THE ANTIQUITIES OF Constantinople. BOOK IV.

Chap. I. Of the Eleventh Ward, and of the Fourth and Fifth Hills.

I had been at a Loss to discover the eleventh Ward, (which, tho’ the ancient Description of the Wards mentions to have been wider in Compass than the Tenth, and in no Part of it bounded by the Sea; as also that it partly consisted of a Level, and partly of a rising Ground) unless the Author had subjoin’d, that it contain’d also the Church of the Apostles, And tho’ at present there’s nothing remaining of that Church, yet I was inform’d by some ancient People of Constantinople, who told me, that they remembred it stood upon the Back of the fourth Hill; which fell upon a Hill of the third Valley, near the Sadlers Shops, and the Sepulchre of Mahomet the Emperor. I observe from hence, that the eleventh Ward was Part on the Top of the same Hill, and Part on the North Side of it. I shall shew by what follows, that this Ward reach’d to the Land-Wall of the City, which divided the Eleventh, from the fourteenth Ward, and which was also itself divided from the City by an intermediate Space of Land. I shall convince the Reader presently, that this Ward was situate on the sixth Hill, without the Walls of the City, and was afterwards wall’d round by Theodosius the Less. The Walls built by Constantine are said to have reach’d as far as the Churches of St. Anthony, and St. Mary, who was call’d Rabdos, and from thence to have risen to a Land-Wall call’d Exacionion, which took its Name from hence, viz. That without the Land-Wall there stood a Pillar, on which was erected the Statue of Constantine the Great. Some modern Writers will have it, that he built a Church which he dedicated to the Holy Trinity in a Place call’d the Exacionion, now call’d the Church of the Apostles; for, if I am not mistaken, the Walls of Constantine were built upon the Borders of the fourth and fifth Hill, near the Exacionion, Cedrinus writes, that the Walls of the City, the beautiful Churches, the fine Houses seated in the Exacionion were thrown down by a dreadful Earthquake. They tell us in other Places, tho’ not consistently with themselves, that there were Portico’s which reach’d from the Miliarium to the Street call’d Taurus, and to the Gates of St. John the Baptist’s Church near the Hippodrom, which are more than a thousand Roman Paces distant from the Church of the Apostles, and as far from the Walls of the City which were built by Constantine, as may be gather’d from the following Passage of Sozomen. Theodosius, says this Author, leading his Army against Eugenius, went a Mile out of the City to the Church of St. John, which he had built in the Hepdomum. This Hepdomum was a Part of the Suburbs of the City, but is now enclos’d within the Walls, as will appear when I come to speak of it. If the Pillar from whence the Exacionion took its Name, was the same with that high Pillar which stood on the Top of the fifth Hill, and was seen not long since at a great Distance from the City, above all the Houses, we might easily discover, that the Walls built by Constantine did not reach beyond this Pillar, which stood about half a Mile’s distance from the Church of the Apostles. I saw this Pillar took to Pieces, and remov’d for building a Mosque, by Order of Solyman the Emperor. The Base, the Pedestal and the Foundation of it were of white Marble. The Foundation-Stone alone was so high, that I could not climb it without a Ladder. The Pedestal was four Foot and nine Digits high, and the Plinth one Foot, and six Digits. The Greeks and the Turks, each in their Dialect, call’d it the Pillar of the Virgin, which I take to be that celebrated by our modern Writers, which they say was erected upon a Hill, and supported the Statue of Venus, carv’d in Stone. When the Ancient Description of the Wards tells us, that the eleventh Ward is no Ways bounded by the Sea, it must be so understood as to mean, that the Plain situated between the Bay of Ceras, and the Foot of the fourth Hill, was not within the Walls, since the same Treatise mentions, that the City was six thousand one hundred and fifty Foot broad; that is, a Mile and two hundred and thirty Paces; for the Latitude of the Isthmus, which stretches itself over the fourth and seventh Hill, thro’ which the old Wall extended itself, exceeds the Breadth abovemention’d. But Zosimus, an ancient Historian, says, that Constantine the Great so wholly surrounded the City with a Wall, that it cut off the Isthmus from Sea to Sea. So that upon the whole, there is a Necessity to place the Plain, situate between the Bay, and the Bottom of the fourth Hill, in the tenth Ward.

Chap. II. Of the Church of the Apostles, the Sepulchre of Constantine the Great, the Cistern of Arcadius and Modestus, of the Palace of Placilla, and the Brazen Bull.

