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.
The Twelfth Ward.
THE twelfth Ward, from the Entrance of the City at the Porta Aurea, is a long way upon the Level. ’Tis extended on the left Side of it by a gentle Descent, and is bounded by the Sea. This Ward is better guarded, and more handsomly beautified than any other, the Walls rising higher here than in any other part of the City. It contains the Porta Aurea; the Portico’s of Troas; the Forum of Theodosius; A Column with winding Stairs in its Inside; the Mint, or Treasury; the Port of Theodosius; eleven Streets; three hundred and sixty three great Houses; three large Portico’s; five private Baths; five private Mills, and nine Gradus. It has one Curator, one Vernaculus, thirty four Collegiati, and five Vico-Magistri.
NOTES.
The Porta Aurea.] The Greeks call it ὡραία both on the account of its own Beautifulness, and that of the neighbouring Buildings; so that it is a palpable Mistake in those who call it Porta Neoria from the Dock, which is near to it. I take this to be the same Gate which Zonaras mentions in his Life of Leo the Philosopher. He calls it the Western Gate of the Golden Triclinium, from whence it is call’d the Porta Aurea, as is observ’d by Nicetas in his Life of Alexius Ducas, Marzulfus, and in the History of their Atchievements, after they had taken the City; as also by Nicephorus Gregoras, in his Treatise entituled, The Entry of Michael Palæologus into the City. In this Gate it is reported, the Elephants were stabled, which were much like those with which Theodosius made his publick Entry into Constantinople, as ’tis mention’d by Cedrinus. Some Historians tell us, that they were transported to Constantinople from the Temple of Mars Atheniensis. This Gate stood Easterly, facing the Sea, and as Nicephorus observes, overlook’d the Imperial Citadel through the City to a great Distance, and that from thence you might look very far backwards into the Inland Countries. This Gate, in a direct Line, was distant from the Sea-shore fourteen thousand and seventy five Feet, so that the City was about three Miles in Length.
The Portico’s of Troas.] I believe these Portico’s took their Name either from the People of Troas, who, while they continued there, built them; or from some Part of the City so call’d, or because some Goods and Merchandize were imported thither from Troas, as I observed before of the Granaries of Troas.
A Column with winding Stairs on its Inside.] Upon this Pillar was erected the Statue of Theodosius, which, as Zonaras writes, was near the Porta Aurea, and fell down in the Reign of Leo Isaurus. Gyllius is of Opinion, that this was the Statue of Arcadius, that the Shaft of it, with the Pedestal and Capital, consisted of twenty one Stones; and adds, that the Battels of Theodosius were carv’d upon it.
The Thirteenth Ward.
THE thirteenth Ward is call’d the Sycæne Ward, which is divided from the City by a narrow Bay of the Sea, and maintains an Intercourse with it by Boats, and small Vessels. It stands wholly upon the Side of it, except a broad Tract of Land, which lies Level, at the Foot of it, near the Sea-shore. It contains one Church, the Bagnio’s and Forum of Honorius; A Theatre; A Dock for Ship-building; four hundred and thirty one great Houses; one large Portico; five private Bagnio’s; one publick, and four private Mills; with eight Gradus. It has one Curator, one Vernaculus, thirty four Collegiati, and five Vico-Magistri.
NOTES.
The Sycene Ward.] This Ward is a Peninsula divided from Constantinople by a small Bay of the City. ’Tis at present call’d Galata, or Pera. Stephanus (de Urbibus) tells us, that Sycæ is a small City over against New Rome, which in his Time was called Justiniana. But Justinian himself, Novel. 59. Cap. 5. places it so far within the new Walls of the City, that, as he says, it ought to be looked upon as a Part of it. It was named by the Greeks Sycæna, from the great Produce it bears of the best Figs, as is observed by Cedrinus and Dionysius a Byzantian. ’Tis not inhabited at present by the Franks, for so the Greeks call the Latines. Gyllius is of Opinion that it was called Galata, because Brennus, Captain General of the Gauls, whom the Greeks call Γαλάται marched thither with his Army. It was also called Pera, that is, the Ferry, or Peræa, and stood on the other Side of the Water; as Josephus relates, that Judæa was on the other Side of Jordan; and as Strabo mentions a Place, which he says was on the other Side of Euphrates. Anastasius in his Constitutions calls it Sycæ, or the Ferry of Sycæ, where he commands the Dead to be bury’d without Fee, or Reward. ’Tis divided by a Hill that runs from North to South, and is bounded on each Side by two Vales, of a Mile in Length. Its Walls are four Thousand four Hundred Paces in Compass. Near to it, Justinian in his 159ᵗʰ Nov. seems to fix the Suburbs called Coparium: And Socrates in his 30ᵗʰ Chap. of his Eccles. Hist. tells us, that there’s a Place just against the City, which is called Sycæ. The Church of the Novatians was translated hither in the Reign of Constantine.
