The Antiquities of Constantinople

Chap. III.

Of the Sixth Hill, and the Fourteenth Ward

THE Author of the Description of the Wards relates, that the fourteenth Ward, though it is looked upon as a Part of the City, yet because it is divided from the other Wards by an intermediate Space of Land, and enclosed with its own Walls, makes the Figure of a small City by it self; and adds, among other Particularities, that the Entrance of it, at the Gate, is somewhat upon the Level; but the right Side of it, rising into an Ascent, almost to the Middle of the broad Way, falls into a deep Ascent, and contains a Church, the Palace, &c. It is very probable, one would think, or at least it looks to be so, that any one who had never seen Constantinople, could learn from this Description in what Part of the City stood the fourteenth Ward. But since, nothing of the antient Buildings are remaining there at present, no not so much as the Bridge, or the very Channel of the River; there is some Room for Enquiry, where was the Place of its Situation. For I am entirely ignorant of the Gate whence its Entrance begins, which is somewhat upon the Level. It is possible that I might also discover the Situation of it, if I knew where the right Side of the Ward was, which rose into an Ascent. ’Tis plain that this Ward did not stand on the fifth Hill from hence, that the Author tells us, that it was divided from other Wards by some intermediate Space. Had this Ward been divided from other Wards by a small Tract of Land only, it had been very injudicious in the Inhabitants to have enclosed it with a Wall by it self, when it stood so near the Walls of the City. I would observe farther, that ’tis inconceivable that there could be any Bridge on the fifth, sixth, or seventh Hills of the City, or without the Walls of the City; nor is there any Valley running between the fifth or the third Hill, where there’s any Bridge, or any Water, unless it can be imagined that it had any small Creek, which is now filled up, with a Bridge over it. If it could be supposed that there formerly stood any Bridge beyond the sixth Hill, in the Street called Avasarius, we could conclude it to be no other than what was built over the Bay of Ceras, near which are still seen the Piles of a Bridge. And in all Probability the sixth Hill was wholly inhabited, by Reason of the Nearness and Goodness of its Roads from Thrace. This is the more probable, if it be considered, that the Suburbs called the Hepdomum, were seated on the sixth Hill, which excited Theodosius the Less, by Reason of its Nearness to Constantinople to enlarge the Walls of the City.

Chap. IV.

Of the Hepdomum, a Part of the Suburbs; of the Triclinium of Magnaura; of the Cyclobion; of the Statue of Mauritius, and his Armory; and of the Place called the Cynegium

THE Suburbs, call’d the Hepdomum, stood upon the third Hill, which is now enclosed within the Walls of the City. This is plain from the Situation of the Church of St. John Baptist, whom, even at this Time, the Greeks call the Πρόδρομος, or Fore-runner of our Saviour. This Church is seated on the Eastern Side of the City. ’Tis almost entirely demolished by the Mahometans, and nothing of it remains but a few Marble Pillars, expecting the last Effort of their Sacrilege. This was a costly and magnificent Building, as appears, among other Tokens, from the Cistern of Bonus, which was built by a Nobleman of that Name, and seated a little above it. It was three hundred Paces long; its Roof and Columns are entirely ruined, and its Situation at present is turned into a Garden. Sozomen says, that Theodosius the Great brought over the Head of St. John Baptist, from a Village call’d Coslaus, near Pantichium, in Chalcedon, and placed it before Constantinople in the Hepdomum, and there built a large and handsome Church to the Honour of God. The same Author attests, that Theodosius, when he marched his Army against Eugenius, as soon as he came out of the City, offered his Prayers to God, in St. John Baptist’s Church, which he had built in the Hepdomum. Procopius pays too great a Compliment to Justinian, when he reports him to have built this Church in the forementioned Suburbs. Zonaras tells us, that in the Reign of Constantine surnamed Pogonatus, the Hagarens besieged the City with a numerous Fleet, which extended itself from the Promontory situated in the Hepdomum Westward, as far as the Cyclobion. Other Historians mention the same Thing; namely, that they had their Station from the said Promontory, or the Triclinium of Magnaura, as far Easterly as the Palace call’d Cyclobion. From which Passage I would observe by the By, that Magnaura was a Place in the Hepdomum. Cedrinus asserts, that Philip of Macedon, built there a round Solar, and placed in the Court of it his own Statue, and built an Armory there. Others write, that Mauritius the Emperor built the Triclinium of Magnaura, and that he erected his Statue, and built the Armory there. Over the Triclinium are inscribed these Verses;

Upon the Triclinium of MagnauraHeraclius and his Son Constantine,With Conquest crown’d, and loaden with Success,Under th’ auspicious Influence of the Cross,Built, with surprizing Speed, this beauteous Structure.