’TIS attested by Eusebius, That Constantine the Great built the Church of the Apostles to a great Heighth, that he incrusted it with all Sorts of variegated Marble, which cast a beautiful Lustre from Top to Bottom; that he adorn’d it with small gilded Roofs, and cover’d it with Plates of Brass deeply gilt, which cast a blazing Reflexion to a great Distance. The upper Part of this venerable Structure, was curiously wrought all round it with Brass and Gold, and was enlightned with Abundance of Lattices and Windows. Round the Church there was a fine Court lying open to the Air. The Portico’s which enclos’d it, stood in a Quadrangular Manner. Near the Portico’s stood the Palace, the Bagnio’s, the Cloysters, and many other Houses and Buildings belonging to the Ecclesiasticks, and other Ministers of the Church. These bountiful Benefactions has the pious Emperor handed down to Posterity in Memory of the Apostles of the blessed Saviour of Mankind, to whom also he consecrated twelve Purses of Gold. The Coffin in which he intended to be buried after he was dead, was plac’d by his Order in the Body of the Church, and guarded with the twelve Apostles in Effigy. ’Tis added by Socrates, that the Body of Constantine lying in a golden Coffin, was brought into the City by his intimate Friends, and buried in the Church of the Apostles. I am inclin’d to believe, that Zonaras never read Eusebius, when he tells us, that ’twas buried in the Cloyster of the Church of the Apostles, which, he says, was built by Constantius for the Interrment of his Father. Near the broad Way which stretches itself along the Top of the Promontory, from the Church of St. Sophia, to the Gate of Adrianople, (hard by the Place where stood the Church of the Apostles,) there is shewn to this Day, a Coffin made of Porphyry Marble, empty; and without a Cover, ten Foot long, and five Foot and a half broad, which the Greeks and Turks say, was the Coffin of Constantine the Great; but I cannot vouch for the Truth of it: Yet the Authorities of Socrates and Eusebius seem to be somewhat doubtful, who tell us, that he was buried in a golden Coffin, unless perhaps the golden Coffin was inclos’d in that of the Porphyry Marble. Zonaras is of Opinion, that Theodora, the Wife of Justinian, built the Church of the Apostles; and adds, that there was anciently in the same Place a Church of the Apostles, but much Inferior in Beauty and Magnificence to that which stands at present, on the same Ground. Procopius says, that there had been for some Ages, a Church at Constantinople which was much impair’d by Time, and likely to fall, which Justinian order’d to be taken down, rebuilt, and enlarg’d, and made in the Figure of a Cross, the Body of the Church pointing East, and West, and the Part crossing it, North, and South. This Church is well wall’d, and adorn’d within with Ranges of Pillars standing one above another: Evagrius therefore seems to be mistaken, in attributing the Building of this Church to Justinian, when it is evident it was built by Constantine the Great; and Procopius too grosly flatters Justinian in ascribing to him the Building of many fine Structures, whereas, in reality, he only repair’d them when they were old, or rebuilt them when fall’n too much to decay, or destroy’d by Fire. There’s nothing remaining of this Church at present, no, not even of its Foundation. You see only the Ruines of an old Cistern, which supply’d the Church, and the Clergy with Water. There are now standing upon the same Spot of Ground about two hundred Sadlers Shops, and Work-houses, where they make and sell not only all kinds of Horse-Geer, but also Leathern Bucketts, Quivers, and Trunks. A little above this Cistern, stands a Mosque, with a Caravansera adjoining to it, situate on a Plain, which was built with square Stone, after the Form of the Church of St. Sophia, out of the Ruins and Sacrilege of the Church of the Apostles, and other Christian Churches by Mahomet, who took the City. The Roof is of a Semicircular Figure, made of Brick-Work, and cover’d with Lead, as are all the publick Buildings of the Turks. ’Tis beautify’d with a very elegant square Porch as broad as the Church itself, pav’d with the finest Marble, and adorn’d with square Portico’s. The Arches of them, which bear up the Roof, are supported with very large Pillars of Marble, curiously variegated. In the Middle of it is a Fountain with nine Pipes, whose Waters fall into a great Bason. Round the Mosque is a spacious Court, Part of which is enclos’d with Walls, and Part with long kind of Houses, some of which are inhabited by their Priests, and School-Masters. In the Eastern Part of this Court there’s a Garden, in the Middle of which stands the Sepulchre of Mahomet, built in a Cylindric Form of the whitest Marble. ’Tis covered with Lead, lighted with Windows, and has a Door of Entrance into it. In the Middle of this Structure is the Coffin of Mahomet, cover’d with Velvet, placed on the Ground on a rich Carpet. The Ground is wholly covered with the most costly Carpets, where the Priests continually sit, and guard the Body Night and Day. A little without the Court are several large Caravansera’s, built also with square Stone, which have Court-yards in the Middle of them, and Portico’s surrounded with Marble Pillars. These Caravansera’s have large Gardens adjoyning to them. In short, this Mosque, with the adjacent Buildings round the Court, with the Caravansera’s and Gardens, take up a Space of Ground six Furlongs in Compass. Mahomet, the same Emperor, built in this Place, where had formerly been the Old Cistern of Arcadius, or Modestus, the largest Bagnio’s in all the City. These Baths were of two Kinds, some for Men, and some for Women. They adjoin to each other, but have different Entries without any Passage out of one into the other. I shall only describe the Mens Baths; because the Womens are like them. The first Place you enter is the Room where they undress. From hence you pass into the hot, and from thence into the cold Bath. They all stand in one Range, and are only separated by Walls from each other. The Room where they undress is a square Structure, built of square Stone up to the Roof, which is arch’d and built with Brick; the Inside of which, measuring two hundred and fifty eight Foot in compass, is surrounded with an Ascent of Stone, above six Foot broad, and three Foot high. The Wall of this Room, from the Pavement to the Bottom of the arch’d Roof is thirty seven Foot high. In the Middle of the Floor, which is pav’d with Marble, there’s a large Marble Bason, which is thirty seven Foot in compass, and three Foot deep, which is always supply’d from a Fountain of Spring Water. There are two Doors out of the stripping Room into the hot Bath. This Apartment is a hundred Foot in compass in the Inside of it, and is supported with four Arches, which bear up a Dome at the Top. It contains eight Cells or bathing Rooms; one of which, not above half so large as the rest, has some Privies behind it, which are cleans’d by an Efflux of all the Waters which are turn’d out of the Bath. Six of these Cells have, each of them, a bathing Cistern, and are built in such a Manner, that two of these Arches hang each of them over one bathing Room; from whence you may pass, on the Right and on the Left, into another. The Cells under the other two Arches are so form’d, that that Arch which is nearest the Doors which lead out of the stripping Room into the hot Bath, hangs over a very large bathing Room. ’Tis pav’d with Marble, and the Turks wash their Linen in this Place. A plain Wall arch’d at top parts the hot from the cold Bath. In the Middle of the hot Bath there is a Bason with a Fountain playing. There is but one Door which leads out of the hot into the cold Bath. This Apartment has eight Arches which support its Dome, and contains eight bathing Places, which project beyond the Sphere of its Dome, and encircle the whole Bagnio, which is about ninety Foot in compass. The whole Pavement of it is lay’d with Marble, and in the Middle of it is built an Ascent in the Form of an Octagon, which is fifty seven Foot, and nine Inches in Circumference, and two Foot and four Digits high. Round the Octagon there runs a Channel of Water, which is of the same Depth with the Height of the Octagon. The four inward bathing Rooms are situate in four Angles, and are each of them every Way eleven Foot and three Digits broad, and these are call’d the Hot-Houses or Sweating-Bagnio’s. The Dimension of the two Bathing Rooms, which are situate without the two Arches, is the same. The other six Bathing Rooms are of a Semicircular Figure, and stand under six Arches within the Circle of the Dome of the hot Bath. At the Bottom of the Pillars which support the Arches, they are eleven Foot in length, and five Foot nine Inches in breadth. Every one of these Bathing Rooms has a Marble Cistern wherein they bath; and in one of them above the rest, there is erected a stately Marble Throne. There are no Lights in the Walls either of the hot or cold Baths, tho’ the Domes of them are wholly illuminated with Glass-Windows. The Stoke-Hole, which is two Foot and a half in compass, and of the same height, is built without the Baths. They keep a constant Fire in it, which heats a Brazen Vessel, whence it emits its warm Steams thro’ Pipes laid in a strait, and an oblique Manner, by that means heating the Bottom of the Cisterns in which they bath. There is a Rivulet in a Field of the Suburbs, about six Foot in breadth, which runs near the Stoke-Hole. There are Pipes laid in this Brook, which convey the Water thro’ the Walls of these Baths into all Parts of them. One of these Pipes which passes thro’ a heated Earthen Vessel, upon turning a Cock, supplies the Cisterns with hot Water; the other Pipe which rises higher, upon the turning of an other Cock, tempers the hot Water according to the Pleasure of the Person who baths in it. But I shall treat of the Use of Bathing, and the Way of building Bagnio’s among the Turks in another Place. I return now to the eleventh Ward, which Procopius takes Notice of, when he tells us, that Theodora the Consort of Justinian address’d herself to him in the following Manner: We have, may it please your Imperial Majesty, other Palaces still remaining, which are call’d the Palaces of Helena, as we have also those of Placilla, the Wife of Theodosius the Great. For as Justinus honour’d his Empress with several noble Palaces, which, after her own Name, were call’d the Palaces of Sophia, so it is highly probable that Theodosius did Placilla the same Honour in building a Palace for her, which was call’d the Palace of Placilla. I am induc’d to believe this, because he passionately lov’d her, and by Reason of that strong Resentment he bore to the People of Antioch, whom he subjected to the Dominion of the Laodenses, for demolishing the Statues of Placilla, plac’d in his own Forum, because he lay’d an additional Tribute upon them. This Palace may not improperly be call’d also the Palace of Flacilla, of whom Claudian speaks in the following Lines:

The Brazen Bull was plac’d in the eleventh Ward. In what Part of that Ward it was plac’d might easily be conjectur’d from a large Cistern, which, the modern Historians write, was built near it by Nicetas an Eunuch, in the Reign of the Emperor Theophilus, if that Cistern was now in being. If the Bull itself was remaining, or the Forum where it stood, I had heard something of it. Tzetzes in his History writes, that the Forum Bovis was so call’d from the Brazen Bull. This Bull is more particularly describ’d by Zonaras, who says, that the Body of the unhappy Tyrant Phocas was burnt at a Place call’d Bos, where there was a Stove, or Fire-Place set up in the Form of a Bull, which was brought from Troy. Cedrinus relates, that Antypas the Martyr was burnt to Death in this Bull. It is a plain Instance of the Cruelty and Tyranny of some of the Emperors of Constantinople, that they us’d to punish Malefactors with a Death so tormenting. The like Example of Barbarity we have in Perillus, or rather Perilaus, a Brazier of Attica, who made a Brazen Bull for the Execution of Phalaris, but first suffer’d in it himself. This Piece of Workmanship, says Pliny, was preserv’d a long Time, that those, who saw it, might curse the Hand that made it. I am more inclin’d to believe, that this Bull was brought from Sicily, or Italy. I enquir’d after it, but could hear nothing of it, altho’ the Inhabitants are not ignorant, that there was formerly such a Bull at Constantinople, and are us’d to boast of a Prophecy, which has been handed down to them from their Ancestors, concerning such a Bull, and lastly, altho’ they believe their own Interpretation of it to be more agreeable to Truth than that of Tzetzes, who explain’d it above three hundred and seventy Years ago in the following Manner. There was a mighty Talk of a Prophecy at Constantinople some Time ago, which run in these Words: Βοῦς βοήσει τε, καὶ Ταῦρος δὲ θρηνήσει, Bos mugiet, Taurus lugebit. The People conjectur’d from hence, says he, that great Calamities should befall the City, that they should be perplex’d with amazing Fears, that an innumerable Army of Germans, and other Nations, should come against the Town; and that they should be all terrify’d and affrighted with strange Dreams, by Reason of the Plundering and Destruction of their City. Upon which, the Wife of the Grand Hetæriarch being in great Consternation, and her Fears and Fancies being encreas’d by some fabulous Verses made upon the Occasion, she imagin’d she dream’d of all that had been the Town-Talk for some Time before. She dream’d that Constantinople was wall’d round with Brick, that near the Forum Bovis, or the Place call’d Bos, she saw infinite Numbers of arm’d Forces drawn up in Battle array, and that hard by the Street call’d Taurus, she saw a Man in a melancholly Posture expressing his Grief in a mournful Tone, and beating his Breast. The credulous Woman believing the Destruction of the City was at hand, told her Dream to Tzetzes, who thus interpreted it: The Brick Walls, says he, which you saw denote great Plenty of Provision to Constantinople. You are sensible, Gentlemen, says he, (speaking to those who stood by him) how wonderfully that Part of the Prophecy was accomplish’d at that Time. As to that Clause of it, which mentions that abundance of armed Forces shall stand round the Bull, and that a Man in a disconsolate and forlorn Condition shall sit down by the Bull, which is principally intended by the Prophecy, tho’ not yet fulfill’d; this may prove beneficial, and advantageous to every Citizen of us. Therefore hear, O Constantinople, and tell it to others, that this is the Interpretation of Tzetzes. The same Word, which among us Greeks signifies a Bull, signifies also a Cow, and sometimes a Heifer, and by the Word Taurus or Bull, the Latins call the Italian Bull. Our Cow therefore, which is the famous City of Constantine, and which was built by the Roman Bulls of Italy, full of Arms, abounding with Forces, and Plenty of Provision, shall sound an Alarm against our Enemies; and the Italian Bull, which is the Army of the Latins, shall look Pale with Fear, and mourn. Tzetzes, without Question, was a very learned Man, and this Interpretation of the Prophecy was cunning enough; besides that it was a fine Compliment to the Empress, and at the same Time the Historian pleas’d his own Humour in it, in interpreting the Prophecy according to his own Wishes. See how ingenious is the Weakness of Man to impose upon himself! But at that Time there was another Interpretation of this Prophecy, which, in the Event, was much more agreeable to Truth, tho’ Tzetzes took a great deal of Pains to confute, and expose it; and it was the general Opinion of the People of Constantinople, that the Army of the Latins would besiege their City, as it happen’d a little Time after, ravaging, burning, destroying every where; throwing some of the Ring-leaders of an arbitrary Party from the Top of Theodosius’s Pillar into the Street call’d Taurus, and burning others to Death in the Brazen Bull. The same Author is no less mistaken in the Interpretation of another Prophecy, which is as follows: Wo be to thee, O Constantinople, seated on seven Hills, thou shalt not continue a thousand Years. His Explanation of it is this: Altho’ it be not thy Fate, O Constantinople, to endure a thousand Years, but to be totally demolish’d, yet this ought to be no Occasion of Grief to thee, but the Cause of Joy; for thou shalt rise again from thy Ruines more beautiful, and more enlarg’d. For thou shalt be destroyed, ev’n to the Advantage of those who shall destroy thee. This Interpretation is a downright Flattery of the principal Leaders of the several Factions (or Companies of Charioteers) when they were struggling for the Government. But take this Interpretation which Way you will, it seems to be a very wild one. For whether the City was demolish’d by its own Inhabitants, or any foreign Power, it could neither Way be any reasonable Cause of Joy to them. This Prediction of the Oracle was seconded by another Prediction of the Astronomers to the same Purpose. Some Historians have attested, as ’tis confirm’d by Suidas, that Constantine the Great, after he had finish’d the City, sent for one Valens an Astronomer of great Skill, and commanded him to enquire what Star had the Ascendant at the Birth of the City, and by that means inform him of the Duration of it. Valens predicted that the City would continue six hundred and ninety Years; but that Time is past and gone. Therefore, says Zonaras, I must conclude, that this Prophecy of Valens was erroneous, and that there’s little Dependance to be had upon the Rules of Astronomy, or otherwise that Valens only meant the Time of her Prosperity, when the Laws of Polity were strictly obey’d, when the publick Peace was preserv’d, when their Senate was in high Estimation among the People, when the Empire flourish’d and was under a regular Administration, and there was no such Thing as Tyranny, and Arbitrary Power among them. But to finish the Oracular Predictions concerning this City, I come now to Zosimus, a very ancient Historian, if compar’d with Tzetzes, and Zonaras. This Author writes, that Constantinople was arriv’d to such a State of Grandeur, and Magnificence, that no City in the World was to be compar’d with it, in point of Greatness, or Prosperity. And yet, as he proceeds, when after a long Search I could find no divine Oracle, or Prophecy presignifying any Increase of Happiness to Constantinople, I at last accidentally, having read many Historians, and other Authors for that Purpose, met with an Oracular Prediction of a Sibyl, nam’d Erythræa Phaelles, or Phaenno of Epirus. This Woman, they tell you, being inspir’d, utter’d Oracles, to which Nicomedes, the Son of Prussias, conforming himself, especially in such Predictions as might be some Advantage to himself, enter’d into a War with his Father. The Oracle runs thus:

This Oracle or Prophecy, says Zosimus, truly fore-tells, tho’ in an Ænigmatical Manner, all the Calamities which would befall the Bythinians, by Reason of an excessive Tribute which had been demanded of them, and presignifies also their speedy Subjection to the Empire of Constantinople. And tho’ this did not happen till a long Time after, yet let no Man from thence infer, that the Time of the Accomplishment of the Prediction was expired before it came to pass. For all Time is but for a Moment with God, who is eternal. This Interpretation of the Oracle, says the Historian, I observed to be true, by comparing the Event of Things with the Words of the Prophecy; and adds, that if any other Interpretation seems more agreeable, any one is at his own Liberty to follow it. And to confirm the more this Explication of it, he tells us, how Constantine the Great and his Sons, oppress’d not only Bithynia, but the whole World with severe Exactions, so that whole Cities, unable to pay the Levies, remained desolate. The learned Tzetzes before-mentioned, explains this Oracle in another Manner, and says, that it was delivered by Phaenno. This Sybil, says he, was long ago famous for her Oracles, and foretold same Things many Ages since, which were accomplished but a little before the Times we live in; as the Conquest of Persia over the Empire, the Slavery and Subjection of the Emperor to them, his Dethronement by his People and Nobles, the Wars of the Scythians with the Eastern Empire, by whom she seems to mean the Turks. Thus far Zosimus. This Oracle, tho’ it be very antient, yet, amidst the present Ruins of Constantinople, it never appeared so manifest as now.

But to proceed in my Narration of other Monuments of Antiquity; On the Brow of the fourth Hill, which lies Eastward, you see a Church built to the Honour of Almighty God, which has been much celebrated in the Writings of modern Historians. The Walls of it within side are incrusted with several Kinds of Marble: It has two Porches or Vestibules, many lesser Cupola’s covered with Lead, the largest of which is supported with four Pillars of red Marble variegated, each of which Pillars measures seven Foot in Circumference. There’s another Cupola which bears upon four Arches, which are supported with four Pillars of Thebaic Marble. On the South Side of the fourth Hill there is erected a Pillar, which nearly resembles that, which was lately, as I observed, standing in the Exacionion, but is now removed into the Precinct of the Seraglio. Round the Basis of it there runs a Wreath of Laurel-work, and the Standard of the Cross, curiously cut in Basso Relievo. At the Foot of the fifth Hill is a double Wall, which encloses a Street now called Phanarium, because as the Inhabitants tell you, when the City was formerly besieged, it was built in the Space of one Night by Candle-light. I am induced from the Authority of Dionysius to believe, that Mellacopsas stood near this Street; the Reason why it was so called I have shewn in my Treatise of the Bosporus. On the Top of the fifth Hill stands the Palace of Selimus the Grand Signor, with a Caravansera, and his Tomb. Near it is a very large Cistern, in a pleasant Meadow, which is despoiled of its Roof and Pillars.