It maintained an Intercourse with Constantinople, by Boats and small Vessels.] There were in the Bay here many Thousands of small Boats, far exceeding the Number of those which are at Venice to carry Passengers from one Shore to the other, so that this Peninsula might reasonably be looked upon as a Part of the City. ’Tis almost surrounded with Mountains, at the Foot of which, towards the Sea, it lies all upon a Level to the opposite Shore. It contained a Church, the Forum, and Theatre of Honorius, and many other Ornaments and Curiosities in common with other Wards. There stood here a magnificent Church dedicated to St. Irene, which was built by Pertinax, who had pass’d the Consular Dignity, and was then Patriarch of Constantinople: And Constantine, when he had beautified the Ward with many stately Buildings, enclosed it with a Wall, as ’tis recorded by Cardinal Baronius in his Annals of the Year 314.
The Dock.] There was also a Place in this Ward where they built their Ships.
The Author has taken no Notice of two Streets which belonged to this Ward, and which would complete the Number of three hundred and twenty two Streets, mentioned in the Conclusion of his Treatise; but without the Addition of them, we can reckon them three hundred and twenty and no more.
The Fourteenth Ward.
Although this Ward is look’d upon to be a fourteenth Part of the City, yet because it is divided from the other Wards by an intermediate Space of Land, and enclosed within its own Walls, it makes the Figure of a small City by it self. 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 Descent, and ends afterwards near the Sea in a Plain. It contains a Church; the Palace; a Nympheum; some Baths; a Theatre; a Lusorium; a Wooden Bridge; eleven Streets; a hundred and sixty seven great Houses; two large Portico’s; five private Baths; one publick, and one private Mill; with five Gradus.
NOTES.
The fourteenth Ward, which is enclosed within its own Walls, makes the Figure of a kind of small City by it self.] It was antiently looked upon to be a small City, because one of the Emperors had built there an Imperial Citadel. ’Tis very mountainous about it, and it descends towards the Sea, into the Bosom of a Plain. The Name of the Church in this Ward is not known at present.
A Palace.] This is the Place of Imperial Residence, which was antiently called Palatium, because Augustus dwelt in Mount Palatine at Rome. The Dwelling-House of Romulus was also called by the same Name. Wherefore, says Dion, speaking of Augustus, let the Emperor be where he pleases, yet the Place where he constantly dwells, is always called his Palace.
A Lusorium.] This probably was the same Place with the Ludus Venatorius, in which the Combatants exercised themselves before they engaged with wild Beasts; yet is it more probable, that it was so called from the Naves Lusoriæ, which were built there, of which Marcellinus takes Notice in his sixth Book, as also the Code of Theodosius de Lusoriis Danubii.
A Wooden Bridge.] Suidas writes, that near the Church of St. Mamas, there was a Bridge which consisted of twelve Arches, for there was a great Flood of Waters there. I believe this was after chang’d into a Stone Bridge.
Five Gradus, or Stairs.] At the End of this Ward, after the five Gradus, I would correct the Omission of my Author, by comparing this with the other Wards, and adding one Curator, one Vernaculus, thirty seven Collegiati, and five Vico-Magistri.
The Author, in his following summary View of the City, mentions five hundred and sixty Collegiati, but to complete the Number of them, there are wanting seven. Theodosius the Less has added three in Lib. de Commer. & Mercat. and makes the Number of them to be five hundred and sixty three.
A Summary View of the whole City.
