture, as it now stands, with three Statues, one of which, as the Inhabitants tell you, represents the Master, and the other the Servant, whom he design’d to correct, if a third Person had not interposed, because he had erected the Obelisk in his Absence. In the upper Range there are also the Figures of two Cap-stands, with the same Number of Men working them, and labouring with those below them, to drag the Obelisk. The Wreaths of the Ropes in particular, are very nicely cut. If the Reader could apprehend the manner in which this cumbersome Pillar was erected, I believe he would judge it was done the way, as Marcellinus describes. There was nothing wanting, says he, but the Erection of the Obelisk, the Accomplishment of which, without the greatest Danger, could scarcely be conceiv’d. You might see, says he, a vast Wood of Scaffolding made of tall Beams: At the Top of these were fix’d large, and long Ropes, after the manner of Threads in a Weaver’s Loom; which by their Thickness and Closeness to one another, darkned the Air. These Ropes at the Bottom were fastned round the Obelisk, which being leisurely drawn into the Air, many thousands working at the Cap-stands, was at last fix’d upon its Basis. I believe there are at present Engineers at Constantinople, who could do the same thing. I am induc’d to think so, by what I observ’d of a Pillar on the Side of the fifth Hill, which was almost equal in Magnitude to this Obelisk. I saw this Pillar taken off its Basis, and laid upon the Ground in the following manner. Round the Pillar, though at some Distance from it, they fix’d in the Ground near to one another large Poles, much taller than the Pillar, at an equal Distance from each other. At the Top of these Poles, they laid others across them, which were fasten’d to them in the strongest manner, and to which were fix’d the Pullies, through which the Ropes slipp’d, which reach’d from the Bottom of the Shaft of the Pillar to the Top, and were fasten’d to it: The Ropes were so thick, both length-ways and cross-ways, that at some Distance the Scaffolding look’d like a square Tower. There were many Cap-stands on all Sides fix’d in the Ground, which were turn’d by infinite Numbers of the strongest Youth, till they had mov’d it from its Basis, and laid it prostrate with the Earth. They afterwards laid it upon strong Carriages, the Wheels of which were bound with thick Iron, and brought it safe to the third Hill, and set it up as an Ornament to the Mosque of Solyman the Emperor. But to return to the Obelisk; on the West-side of the Pedestal was the following Inscription in Greek:

 
To raise this Four-square Pillar to its Height,
And fix it steddy on its solid Base,
Great Theodosius try’d, but try’d d in vain.
In two and thirty Days, by Proclus’ Skill,
The toilsome Work, with great Applause, was finish’d.
 

And on the other Side was this Inscription in Latin, which was somewhat defac’d, but I could read it, and is as follows:

 
Difficilis quondam dominis parere serenis
Jussus, & extinctis palmam portare Tyrannis.
Omnia Theodosio cedunt, sobolique perenni:
Ter denis sic victus, duobusque diebus,
Judice sub Proclo, sublime elatus ad auras.
 

On the South Side of it there are two Ranges of Statues, the lowermost of which has engrav’d upon it four Chariots, two of which are drawn by a Pair, and the other by four Horses, with a Driver to each of them. In the upper Range are two Equestrian Statues, three Footmen, three Togati, two Obelisks, and four square Pillars. On the North Side of the Basis are engrav’d four Ranges of Figures, which contain thirty five Statues in Gowns. On the West Side there are two Ranges, the lowest of which has nine Statues in a suppliant Posture, making Presents to the Emperor, who stands in the upper Range, with sixteen Statues about him. The South Side has two Ranges; upon the lowest are cut ten Statues in Gowns, in a petitioning manner; the upper contains twenty Statues, all in Gowns, except four in a fighting Posture, arm’d with Bucklers. The East Side, on the lowest part of it, has three Ranges; the lowest Range contains sixteen Statues of Men and Women, dancing and playing upon Instruments of Musick; above which are two Ranges more, in which appear little more than the Heads, which I look upon to be the Spectators. The highest Range has twenty Statues, six of which are divided from the rest by Pillars. The middle Figure holds a Crown in his Hand. Upon the Basis are four square Pieces of Brass carv’d, which being plac’d in a quadrilateral Figure, the whole Obelisk bears upon them. ’Tis engrav’d from Top to Bottom with Ægyptian Characters.

Chap. XII.
Of the Colossus

THERE is yet standing, in the Middle of the Hippodrom, a Colossus made of square Stones, which was formerly (as an injudicious Author writes) incrusted with Marble; but, as appears by an Inscription carv’d upon its Basis, ’twas cover’d with Plates of Brass, cramp’d together with Iron, as appears not only by the Holes made in the Shaft, but by those which still remain in the Base; where the Iron Pins were fasten’d, and strengthen’d with melted Lead. ’Tis now despoil’d of its outward beauteous Appearance; and discovers only the Workmanship of its Inside, as having felt the Effects of the Avarice and Rapine of the Barbarians. This was also the Fate of the Colossus at Rhodes, which was demolish’d by the Hagarens in the Reign of Constans, Nephew of Heraclius, thirteen hundred Years after it was erected. ’Twas purchas’d afterwards by one Emesenus a Jew, and the Brass, when strip’d off, was of so considerable a Weight, that it was carried off by Nine hundred Camels. Upon the Base of the Colossus at Constantinople, are inscrib’d the following Verses;

 
Fam’d Constantine, Romanus’ Princely Son,
(Who wore with Honour the Imperial Crown)
This lofty Pile, by Time decay’d, repair’d;
And join’d fresh Beauty to her Builder’s Art.
 

This Colossus at the Base of it, has three Steps. The lowest is two Foot high, the next a Foot and two Digits, and the uppermost of the same Height. The Basis is a square Marble, seven Foot and three Digits high, each Side of which is ten Foot and nine Inches broad. This Colossus is taller than the Obelisk. One Day, being the Festival of the Circumcision of the Prince of Boldania, I saw an ingenious Fellow of a Mountebank climb to the Top of it, and come down safe. The same Attempt was immediately made by another, who made a Shift to reach the Top of it, but the Height so dazzled and confounded him, that, despairing of getting down without Hurt, he threw himself, with all his Might, as far as he could from the Colossus, to avoid the Danger of being dash’d to pieces upon the Foundation; so that falling down right upon his Feet, he stuck deep in the Earth, and dy’d upon the Spot.