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 Magnaura.

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.

Chap. VIII. Of the Statues, and the antient Tripos of Apollo, standing in the Xerolophon.

SUIDAS writes, that the Xerolophon was formerly call’d Thema, because it was a kind of Repository, and contained in it fifteen winding Apartments, the Statue of Diana, and Severus, who built it; besides a Thermation, a Tripos from whence many Oracles were deliver’d. In this Place, the Founder of it us’d to offer Sacrifices; and among others he sacrificed a Virgin. Priscian, whom I find mention’d by Benedictus Ægius, indefatigably curious in his Search of Antiquity, observes, That the Azoles sometimes inserted in a Word the Letter Ϝ, as I have taken Notice of in some Inscriptions of a very antient Tripos of Apollo, still remaining in the Xerolophon; the Words of which are written after this Manner; Δημοφάϝων, Λαϝονάϝων. He tells us, that ’tis customary in another Place, meaning among the Æolians, to place an Ϝ between two Vowels of the same Word; as in ὄϝις, ovis, Δάϝος, Davus, ὦϝον, ovum. I have seen, says he, the same in some old Inscriptions, in very antient Characters, on some Tripos’s, especially on the Tripos of Apollo, which is at Constantinople; as Δημοφόϝων for Δημοφόων, Λαϝοκόϝων for Λαοκόων. Others add, that there were the like Insertions in the Xerolophon, a little above the Basis of the Pillars of Marcian, Valentinian, and Theodosius the Less. Zonaras tells us, that Simeon, a Prince of the Bulgarians, a Man of a cruel and turbulent Spirit, march’d an Army against the Chrobatians; when he was conquer’d, and lost his Army, partly by the Badness of the Roads, some Body inform’d the Emperor that the Statue plac’d above the Arch in the Xerolophon, looking Westward, was carv’d for the Statue of Simeon of Bulgaria, and that if any one cut off the Head of the Statue, Simeon should immediately die. The Emperor commands the Head of the Statue to be chopt off, and soon received the News that Simeon was dead of a violent Pain of the Stomach. For he watch’d to a Minute the Time of his Death. As to the Port of Theodosius, that was in the same Place where the Gardens, which are now call’d the Blancha, stand at present. These Gardens are enclos’d with a Wall, and are seated in a Plain, adjoyning to the Shore of the Propontis, at the Foot of the sixth Hill. The Mouth of the Port stood Eastward, from whence the Pier extended it self Westward, in a direct Line, where at present stand the Walls of the City. The Pier was twelve Foot in Thickness; and, as I found by walking it, ’twas six Hundred of my Paces in length. ’Tis now entirely ruin’d. The Gardens, which are very spacious, abound with Sallets and Potherbs, but have very few Fruit-Trees. These Gardens are water’d with Pools, which they have within them, and which are the Remains of the old Port. I discover’d by the Pier, and Situation of the Place, that ’twas above a Mile in compass. In the Mouth of the Port, not altogether unfit for Ships at present, without the City Wall, you still see a Fortress in its Ruins, surrounded by the Sea. The unknown Writer of the Empire of Constantinople asserts, That it was first called Thema, afterwards the Forum of Theodosius; tho’ it seems to me rather to be the Forum of Arcadius, by Reason the Pillar of Arcadius joyns to it. For the Forum of Theodosius, in all Probability, stood near the Port of Theodosius. This is no more than what is conformable to the Rules of Architecture, which prescribe, that a Market should be built near a Port. I am of Opinion, that it was formerly call’d the Port of Eleutherius, if we may credit those Writers who affirm, That Constantine the Great built a Wall from the Ridge of the first Hill to the Port of Sophia, and the Port of Eleutherius, built by Constantine the Great, to prevent the Inundations of the Sea. ’Tis called the Port of Eleutherius, because, when ’twas built, he was Surveyor of the Works. It was for this Reason, that there was a Marble Statue erected to him in that Port, bearing on his Shoulders a Basket of Marble, and holding in his Hand a Marble Spade. They add further, that Irena, and her Son Constantine, built him a noble Seat; and that from that Seat, as far as the Amastrianum, reach’d the Hippodrom, which was built by Theodosius the Great, and was demolish’d by Irena. Zonaras writes, that Irena, after she was remov’d from the Government by Constantine her Son, liv’d in a House which she built in the Port of Eleutherius. The Portico’s, which the ancient Description of the Wards of the City names with the Epithet Troadeæ, others mention with that of Troadesiæ, and tell us, that Constantine the Great built the Walls of the City as far as the Portico’s call’d Porticus Troadesiæ (that is, the Trojan Portico’s) and the Porta Aurea, which stood in the twelfth Ward. I am of Opinion, that they were call’d the Trojan Portico’s, because they contain’d some Things of the like Kind with that which was called the Porticus Varia. ’Tis reported, says he, that in the Portico, formerly call’d Plesiactia, and now Pæcilla, or Porticus Varia, a celebrated Painter drew the Face of Laodice, on the Picture of Elpinica. I had not known it by the Name it goes at present, had it not been for a Spring near it which they call Χρυσοπηγὴ, as deriving its Name from the Porta Aurea. This Spring, to this Day, constantly flows, and is drank with great Devotion by the Greeks, who hold all Springs, near their Churches, to be sacred. There’s nothing of the Church remaining at present, tho’ Procopius takes Notice of it. Justinian, says he, built two Churches to the Virgin Mary, before the Walls of the City one in the Blachernæ, the other in a Place call’d Πηγὴ, where there is a large Wood of Cypresses, a verdant Meadow, and a delightful Garden, which produces a great Store of fine Fruit, and where there is also a gentle Spring, which affords very good drinking Water. One of the Churches stood near the Sea-shore, the other near the Porta Aurea. Both of them, he adds, were near the end of the City Walls, and were upon Occasion impregnable Fortresses to it. From hence I would remark, that in the Time of Justinian, the Angle of the City, which they call the Angle of the seven Towers, was not within the City; but that the Land-wall from the Porta Aurea, straitned the Angle of the City into a more narrow Compass, as appears from the Situation of the Monastery of Studius, which stood upon a piece of Ground, which was formerly look’d upon to be in the Suburbs, but now stands further within the Walls, than the Angle of the seven Towers. He proceeds, and tells us, that Justinian, at a vast Expence, upon the Entrance of the Porta Aurea on the right Hand, rebuilt the Temple of Ja, (which Time had wholly defac’d) for the Service of the True God. The Observation I would make from hence is, that the Porta Aurea stood near the seventh Hill, call’d the Xerolophon, which is also confirm’d by Zonaras, who writes, That in the Time of Leo, many Churches and Houses, the Statue of Arcadius, plac’d upon a Pillar in the Xerolophon, and the Statue of Theodosius the Great, placed upon the Porta Aurea, as also the City Walls, reaching to the Continent on the Field side, were overthrown by an Earthquake. Cedrinus asserts, that the Statue of Victory, near the Porta Aurea, was overturn’d by the same Earthquake. Other Historians mention, that by the same Earthquake, which happen’d the Vᵗʰ of the Calends of November, many sacred Buildings, and many others of common Use, with Multitudes of People, were destroy’d; and that the Statue of Constantine the Great, which stood upon the Gate of Attalus, with the Gate it self, was demolish’d by it. It is therefore a great Mistake in those, who take the Porta Aurea to be the same Gate which is now call’d Oria, and is seated in the Northern Part of the City, which, as I observ’d before, was called the Port of Neorius, since ’tis plain from what I have mentioned, that the Porta Aurea was in the Western Part of the City. This is also evident from the antient Description of the Wards of Constantinople, which tells us, that the Length of the City, from the Porta Aurea to the Sea-shore, in a direct Line, is fourteen Thousand and seventy five Feet. Cedrinus takes Notice, that the Elephants stabled in the Porta Aurea, were much of that Kind, with which Theodosius made his publick Entry into the City. ’Tis said that Theodosius the Less who built the Walls of the City as far as the Blachernæ, brought the Statues of those Elephants, which are plac’d upon the Porta Aurea, from the Temple of Mars at Athens. Cedrinus asserts, that Philip King of Macedon built the great Church of Mocius the Martyr, and a Church to St. Anne in a Place call’d Secundus. Procopius says, that both these Churches were built by Justinian. I have seen some Remains of the Church of Mocius, near a large Cistern, built by Justinian, on the Top of the seventh Hill. All its Pillars are standing, and it goes still under the Name of Mocius. Some Historians, and Suidas the Grammarian say, that this Cistern was built by Anastasius Dicorus. It may be worth Enquiry, whether the Moneta, which the antient Description of the Wards places in this Ward, was the Temple of Juno Moneta, or the Treasury. For the Grand Seignor, to this Day, makes use of the Castle with seven Towers for a Treasury. Suidas writes, that the Statue of Juno was supported by a Brazen Arch, made somewhat in Form of a Pair of Barbers Scissars, but takes no Notice where it stood; so that I desire the Reader would lay no great Stress upon what I have said of the Moneta.