Having taken a particular View of the City, as divided into Wards, I shall now, continues my Author, give the Reader a more large and general Description of it, to shew that its Beauty and Magnificence is not only to be ascribed to Art and good Workmanship, but that Nature herself by the Mediation of the Elements, has happily contributed to its Security and Defence. The divine Providence has with so much Wisdom consulted the Preservation of its Inhabitants, even to future Ages, that a long Tract of Land, in the Nature of a Promontory, full of Windings and Harbours in its Sides, facing the Chaps of the Black-Sea, narrow in Breadth, is strongly fortified by the Sea. The Isthmus, the only Part of the City not bounded by the Sea, is at the same Time strengthened with a double Wall with numerous Towers on its Ramparts. The City thus enclosed and defended, contains in the Whole the following Buildings. Five Palaces; fourteen Churches; five divine Houses of the Augustæ; three of the most illustrious Ladies; eight Bagnio’s; two Basilica’s; four Fora’s; two Senate-Houses; five Granaries, or Store-Houses; two Theatres; two Lusoria; four Havens; one Circo; four Cisterns; four Nymphea; three hundred and twenty two Streets; four Thousand three hundred and eight large Houses; fifty two Portico’s; a hundred and fifty three private Baths; twenty publick, and a hundred and twenty private Mills; a hundred and seventeen Gradus; five Flesh Markets; one Porphyry Pillar; two Pillars with winding Stairs; one Colossus; one Golden Tetrapylum; the Forum of Augustus; the Capitol; the Mint, or Treasury; and three Gradus by the Sea-Shore. It was under the Care and Government of fourteen Curators, fourteen Vernaculi, five hundred and sixty Collegiati, and sixty five Vico-Magistri. The Length of the City from the Porta Aurea in a direct Line to the Sea-Shore, is fourteen Thousand and seventy five Feet; the Breadth of it, six Thousand one Hundred and fifty. Thus concludes the Author of the Description, I shall now go on with my
NOTES.
It has five Palaces.] Old Rome, instead of these, has one Thousand one hundred and eighty Houses.
Fourteen Churches.] Rome had four Hundred and twenty four Temples.
Five divine Houses of the Augustæ, and of those who bore the Title of the Most Illustrious three.] The Houses of those Ladies, who bore the Title of Augustæ were called Divine. They had also other Marks of Imperiality and Honour conferr’d upon them. By the Mistake of the Writer these Houses were reckoned six, though they were no more in Number than five only, viz. two of Placidia, two of Pulcheria, and one of Eudocia, the Wife of Theodosius. As to the Houses belonging to the Ladies, entitled the Most Illustrious, one of them belonged to Marina, and the other two to Arcadia, and bore the same Title with themselves.
Eight Bagnio’s.] Victor writes, that at Rome there were eleven.
Two Basilica’s.] There were ten of them at Rome.
Four Fora’s.] At Rome there were eleven; Victor says nineteen.
Two Senate-Houses.] At Rome, as Victor says, there were three; one stood between the Capitol, and the Forum Romanum, where was the Temple of Concord; another by the Porta Capena, and a third in the Temple of Bellona, which stood in the Circo of Flaminius, where the Foreign Ambassadors resided, because they would not allow them Admittance into the City.
Five Granaries.] At Rome there were two hundred and ninety two.
Two Theatres.] At Rome there were three.
Two Lusoria.] At Rome, according to Victor, there were sixteen.
Four Havens.] At Rome there was but one.
One Circo.] At Rome there were two.
Four Cisterns.] At Rome there were none.
Four Nymphea.] At Rome there were fifteen.
Three hundred and twenty two Streets.] At Rome four Hundred and twenty four.
Four Thousand three hundred and eighteen large Houses.] At Rome there were forty six Thousand six hundred and two Insulæ, and one Thousand seven hundred and eighty large Houses. The Houses here mentioned were large roof’d Buildings, tyl’d at Top four Ways; the Insulæ were roof’d Buildings, tyl’d only before and behind.
Forty two Portico’s.] At Rome there were six only.
A hundred and fifty three private Baths.] At Rome there were eight hundred and fifty six.
Twenty publick, and a hundred and twenty private Mills.] At Rome two hundred and fifty four.
A hundred and seventeen Gradus.] At Rome none.
Five Flesh-Markets.] At Rome two only.
Five hundred and sixty Collegiati.] It is apparent that thirty seven of them are omitted in the last Ward. There was no such Office at Rome, yet there were, instead of them, Watchmen divided into seven Companies, whose Business, according to Dion and Suetonius, was much the same with that of the Collegiati.
Sixty five Vico-magistri.] It should be read seventy; for five of them are omitted in the last Ward. At Rome the Number of Collegiati was six hundred and seventy two.
A Porphyry Pillar.] There was no such Pillar, as Cedrinus says, at Rome, tho’ this was brought from thence. Gyllius writes, that this Pillar was made of square marble Stones, and that it stood in the Hippodrom.
Two Pillars with Winding-Stairs in the Inside of them.] There was the same Number at Rome.
One Colossus.] At Rome there were two. ’Tis omitted in the Description of the Wards, as many other Things of Note are.