The Cistern of Magnaura, which stood near the Palace, was demolished by Heraclius; and, as Cedrinus relates, was afterwards cleansed, and rebuilt by Order of Philip, King of Macedon. Some attest, if not consistently with Truth, yet more appositely, that the Emperor Anastasius, when he was expiring at that Place, by a terrible Storm of Wind, Lightning and Thunder, cried out with a loud Voice; Magnâ perimus aurâ. Pulcheria the Sister of Theodosius the Less, being removed from the Administration of the Government, retired into the Hepdomum, and lived privately. Zonaras relates, that Nicephorus the Emperor, surnamed Phocas, as he came near to the City, was received by the Prasine Faction, with great Acclamations, and that he was crowned Emperor in the Hepdomum by the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Reason why those Suburbs are called the Hepdomum, is taken from the Number Seven, which was formerly the Number of them. They retained their antient Names, even after they were inclosed within the City. Procopius has it, that Justinian, in that Ward, which ought to be called the Second, built a Church to St. Anne. An unknown Writer of the Empire of Constantinople gives a Reason why it may be called the Second. In the Place, says he, called the Second, there stood the Statue of Justinian Rhinometus. Bardus Cæsar Michael, the Grandfather of Theophilus, demolished and broke it to Pieces. This Place is called the Second, because when Justinian was banished by Leo the Patrician to Cherso, after he had continued there ten Years, he applied himself to Terbelus, King of the Bulgarians, whose Daughter Theodora he married. The King gave him an Army, which he marched against Constantinople to recover his Empire. But the Inhabitants denying him Entrance, he privately stole into the City through the Passage of an Aqueduct to a Place where was still remaining the Foundation of a Pillar he had set up, and which his Adversary had destroyed. Having recovered his Dominions a second Time, he erected there a second Pillar, and built in the same Place a Church, which was dedicated to St. Anne. But, as I observed a little before, Procopius relates, that Justinian built this Church in the second Ward, where, I am of Opinion, before the Reign of Theodosius the Less, who built the Walls of the City, stood the Suburbs of the seventh Hill, that is, according to Cedrinus and others, in the twelfth Ward. There were, say these Writers, most dreadful Earthquakes, which overturned the Wall of the City in the Exacionion, and levell’d many beautiful Houses and magnificent Churches in the Porta Aurea of the City; and add that in the second Ward, the Shock was felt as far as St. Anne’s Church. I mentioned this Observation to many of mine Acquaintance, lest any one should imagine that the δεύτερον χώριον was one of the fourteen Wards mentioned in the Treatise, entitled, an Antient Description of Constantinople. I am surprized that Procopius, who was so exact in describing so many Buildings of the City, never mentions them, since they are taken Notice of by Justinian in his Constitutions. There’s a Church situate on the seventh Hill, between the Palace of Constantine, and the Adrianopolitan Gate, which though for many Ages it stood within the Walls, yet on three Sides of it, it formerly stood without the Walls of the City, as it was customary to build the Greek Churches. There’s a Portico runs round it. The Walls of it within are incrusted with square Pieces of several Kinds of Marble, the Fissures of which are covered from Top to Bottom with Modules of Astragals, some of which are adorned with Berries, and others are work’d round without them. Above these Incrustations rise three Fasciæ, and three Ornaments resembling an Astragal, two of which are round, and the uppermost of them is of a square Figure. Higher yet are three Fasciæ, above these are the Dentils, and over the Dentils, a Corinthian Foliage. It will evidently appear from what I shall mention hereafter, that the Suburbs called the Hepdomum, were in the fourteenth Ward of the City, where also stood a Palace. There remains at present, out of many antient Palaces, not so much as the Name of one of them, except that seated on the seventh Hill, which is called the Palace of Constantine, besides a few Pillars, and a Cistern in which the Grand Signor’s Elephants are stabled. In the Plain upon the Shore, situate at the Foot of the sixth Hill Eastward, is the Palatine Gate called Cynegion. Without the Gate is a fine Growth of Plane-Trees. Near the Gate, within the Wall, were formerly three large Arches, now fill’d up, through which the Inhabitants used to sail their Three-oar’d Galleys, into a Creek built within the City for the Conveniency of the neighbouring Palace. This Creek is now entirely ruin’d, and turn’d into a Garden. The Cynegion, according to modern Writers, is a Place of some Note, so that even Suidas himself thought it not impertinent to insert in his Lexicon the following Story. Criminals, says he, condemned to dye were thrown into the Cynegion, which was adorned with some Statues. Theodorus, the Town-Clerk, going thither with Imerius Keeper of the Records, saw a short, but a very thick Statue. Look upon the Man, says Imerius, meaning himself, who built the Cynegion. I returned in Answer, that Maximinus built it, and that Aristides measured out the Ground; when immediately one of its Pillars fell, which crushed Imerius to Pieces, so that he died on the Spot. Being terrified at the Sight, I hastened to the Church, where I told what had happened. I attested the Fact with an Oath to those who questioned the Relation. Some of the Emperor’s Domesticks and Servants, when their Attendance was over, walked with me to the Place. Being surprized at the Death of Imerius, and the Fall of the Pillar, a certain Philosopher named Johannes, told ’em, that he had discovered from a small Animal, that a Man of some Note should dye. Philip of Macedon believing him, ordered the little Creature to be bury’d in the Place, where this Accident happened. Justinus the Third commanded Tiberius and Leontius, after they had reign’d three Years, to have their Chains taken off, ty’d Body to Body, dragged thro’ the Forum and the Theatre by Horses; and after he had trampled upon the Necks of them, he ordered them to be slain in the Cynegion, in the Sight of the People. I look upon this Theatre to be that which was called Theatrum Venatorium. For as there was such a Theatre at Rome, so there was at Constantinople. For Procopius reports, that the Theatres, Hippodroms, and the Cynegia, were greatly neglected, and fell to Ruine, thro’ the Avarice of Justinian.