Chap. IX. Of the Columns now remaining on the Seventh Hill.

THE Church standing here is called Studios, because it was built by one Studius an eminent Citizen of Constantinople. It was he, says Suidas, who built this Church with a handsome Monastery. Justinian, in his Constitutions, takes Notice of him, when he says, That there were two Biers plac’d in the sacred Treasury; one to the Memory of the Famous Studius, and the other to the Memory of the Magnificent Stephanus. The Monastery built by Studius was call’d Studium, which is entirely demolish’d. The Church remains, tho’ converted into a Mosque. In its Porch are four Pillars with a Trabeation curiously finish’d. In the Inside of the Mosque, there are on each side seven green Pillars, streak’d with black Veins, and look as if they were inlay’d with Pieces of Stone of another kind. Each of them measures in Circumference six Foot and six Digits. Their Capitals, and Architraves, are finish’d after the Corinthian Manner, as are those which stand in the Vestibule. In the upper Part of it stands another Order of six Pillars. In the Courts of the Mosque is a Cistern; the Roof of it, which is Brick-work, is supported by twenty three lofty Corinthian Pillars. The Monastery of Studius is now within the Walls of the City, tho’ it formerly stood without it, near the way you go from the Pillar of Arcadius to the Gate of the seven Towers. The Passage of this Gate is at present fill’d up; the Jambs of it are two Corinthian Pillars of spotted Marble, streak’d with green Veins, which sustain eight smaller Pillars, which support three Arches above. On the left Side of the Gate are six Marble Tables, all of which are enclos’d, some with round, some with square Pilasters, upon which are carv’d many fine Statues. They are all of them Naked, of exquisite Workmanship, in a fighting Posture, with Clubs in their Hands, the tallest of which have engrav’d over them winged Cupids. On the right Side of the Gate are six more Tables, enclos’d as the former. Upon the lowest of these there lies a young Man, with his Face upwards, and his Legs folded, holding a musical Instrument in his Hand. There hangs over him a little Figure, in the Likeness of a Cupid, and above the Cupid there rises a Woman. Upon the highest Table there’s carved a naked Statue, with a Club in his Hand; his right Arm is cover’d with a Lyon’s Skin, and with his left Hand he is leading Dogs. Above him is the Statue of a Lyoness with full Dugs. Upon another Table are carv’d two Husbandmen carrying Baskets full of Grapes; and upon another is the Statue of a flying Horse. The Bridle is held by a Woman, behind whom stand two Women more: At the Top of the Table there’s another Woman in a recumbent Posture, and opposite to her a young Man lying on the Ground. I took particular Notice of these Figures, by Reason of the Antiquity, and the admirable Sculpture of them. I saw also upon the seventh Hill, among others, four Mosques of curious Workmanship. Their Vestibules and Pillars were all of Marble. Three of them stood on the Eastern Side of the Hill, two of whose Vestibules were adorn’d with six lofty and large Pillars; two of which were of Thebean Marble, and the other four of different kinds of Marble, vein’d with a dark green. The other stands near the Pillar of Arcadius, lately built by the Consort of Solyman the Grand Seignor, (with a handsome Caravansera, and a College, where the Turkish and Arabian Learning is profess’d) in which I counted more than sixty Pillars of different kinds. On the Top of the Hill there are two other Mosques, one of which has Bagnio’s, and Colleges joyning to it. The Vestibule of it is beautify’d with six Pillars of Thebean Marble, which measure each six Foot in Circumference. Their Bases and Capitals are finish’d after the Turkish Manner. The Shafts of the Pillars are very ancient, especially of those two which face the Door of the Mosque, whose Hypotrachelions at Top are more slender than the Shafts, tho’ in the lower Parts of them, they are equal to them, as a Man’s Neck is less in Circumference near the Head, than the Shoulders. ’Tis adorn’d with one Annulet, which rises in the manner of a Ring. Above it there’s another Annulet, which is broad and flat. I saw no Hypotrachelion, all the Time I was at Constantinople, which came so near the Model of Vitruvius, as this; who delivers it as his Judgment, that the Hypotrachelion ought to be contracted in the upper Part of it, as you may see in his third Book de Ionicis. There’s another Mosque on the same Hill, the Vestibule of which is beautify’d with six very lofty Pillars; in the College Court there are fourteen, and as many in a Portico adjoyning to it.

Chap. X. Of the Thirteenth Ward of the City, call’d the Sycene Ward, of the Town of Galata, sometimes nam’d Pera.

THE Antient Description of the Wards of the City takes Notice, that Galata was formerly a Part of the City. The Thirteenth Ward of New Rome, says the Author, is the Sycene Ward, which is divided from it by a narrow Bay, and preserves an Intercourse with it, by Boats and Shipping. It is seated on the Side of a Hill, except a broad Tract of Land at the Foot of it, which lies upon the Level. Stephanus says, that the Town of Sycæ was situated against New Rome, and that it was call’d in his Time Sycæ Justinianæ, but does not give the Reason why it was call’d so. Probably it was, because Justinian either repair’d or rebuilt it; for which Reasons principally Cities frequently change their Names. I wonder that Procopius never took Notice of this Place, since he has given us an exact Description of all the Edifices of the Bay, call’d the Chrysoceras, which were either built or repair’d by him; unless perhaps the Mistake be in Procopius, by inserting the Word Jucundianæ instead of Justinianæ, when he tells us, that Justinian rebuilt the Palaces of the Suburbs in the Chalcopratia, as also in the Place call’d Sycæ Jucundianæ. If the Fault be not in Procopius, ’tis an Errour of Stephanus, who writes Justinianæ for Jucundianæ. But ’tis plain, that Stephanus wrote long before the Time of Justinian; so that if there be any Blunder, ’tis none of Stephanus, but Hermolaus, a Grammarian of Constantinople, who abridg’d the Commentaries of Stephanus, and dedicated them to Justinian. If I might give my Opinion, I should rather call it Sycæ Justinianæ, than Jucundianæ, because it appears to me it should be so, not only by comparing some Books of Procopius and Justinian which have been publish’d, but also by the Authorities of several MSS. Justinian asserts in his Constitutions, That ’tis agreeable to Equity, if a Corpse be carried to the Grave to a great Distance, that the Deacons attending it, should have some Acknowledgment. He subjoyns a little after, That he is of the same Opinion, if the Corpse be bury’d within the new Walls of the City or this Side of the Sycæ Justinianæ. This is but a small Procession, and it requires not much Time or Pains to walk thither; but, says he, if the Body be carried beyond the Walls of this flourishing City, or beyond any other Stairs, than those which lead to Sycæ——There’s no Occasion to add what follows. I would only have the Reader observe, that the Word πέρασμα which the Latins interpret Terminus, or a Boundary, signifies properly Trajectus, a Ferry, or the Stairs from whence you sail from one Place to another. ’Tis evident, from what I have quoted, that the Town call’d Sycæ is on the other side of the Bay facing Constantinople, altho’ Stephanus has not declar’d against what Part of the City it lies. I observe notwithstanding from the Treatise above mention’d, that the sixth Ward reach’d from the Forum of Constantine to the Ferry against Sycæ, which is now call’d the Ferry of Pera, or Galata. As I would pay a just Regard to the Authorities of some more modern Historians, I hall produce several Testimonies from them. They assert, that Absimarus, the Commander in Chief of the Forces which besieg’d Constantinople, harbour’d in the Port of Sycæ against the City. Evagrius writes, that the Heads of Longinus, and Theodorus, stuck upon Poles, were sent to Constantinople by Johannes a Scythian, and by the Emperor’s Command were fix’d upon the Shore of Sycæ, opposite to Constantinople; a pleasant Spectacle to the Inhabitants of the City! He adds further, That Vitalianus made an Incursion as far as Sycæ, and that when he came to an Anchor there, the Emperor Anastasius sent Marinus an Assyrian Admiral to fight him. Both Fleets prepare for the Engagement; the one facing Constantinople, the other Sycæ. For some Time they kept their Stations; after some small Skirmishes, and Attacks on both Sides, the Fight began near the Places call’d the Vitharia. Vitalianus having lost most of his Men, was forced to bear off, so that there was not the least Appearance of an Enemy in all the Bosporus. Nor am I induc’d to change my Opinion by the Authority of Strabo, who seems to place Sycæ at some Distance from the Bay. The Bosporus, says he, straitning it self from the Promontory into the Measure of five Stadia, or Furlongs, widens at the Harbour plac’d below Sycæ into thirty Furlongs, and from Sycæ to the Chrysoceras it contracts it self again into five Furlongs. Nor would this Opinion any ways contradict what I have said before, if my Author had meant by the Ceras of the Byzantians, what Pliny ’tis plain did, viz. the Bosporian Promontory where Byzantium stood. But Strabo immediately subjoins, that the Ceras was a Bay which was sixty Furlongs in length; and therefore it appears to me, that the Mistake lies either in Cod. Strabon. or in the Historian himself, as is fully evident from the Authority of Dionysius, a very ancient Writer of the History of Constantinople, which was his Native Place. This Author has recorded it, that Sycodes, or Sycæ, is the same Place near the Bay call’d Ceras, where Galata stands at present, as I have more evidently shewn in my Treatise of the Bosporus. The People of Pera therefore are grosly in the wrong, when they tell us, that Pera was first built by the Genoese; when it is plain that Pera was built long before they were suppos’d either to have purchas’d the Town, or to have receiv’d it as a Reward of their Sea-Services, from some Emperor of Constantinople; since Justinian places Sycæ within the Walls of the City, and Agathius assures us, it was enclosed with Walls, when he writes, that the People of Constantinople were in such a Consternation upon the Approach of the Enemy, that the Forces of Justinian were obliged to climb the Walls of Sycæ, to make a more vigorous Defence. Sycæ, by Stephanus, is call’d a City, as it is also by some modern Writers; but more antient Authors, who liv’d before Galata was taken by the Genoese, call it the Cittadel of Galata. They tell us farther, that a Fleet of the Saracens was station’d from the Magnaura to the Cyclobion; and that after it had continu’d two Days in that Station, Part of it was driven by a Storm to the Cittadel of Galata, as far as the Clydion, where the Emperor of Constantinople destroy’d it, from Acropolis, with liquid Fire. Zonaras writes, that when Michael the Emperor was besieged both by Sea and Land, he was so terribly distrest, that he was forc’d to lay a Boom across the Sea from Acropolis, to a small Town on the opposite Shore. There is at this Day a Gate at Galata, which is call’d the Boom-Gate. ’Tis however beyond Dispute, that Galata was more than once enlarg’d by the Genoese: This appears from the Walls, which at several Times they have built about it, being fortified on the East by Double, and on the West by Treble Walls, denoting the gradual Increase of the Town. You may see at present the antient Sycæ, enclos’d in the middle of Galata, situate against the sixth Ward, and the Sycene Ferry, all built on the Side of a Hill, just as ’tis represented in the Antient Description of the Wards, except one broad Piece of Ground, which lies upon a Level on the Shore at the Foot of the Hill. This Tract of Land was at least a hundred Roman Paces broad. For at present, between the Hill and the Bay, there is a Plain to be seen of an equal, if not of a larger Breadth; because, in such a Length of Time, it is widen’d, as may be observ’d daily, by the Abundance of Filth and Nastiness, which is cast about it. To make it subside at the Bottom, the Inhabitants have fix’d wooden Troughs upon Piles, which they drive into the Earth by an Engine, much like a Rammer. By this Means the Plain upon the Shore is enlarg’d, and made more commodious for Havens. But that the Reader may understand more perfectly where the Sycene Ward stood formerly, I will describe the Situation of Galata, as it stands at present.

Chap. XI. A Description of Galata; of the Temples of Amphiaraus, Diana, and Venus; of the Theatre of Sycæ, and the Forum of Honorius.