The Golden Tetrapylum.] Gyllius quotes an unknown Author who will have this Tetrapylum to have been a Quadrangle with Portico’s round it, having Four Gates, and was formerly call’d Quadrivium. The Latines call it a Stadium. But there’s no such Place to be found in the Wards of the City, unless it be the Stadium in the Fourth Ward, which is omitted in the Summary View of the City. Cedrinus, in his Life of Leo Magnus, mentions this Tetrapylum. Evagrius in the twenty eighth Chapter of his third Book tells us, that it was built by the Senator Mammianus, in the Reign of Zeno. He built, says he, two stately Portico’s of exquisite Workmanship, and beautify’d them with a neat glossy Marble. As to the Tetrapylum built by Mammianus, there are not, as Gyllius tells us, the least Remains of it. Victor writes, that there was a Pentapylum in the tenth Ward of Rome.
The Augusteum.] This was the Forum of Augustus.
The Capitol.] At Rome, as Victor writes, there were two; the old and the new Capitol.
The Mint, or Treasury.] There was no such Place at Rome.
Three Gradus by the Sea-Shore.] There were no such Stairs at Rome, yet they had their Lakes, their Naval Fights, &c.
The City is reported to have had twenty three Gates. Laonicus Chalcondylus, in his History of the Ottomans, tells us, that Constantinople contains in compass a hundred and eleven Furlongs, which is more than thirteen Italian Miles. ’Tis generally thought to be eighteen Miles in Circumference. Besides the foremention’d Curiosities, Constantinople has been famous for the Aqueduct of Hadrian, which furnish’d the Palace, the Nymphea, and the Bagnio’s with a Sufficiency of Waters, as Theodosius mentions in a Letter to Cyrus, Prefect of the City. The Bagnio’s of Achilles are also mention’d by him, where he says, that these Bagnio’s were supply’d with Water convey’d into them from the said Aqueduct by leaden Pipes. Cedrinus says, that these Bagnio’s were built near the Strategium, and took their Name from an Altar, which was dedicated to Ajax and Achilles: And Cassiodorus relates, that the Fire, which happen’d in the Reign of Constantine the Great, burnt down the City, as far as the Bagnio’s of Achilles.
Some Account of the Suburbs as they are mention’d in the Codes and Law-Books.
Procopius tells us, in his first Book de Ædif. Justin. that the Hepdomum was one Part of the Suburbs of Constantinople. Justinian, says he, built another Church dedicate to St. Theodora in a Place call’d the Hepdomum, which in the Greek signifies the Seventh. Zonaras, in the Life of Phocas, mentions the same Thing, as does also Cedrinus in the Life of Arcadius and Justin, with many others. In this Place were many Laws enacted; and Zonaras writes, that Theodosius the Great built a Church there, in Honour of St. John Baptist. Gyllius says, that ’tis at present enclos’d within the Walls of the City, that it stands upon the sixth Hill, and that ’tis call’d Hepdomum, or Seventh, as denoting the Number of the Suburbs of the City.
The Blachernæ.] This is another Part of the Suburbs, mention’d by Justinian in his 151ˢᵗ Nov. where he says, that Hierius bequeath’d by Will to his Son Anthemius the Suburbs in the Blachernæ. Zonaras writes, that Pulcheria, the Sister of Theodosius the Less, built a Church to the Blessed Virgin in this Place, which, as Procopius tells us, was repair’d by Justinian. Cedrinus observes, that the Emperor Justin, Nephew of Justinian, enlarg’d it with two Arches. Suidas reports, that Anastasius the Emperor built there a large Triclinium and Tiberius a Bagnio, as Zonaras writes. It took its Name of the Blachernæ, as Gyllius believes, upon the Authority of Dionysius a Byzantian Writer, from some Person, who was formerly a kind of a petty King there. It was situate near the Sea, in the Place, as Nicephorus observes in his 15ᵗʰ Book Chap. 25ᵗʰ of his Eccl. Hist. where Leo the Great built a Church to the Virgin Mary.
The Monastery of Studius was another Part of the Suburbs of Constantinople, in which, as Justinian observes, in his 6ᵗʰ Chap. Novel 59ᵗʰ. was kept a large Bier, for the Burial of the Dead. The following Account is given of Studius by Nicephorus, in his 15ᵗʰ Book, Chap. 25ᵗʰ of his Eccles. Hist. An eminent Citizen of Rome, says he, nam’d Studius, came from thence to Constantinople, where he built a Church to the Memory of St. John Baptist, and that divine Service might be celebrated there with more Decency and Solemnity, he took some Monks out of the Monastery of the Ἀκοίμητοι, who were so call’d, because some of them were always waking to attend divine Worship. The heavenly-minded Marcellinus built them a Monastery, in which they continually sang Hymns to God, their Society being divided into three Tribes for that Purpose. Thus far Nicephorus. Upon this Occasion Studius was made Consul, as appears by an Inscription over the Gate of his own Monastery, which runs thus: