Note 3 — Chapter I · CONSTANTINOPLE IN THE SIXTH CENTURY[3]

In presenting this history to the modern reader I shall not imitate the example of those mediaeval stage-managers, who, in order to indicate the scenery of the play, were content to exhibit a placard such as “This is a street,” “This is a wood,” etc. On the contrary, on each occasion that the scene shifts in this drama of real life, I shall describe the locality of the events at a length proportionate to their importance.