THE Sycene Ward, which is commonly called Galata, or Pera, ought more properly to be called the Peræan Ward. Thus it is that Josephus calls Judæa, because it lay on the other Side of the River Jordan: And thus it is, that Strabo calls that Part of the Countrey which lies on the other Side of Euphrates. The Reason alledg’d by the Inhabitants, why ’tis call’d Galata, is, as they tell you, (being impos’d upon by the Allusion of the Name) that Milk was formerly sold there: And I make no Question of it, did they but know, that Galata was formerly call’d Sycæ, they would derive its Name from the Word Fig; and pretend to justify their Mistake from the Authority of Dionysius their Countryman, who says, that it was originally call’d Sycæ, from the Fairness and Abundance of that Fruit which grew there. But their Conjectures had been grounded upon a better Foundation, if they had deriv’d the Name of Galata from the Galatæ, back’d by the Authority of Johannes Tzetzes (a Citizen of Constantinople, and a very industrious Grammarian) in his Var. Hist. written above four hundred Years ago. This Author tells us, that Brenus a Gaul, and Commander in Chief of the Gauls, whom the Greeks call Γαλάται, pass’d over the Sea from thence to a Place of Byzantium, and that this Place for this Reason was call’d Pera, which was after their Arrival call’d Galata. This Place is seated partly on a Hill, and partly on a Plain at the Foot of it. This Hill is enclosed on the East and West by two Valleys, each of which is about a Mile in length. The Ridge of the Hill shoots from North to South, and is in no Part of it less than two hundred Paces broad, and of equal Length with the Valleys that enclose it, and joins to the Plain upon the Continent. The South Side of this Hill, and the Plain below it, is bounded by the Bay of Ceras, which makes it almost a Peninsula of a semicircular Figure, in the Form of a drawn Bow, with this Difference only, that the Western Point of it is larger by half; and not quite so long as the Eastern. Galata, as ’tis enclos’d with a Wall, is four Thousand and four Hundred Paces in Compass. It varies, in many Places, as to its Breadth. In the middle of the Town ’tis six hundred Paces broad. The Bay and the Walls stand at twenty Paces Distance. The Plain that runs between the Bay and the Hill, is a hundred and eighty, and the Hill it self four hundred Paces broad. The Eastern Side of Galata, at the first Entrance of it, is four hundred Paces in breadth; after which it contracts it self into the Breadth of two hundred and sixty Paces only. The Western Side of it, which stands without Old Galata, rises upon a moderate Ascent, which winds Southward, and adjoyns to a small Descent, which terminates Westward near the Walls of Old Galata. The Town therefore of Galata stands upon a Treble Descent; one of which winds from North to South, another falls Easterly, and another at West. The Declivity which crosses the Breadth of it, stretches from North to South; and is so steep, that in many Places you are forced to climb it by Steps; so that you ascend the first Floor of the Houses, which stands upon a Level, by Ladders. The Eastern and Western Side of Galata have a double Declivity; one from North to South, the other to East and West; so that not only those Parts of it which lie in a strait Line, but those Ways also which are winding, or lie Cross-ways, have their Descents; but the Eastern Side of the Town is more upon the Declivity than the Western Side of it. To be short, Galata is of such a Steepness, that if all the Houses were of an equal Height, the upper Rooms would have a full View of the Sea, and of all the Ships sailing up and down in it. And not only Galata, but almost the whole City of Constantinople would have the same Privilege, if that Law, which was first made by Zeno, and afterwards ratify’d by Justinian, was in full Force. This Law expressly forbids any Man to hinder or obstruct an open and entire View of the Sea, or indeed a Side Prospect of it, and enjoyns the Inhabitants to build at least at a hundred Paces Distance from it. The Level Part of the Town, which runs between the Bottom of the Hill and Bay, is, in no Place of it, less than two hundred Paces broad. Towards the Ends of it ’tis much broader; and, in some Places, it widens to the Length of five hundred Paces. The Town is thrice as long as it is broad. It extends it self in Breadth from North to South, in Length from East to West. The Western Side of it is broader than the Eastern, and almost of an equal Breadth with the middle of the City. For in a Length of five hundred Paces, ’tis no less than five hundred Paces broad. The Eastern Side of Galata is more narrow, where it is no more than two hundred and sixty Paces broad. The Shore round the Town is full of Havens. Between the Walls and the Bay is a Piece of Ground, where are Abundance of Taverns, Shops, Victualing-houses, besides several Wharfs, where they unlade their Shipping. It has six Gates, at three of which there are Stairs, from whence you sail over to Constantinople. Galata is so situate to the North of Constantinople, that it faces the first, second, and third Hills, and the first and second Valley of that City; having in Front the Bay of Ceras, and Constantinople, and behind it some Buildings of the Suburbs. For many of these Buildings stand partly on the Top of the Hill, and partly on the Sides of it. The Town, it self does not rise to the Ridge of the Hill. Where Galata rises highest, there is yet standing a very lofty Tower, where there is an Ascent of about three hundred Paces, full of Buildings, and beyond that is the Ridge of the Hill upon a Level, about two hundred Paces broad, and two thousand Paces long. Thro’ the middle of it runs a broad Way full of Houses, Gardens, and Vineyards. This is the most pleasant Part of the Town; from hence, and from the Sides of the Hill, you have a full View of the Bay of Ceras, the Bosporus, the Propontis, the seven Hills of Constantinople, the Countrey of Bithynia, and the Mountain Olympus, always cover’d with Snow. And besides these, there are many other additional Buildings, which adorn the Hills, and Vales adjoining to this Town. It has the same Number of Hills and Vales as Constantinople it self; so that the Inhabitants, whenever they please, can make the Town one third larger than it is at present; and if the Grandeur of the Byzantian Empire continues a hundred Years longer, Galata, it is not improbable, may seem to rival Constantinople it self. They who write that Byzas, the Founder of Byzantium, built the Temple of Amphiaraus in Sycæ, are somewhat in the wrong, tho’ not grosly mistaken. For Dionysius a Byzantian tells us, that behind Sycæ stood the Temple of Amphiaraus, which was built by those who transplanted a Colony to Constantinople, under the Command of Byzas. Both the Grecians, and the Megarians, honour’d Amphiaraus as a God. But altho’ the Temple of Amphiaraus did not stand in the Place which Dionysius calls Sycæ; yet the Word Sycæ signified a larger Tract of Ground, after it was made a City; so that the Temples of Amphiaraus, of Diana Lucifera, and of Venus Placida, all stood within the Limits of it, as I have fully made it appear in my Treatise of the Bosporus. But there are no Remains of these Buildings at present, nor of those Edifices, which, the Antient Description of the City tells you, were in the Sycene Ward. The oldest Man now living cannot so much as tell where those Temples antiently stood, nor ever read or heard, whether there was ever such a Place as the Sycene Ward. Thus far only we can guess from the Rules and Usuage of Architecture, that the Theatre, and Forum of Honorius, stood at the Bottom of the Hill upon a Plain, where Theatres are generally built, as I frequently observ’d in my Travels thro’ Greece. There was standing a Forum, in a Level Ground, (near to the Haven, where is now built a Caravansera, in the Ruines of a Church dedicated to St. Michael) when first I came to Constantinople. This Forum was well supply’d with Water by an ancient subterraneous Aqueduct. In short, there is nothing to be seen at present of old Sycæ. Those antient Pillars we see in some Mosques at Galata, are said to have been imported by the Genoese: Some of them are of very antient Workmanship, and well finish’d. The Cistern of St. Benedict, now despoil’d of its Roof, and three hundred Pillars, which supported it, (now turn’d into a Cistern for watering the Priest’s Gardens) shews it to be a very antique and expensive Work.