Chap. V.

Of the Blachernæ, the Triclinium of the Blachernæ, the Palace, the Aqueduct and many other Places of Antiquity

THE Author of the Book entitled, The antient Description of the Wards attests, that there stood in the fourteenth Ward, a Church, but does not name it; nor does he take Notice of the Blachernæ, although it was called so before the taking of Constantinople by Severus, as I shall immediately make appear. The Blachernæ stood without the Walls, not only in the Time when that Book was wrote, but even in the Reign of Justinian, who, as Procopius writes, built a Church, which he dedicated to the Virgin Mary, before the Walls of the City, in a Place called the Blachernæ. The Spectator, says he, when he enters this Church, will admire its large and bulky Building, yet secure from the Danger of falling by the Strength of its Foundation. You may behold in it, adds he, a stately Magnificence, without any Mixture of Gaiety, and too much Embellishment. ’Tis my Opinion, that Justinian only repaired this Church: For Zonaras reports, that Pulcheria, the Wife of Marcian, built a Church in the Blachernæ, and dedicated it to the Virgin Mary. Pomponius Lætus tells us, that this Church was built by Theodosius. Cedrinus writes, that Justin the Nephew of Justinian, added two Arches to the Church in the Blachernæ. So that ’tis plain from what Procopius has wrote upon this Occasion, that the Blachernæ stood without the Walls of the City, as it is no less evident from the Testimony of Agathius. When the barbarous Nations, says he, approached Constantinople, by the Permission of Justinian, all the Churches situate without the Walls, from the Blachernæ to the Black-Sea, were stripp’d of their Armaments, which were kept within the City. There is at present to be seen, near the Gate called Xylon, and the Western Angle of the City, between the Foot of the sixth Hill, and the turning of a Mosque, situate within the City, (which the People say was dedicated to the Virgin Mary) a Spring now running, which the Greeks tell us was consecrated to her. The Place, where the Spring is, is call’d the Blachernæ. Upon my first coming to Constantinople, some Remains of it were to be seen, but now there nothing appears even of its Ruines. From the Bottom of the sixth Hill, which rises above the Church in the Blachernæ, there shoots an Aqueduct with two Pipes; one of which is stopp’d with a Cock, and the other flows in a constant Stream. I took Notice before, that Andronicus the Emperor brought this Aqueduct from the River Hydrales, into the Ward of the Blachernæ, where there was no River Water till his Time. The Emperor Anastasius built the great Triclinium in the Blachernæ, which went under his Name, even in the Time of Suidas. Zonaras, and others assure us, that the Emperor Tiberius built the publick Bath in the Blachernæ. ’Tis certain from some modern Histories, that there was in the Time of Zonaras, even down to the Reign of Manuel the Emperor, an Imperial Palace in that Place. The Reason why ’tis called the Blachernæ, is mentioned by Dionysius a Byzantian, in his Navigation of the Bosporus, from whom I shall just touch upon some Places described by him, which reach from the Foot of the fifth Hill, to the furthermost Angle of the City, and the sixth Hill. Beyond Mellacopsas, says he, (this, I took Notice of before, was at the Foot of the fifth Hill) there are two Places which afford good Sport in Fishing, all the Year. One upon the Shallows under the Promontories, the other under the deep hollow Shores which are never ruffled by the Wind. The first of these is called Indigenas, from some great Man who was a Native there; the other Pyracius, from Pyræus, a Port of Athens; or as some believe, from some antient Inhabitant. There’s a Place between them called Cittos, from the great Plenty of Ivy it produces. There is also a steep Place called Camara, which adjoins that of Pyracius. ’Tis much exposed to the Wind, and therefore often feels the Roughness of the Sea. Thence, up higher, stands Thalassa, which is the Boundary of the Ceratine Bay, where the Rivers begin to flow into it. ’Tis thus called, either by Reason of their Nearness to the Sea, whose Salt Waters they mingle with their Freshness, or because it stands steddy, and more out of the Wind; or rather, because the constant Influx of the Rivers into it, brings down daily a muddy Substance into the Sea, which very much thickens it; though it serves for Nourishment to the Multitudes of Fish with which it abounds. The first Place that stands upon this calm Sea is called Polyrrhetius, from a Man named Polyrrhetus: The next is Vateiascopia, so called from the deep Sea that is about it; a third is the Blachernæ, which is a barbarous Word; and the last Place is the Marshes.

Chap. VI.

Of the Bridge near the Church of St. Mamas; of his Hippodrom; of the Brazen Lyon, and the Sepulchre of the Emperor Mauritius

NOT only some Historians, but also Suidas the Grammarian, have handed it down to us, that near the Church of St. Mamas, there stood a Bridge, which had twelve Arches; for there was a great Floud of Waters at that Place. There was also set up at the same Place a brazen Dragon; because ’twas reported that a Serpent had some Time liv’d there, which had deflour’d many Virgins. This Story was occasion’d by the Name of a Man, who was call’d Basiliscus, one of Numerianus Cæsar’s Life-Guard, who liv’d there, and built a Church, which Zeno afterwards pull’d down. Constantine, call’d Iconomachus, because he was a profess’d Enemy to Images, order’d one Andreas a Statuary, a Man of some Note in the Blachernæ, to be whipt to Death in the Hippodrom of St. Mamas. Zonaras tells us, that Mauritius the Emperor was buried in the Church of St. Mamas, which was built by Pharasmenes, an Eunuch, and Gentleman of the Bed-chamber to Justinian. Cedrinus writes, that the Church of St. Mamas stood near the Gate call’d Xylocercon. Others report, That Crunna, King of the Bulgarians, surrounded Constantinople with an Army from the Blachernæ to the Porta Aurea, and distrusting the Strength of his Forces to take the Town, he hasten’d to this Church, set Fire to a Palace that was near it, and that upon his Retreat, he carry’d off a Brazen Lyon plac’d in the Hippodrom, a Bear, a Dragon, and some curious Pieces of Marble. Sozomen speaking of those Persons who were banish’d on St. Chrysostom’s Account, says, that when they were got without the Walls they met in a Place situate before the City, which Constantine order’d to be cleans’d, to be pal’d round, and made it into a Hippodrom. This, I take it, was the Place which was afterwards call’d the Hippodrom of St. Mamas. Zonaras adds upon this Occasion, that Leo the Emperor, scar’d by a Fire, which then rag’d in the City, flew to the Church of St. Mamas, and continu’d there for some Time. Cedrinus mentions, that the Emperor diverted himself with Horse-racing, near the Church of St. Mamas the Martyr, situate in the Stenon. ’Tis plain from the Authorities abovemention’d, that this Church was seated in the Blachernæ, and that there was a Bridge there, as is farther confirm’d by Johannes Tzetzes in his Variâ Historiâ, where he says, that the Sea extending itself from the Streights of Abydus, to the Bridge of the Blachernæ, is call’d the Hellespont. ’Tis also evident, that this Bridge stood, where the Stone Piles of the old Bridge (when the Water is low, as ’tis in Summer) are seen at present, and stand between the Suburbs call’d the Blachernæ, and the Suburbs, which the Turks call the Aibasarium. This, I am confident, is the same Bridge which the ancient Treatise of the Wards of the City, calls the Wooden Bridge, and places it in the fourteenth Ward, in which, as I observ’d, was the Suburbs call’d the Hepdomum. I desire the Reader to remark one Thing from Suidas, that St. Mamas Bridge had either twelve Stone Arches, or else, that he was writing of another Church of St. Mamas, situate in another Place.

Chap. VII.

Of the seventh Hill, the twelfth Ward, and of the Pillar of Arcadius

I Take it for granted, from the Situation of the Pillar of Arcadius, now standing on the seventh Hill, call’d the Xerolophon, (which is divided from the other six Hills by a broad Valley,) that That is the twelfth Ward, which lies a great Way upon the Level, from the Entrance of the City at the Porta Aurea, and is lengthen’d, on the Left Side of it, by a gentle Descent, and bounded by the Sea. It contain’d the Porta Aurea, the Trojan Portico’s, the Forum, and Haven of Theodosius, and a Pillar with winding Steps in the Inside, built in the Xerolophon by Arcadius. The Hill still preserves the same Name. Upon this Pillar the Emperor plac’d his Statue, which was thrown down, in the Reign of Leo Conon by an Earthquake, which shook the whole City, overturn’d many Churches and Houses, and buried Multitudes of People under it. Cedrinus assures us, that this Pillar was in all respects like that of Theodosius erected in the Taurus. It has a Base, a Pedestal, and a Capital. The Shaft of the Pillar, with its Pedestal and Capital, consists of twenty one Stones. Above the Capital are two Stones. The Pedestal alone is built with five Stones, so closely cemented together, that if the Pillar had never felt the Shocks of an Earth-quake, or the Decays of Time, it had appear’d to have been one entire Stone. These Stones are plac’d one above another, and are hollow in the Inside. Each of them is the whole Compass of the Pillar, out of which are cut the Steps and Windows which beautify and enlighten it. I took upon me to measure the Compass of the Shaft from the Stone which covers it at Top, down to the lowest Step of the Pedestal. This Stone therefore, thro’ which there is cut a Door, by which you ascend above the Abacus of the Capital, is about thirteen Foot nine Inches high, and is itself the Roof and Arch of the whole Pillar. The Door is six Foot two Digits high, and three Foot nine Inches broad. The second Stone is six Foot high, in which is cut the uppermost Step above the Abacus of the Capital. The third is five Foot and four Digits high, and contains the Abacus and the whole Capital. The fifth is five Foot in height, wanting two Digits. The Sixth is four Foot nine Inches high. The Seventh five Foot and two Digits. The Eighth four Foot and four Digits. The Ninth is six Foot high. The Tenth five Foot. The Eleventh four Foot and fourteen Digits. The Twelfth four Foot nine Inches. The Thirteenth five Foot. The Fourteenth five Foot two Digits. The fifteenth five Foot and a half. The Sixteenth the same. The Seventeenth five Foot and ten Digits. The eighteenth six Foot and a half. The Nineteenth five Foot and four Digits. The Twentieth six Foot and a half. The Twenty first, where the Shaft of the Pillar begins, six Foot and four Digits high. The Pedestal consists of six Stones. The uppermost of which is four Foot nine Inches high. The Second is the same height. The Third four Foot. The Fourth four Foot six Inches. The Fifth the same. The Sixth and last is four Foot high. It has in all fifty six Windows, and two hundred thirty three Steps of two kinds. For some rise in square, others in circular Windings, after the Manner of some Shell-Fish. You ascend the Pedestal by five square Winding Steps. Every Winding has at the Top of it a small Floor, which leads you from one Winding to another. The first and second Windings have six Steps each; the third eight; the fourth and fifth, nine each; the lowest of them all, which lies level with the Threshold of the Door, is ten Digits high, twelve Inches broad, and two Foot nine Inches long. The other square Windings are like this, and the Floor at the Top of each of them is two Foot nine Inches square. Upon the fifth Winding stands the Shaft of the Pillar, the first Steps of which are ten Digits high; near the Wall they are a Foot broad, in the Middle a Foot and nine Inches, and in Length they are two Foot nine Inches. The Steps above them, are all of them, nine Digits high. The Inside of the Shaft of the Pillar measures twenty eight Foot in Circumference. The Wall which encloses the Steps, in the lowest Part of it, is two Foot and three Digits, in the highest, ’tis one Foot nine Inches thick. If I should be thought too curious, in taking the Dimensions of every Stone, this Character with more Justice belongs to that Man, (and yet Thucydides highly commends him for it) who by counting the Rows of Bricks of which they were built, took the height of the Enemies Walls. I was under some Apprehensions from the Savageness of the Inhabitants, lest they should catch me dropping my Line, had I measur’d it without, so that I lay under a Necessity of taking the Dimensions within; and by joining the height of one Stone to the height of another, I discover’d its Altitude. There are two Steps consisting of many Stones, which first shew themselves from the Surface of the Earth. Above them is the third Step, which is cut out of a Stone three Foot and four Digits high, and thirty three Foot and a half in Circumference. Upon the Stone which makes the third Step, stands the Pedestal. The first of the five Stones of which it consists, from the Threshold of the Door, is five Foot and a half high. Its Ornaments are a plain Plinth three Foot five Digits high, a small Tore five Digits high, an Apophyge with a Reglet nine Inches, another Reglet above it two Digits, and a Cornice engrav’d, which is nine Inches high. The Frieze, on three Sides, is curiously engrav’d with Trophies; the Northern Side of it, where the Door is, is not engrav’d at all. The Cornice of the Pedestal bends downwards. At the bottom of it is a Reglet, above that an Astragal, adorn’d with Berries; then an Ovolo, and above that an Astragal wreath’d like a Rope. Higher yet is a Folial Bandage. There projects beyond the Pedestal a kind of Abacus; on each side of which there are two Fasces of Laurel-work, the largest of which is incurvated even to the bottom of the Abacus. On the Sides of this Abacus there is a Sculpture of seven naked Boys, holding each of them in his Hand a Laureated Fascis. At every Angle of this Abacus there stands an Eagle, and above it is the Plinth of the Pillar, adorn’d with a Foliage, which projects very little. Above the Plinth is a Tore, adorn’d with Laurel-work, which is filletted with a spiral Bandage. Above the Tore there rises an Apophyge, upon which Stands the Shaft of the Pillar, which is carv’d with the Scenes of War, and of Battles. The Sculpture is much like that which adorns the Pillar of Trajan in Old Rome. The Trachelium, or Top of the Shaft, is fluted perpendicularly. The lower part of its Capital is adorn’d with Apophyges, an Ovolo, and an Abacus, which projects beyond the Shaft two Foot and fourteen Digits. The Abacus, on all sides of it, is seventeen Foot, and nine Inches round. Above the Abacus there is a Door, above which the Pillar rises in the Form of a Cone, where there is another Door above ten Foot high. We may look upon this Pillar to be of the Tuscan Order, because both the Base, and the Capital of it, are finished after the Tuscan manner.