From what has been wrote upon this Subject, the Reader may learn how renown’d Constantinople has been for its Monuments of Antiquity. It would take up another Volume, to enlarge upon the Publick Buildings of the Mahometans at present, and to explain for what Uses they were intended. I shall just touch upon a few Things, which are the most remarkable. The City, as it now stands, contains more than three hundred Mosques, the most magnificent of which were built by their Emperors and Basha’s, and are all cover’d at Top with Lead and Marble, adorn’d with Marble Columns, the Plunder and Sacrilege of Christian Churches, as these were before beautify’d with the Spoils of the Heathen Temples. It has above a hundred publick and private Bagnio’s, fifty of which are very spatious, and of two Lengths, much like those I have describ’d, built by their Emperour Mahomet. Their Caravansera’s, and publick Inns, are much above a Hundred; the most famous of which, in the Middle of their Court-yard, are furnish’d with Fountains of Water, brought from the Fields adjoyning to the City. Their Emperors have peculiarly distinguish’d themselves in this Respect. Thus does Eusebius enlarge in the Praise of Constantine: In the middle of their Fora, says he, you may see their Fountains adorn’d with the Emblems of a good Pastor, well known to those who understand the Sacred Writings; namely, the History of Daniel and the Lyons figur’d in Brass, and shining with Plates of Gold. Valens, and Andronicus, at a vast Expence made Rivers, at a remote Distance, tributary to the Town; partly by directing their Courses under Arches, at this Time appearing above Ground, and partly by Channels dug under it. Several other Emperors, with no less Cost, made themselves Fish-ponds, and subterraneous Lakes, by after Ages call’d Cisterns, in every Ward of the City, and that principally to supply them with Water in Case of a Siege. But the Enemies of Constantinople lie at present at such a Distance from them, that they have either entirely ruin’d their Cisterns, or converted them to another Use. I shall take no Notice of the stately Houses of their Noblemen and Basha’s, nor of the Grand Signor’s Palace, which spreading it self all over old Byzantium, is constantly supply’d with Rivers, which flow in upon it, from distant Parts of the Neighbouring Countrey. I pass by their Lakes and Conduits, seated in every Part of the City, which serve them not only with Water to drink, but likewise carry off the Filth of it into the Sea, and wash away those Impurities of the Town, which clog and encumber the Air, and for which great Cities are generally look’d upon as unwholsome. I shall not mention at present, that almost all the Buildings of Constantinople are low, and made out of the Ruines, which the Fire and Earthquakes had spar’d; that many of them are not two Story high, rebuilt with rough Stones, or with burnt, and sometimes unburnt Bricks. I omit also the Houses of Galata, built by the Genoese. The Greeks who profess Christianity, have lost their six hundred Churches, and have not one left, of any Note, except the Church belonging to the Monastery, where their Patriarch dwells. The rest are either entirely ruin’d, or prostituted to the Mahometan Worship. The Francks have about Ten, the Armenians only Seven. The Jews have upwards of Thirty Synagogues, which are scarce sufficient to hold the numerous Congregations of that populous Nation. The Reader will view in a better Light the antient Monuments of Constantinople, when he shall peruse the Antient Description of the Wards of the City, finished before the Time of Justinian, and annex’d at the End of this Book. When this Treatise was first wrote, Constantinople was so fully peopled, that those who inhabited the Fora, and the broad Ways were very straitly pent up; nay, their Buildings were so closely joyn’d to one another, that the Sky, at the Tops of them, was scarce discernible. And as to the Buildings in the Suburbs, they were very thickly crowded together, as far as Selymbria, and the Black Sea; and indeed some Part even of the neighbouring Sea, was cover’d with Houses supported by Props under them. For these, and many other Monuments, was Constantinople antiently renown’d; none of which are remaining at present, except the Porphyry Pillar of Constantine, the Pillar of Arcadius, the Church of St. Sophia, the Hippodrom now in Ruines, and a few Cisterns. No Historian has recorded the Antiquities of Old Byzantium, before it was destroy’d by Severus; altho’ it is reasonable to believe, there were very many of them, especially if it be consider’d, that it long flourish’d in those Times of Heroism, when Art and Ingenuity were in high Estimation, and when Rhodes, no ways preferable to Byzantium, was beautify’d with no less than three thousand Monuments. ’Tis easy to form a Judgment, from the Strength and Proportion of its outside Walls, what beauteous Scenes of Cost, and Workmanship were contain’d within. This we know however for a Certainty, that Darius, Philip of Macedon, and Severus, demolish’d many of their Antiquities, and when they had ravag’d the whole City, that the Byzantians made a noble Stand against the Forces of Severus, with Statues, and other Materials, which were Part of the Ruines of the City. I have already in Part accounted for the Ruines of these Curiosities; I shall at present briefly mention some other Causes which contributed thereto; the Principal of which was the Division of their Emperors amongst themselves; frequent Fires, sometimes accidentally, sometimes designedly occasion’d, not only by their Enemies from abroad, but by their own Factions, and civil Dissensions among themselves; some of which burnt with a constant Flame three or four Days together. These Fires were so raging and terrible, that they did not only consume what was purely combustible, but they wasted the Marble Statues and Images, and Buildings made of the most tough and solid Materials whatsoever; nay, so fierce were they, that they devour’d their own Ruines, and laid the most mountainous Heaps of Rubbish even with the Ground. Nor were the antient Monuments of Old Byzantium demolish’d only by their Enemies, but even by those Emperors who had the greatest Regard and Affection for the City; the Chief of whom was Constantine the Great, who, as Eusebius reports, spoil’d the Temples of the Heathen Gods, laid waste their fine Porches, entirely unroofed them, and took away their Statues of Brass, of Gold and Silver, in which they glory’d for many Ages. And to add to the Infamy, that he expos’d them by way of Mockery and Ridicule, in all the most publick Places of the City. To disgrace them the more, he tells us, that he fill’d it with his own Statues of Brass, exquisitely finish’d; and then concludes, that he was so far incensed against the Heathen Monuments, that he made a Law for the utter Abolishment of them, and the entire Destruction of their Temples. How far Eusebius himself, and other Christian Authors were provoked against them, is plainly discernible in their Writings; namely, that they inveigh’d with the same Severity against the Images of their Gods, as they do at present against our Statues. The Emperors Basilius and Gregorius, were bitterly enrag’d not only against the Images themselves, but against those who wrote too freely in Justification of them. I shall not mention many other Emperors, Successors of Constantine, who were so much exasperated even with the Images of the Christians, that they not only destroy’d them, but proceeded with such Rigour against those who devis’d, or painted, or engrav’d them, that they were entitled the Iconomachi, or Champions that fought against them. I shall say nothing of the Earthquakes, mention’d in History, which happen’d in the Reigns of Zeno, Justinian, Leo Conon, Alexius Comnenus, whereby not only the most considerable Buildings of Constantinople, but almost the whole City with its Walls were demolish’d, so that they could scarce discover its antient Foundation, had it not been for the Bosporus, and Propontis, the eternal Boundaries of Constantinople, which enclose it. I pass by the large Wards of the City, which through the Poverty of the Inhabitants, after frequent Fires, and the Ravage of War, lay a long Time in Ruins, but were at last rebuilt; tho’ the Streets are promiscuously huddled up without Regularity, or Order. These were the Causes, as Livy relates of Old Rome, after it was burnt down, that not only the antient common Shores, but the Aquæducts and Cisterns, formerly running in the open Streets, now have their Courses under private Houses, and the City looks rather like one solid Lump of Building, than divided into Streets and Lanes. I shall not mention how the large Palaces of their Emperors, seated in the middle of the City, nor the Seats of the Nobility enclosing great Tracts of Land, nor how the old Foundations still appearing above Ground, nor the Remains of Buildings, discover’d by the nicest Discernment under it, are almost entirely defac’d. Had I not seen, the Time I liv’d at Constantinople, so many ruinated Churches and Palaces, and their Foundations, since fill’d with Mahometan Buildings, so that I could hardly discover their former Situation, I had not so easily conjectured, what Destruction the Turks had made, since they took the City. And tho’ they are always contriving to beautify it with publick Buildings, yet at present it looks more obscurely in the Day, than it did formerly in the Night; when, as Marcellinus tells us, the Brightness of their Lights, resembling a Meridian Sun-shine, reflected a Lustre from their Houses. The Clearness of the Day now only serves to shew the Meanness and Poverty of their Buildings; so that was Constantine himself alive, who rebuilt and beautify’d it, or others who enlarg’d it, they could not discover the Situation of their antient Structures. The Difficulties I labour’d under in the Search of Antiquity here were very great. I was a Stranger in the Countrey, had very little Assistance from any Inscriptions, none from Coins, none from the People of the Place. They, as having a natural Aversion to any thing that’s valuable in Antiquity, did rather prevent me in my Enquiries, so that I scarce dar’d to take the Dimensions of any Thing, being menac’d, and curs’d if I did, by the Greeks themselves. A Foreigner has no way to allay the Heat and Fury of these People, but by a large Dose of Wine. If you don’t often invite them, and tell them you’ll be as drunk as a Greek, they’ll use you in a very coarse manner. Their whole Conversation is frothy and insipid, as retaining no Custom of the old Byzantians, but a Habit of fuddling. It is not the least, among these Inconveniencies, that I could not have Recourse to so many Authors in describing Constantinople, as a Writer may have in describing Old Rome. They are so fond of Change and Novelty, that any Thing may be called Antique among them, which is beyond the Memory of them, or was transacted in the first Stages of Humane Life. And not only the magnificent Structures of antient Times have been demolish’d by them, but the very Names of them are quite lost, and a more than Scythian Barbarity prevails among them. The Turks are so tenacious of their own Language, that they give a new Name to all Places, which are forc’d to submit to their Power, tho’ it be never so impertinent and improper. They have such an Abhorrence of Greek and Latin, that they look upon both these Tongues to be Sorcery and Witchcraft. All the Assistance I had was my own Observation, the Memory, and Recollection of others, and some Insight into antient History. By these Assistances principally I discovered the Situation of the fourteen Wards of the City. The Inhabitants are daily demolishing, effacing, and utterly destroying the small Remains of Antiquity; so that whosoever shall engage himself in the same Enquiries after me, though they may far exceed me in Industry and Application, yet they will not be able to make any farther Discoveries of the Monuments of the fourteen Wards. But it is not my Intention to prefer my self above other Writers; if I can any way be assistant to future Times, my End is answered. I hope I need make no Apology for recording in History such Monuments as are falling into Ruines; and if my Stay at Constantinople was somewhat longer than I intended, I hope it will not be any Imputation upon me, as it was occasioned by the Death of my Royal Master. It was by his Command that I travelled into Greece, not with any Design of staying long at Constantinople, but to make a Collection of the antient Greek MSS. Not with any Intention of describing only that City; but as a farther Improvement of Human Knowledge, that I might delineate the Situation of several other Places and Cities. Upon the Death of my King, (not having Remittances sufficient) I was forc’d, with a small Competency, to travel thro’ Asia, and Greece, to this Purpose; and I can assure the Reader, that I did not undertake this Voyage upon any Prospect of sensual Pleasure, any View of worldly Interest, or any Affectation of popular Applause; no, I could have liv’d in Ease, more to my own Advantage; and in a much better State of Health, as to all Appearance, in my own Countrey. Not all the Dangers and Inconveniencies of a long and a laborious Voyage could ever move me to a speedy Return. How I came to engage my self in such unfortunate Travels I know not. I was very apprehensive of the Troubles and Dangers, which I must necessarily undergo, and which indeed have befallen me, before I ventur’d upon such an Undertaking; yet I would willingly persuade my self, that my Resolutions herein were Good, and my Design Honourable; being confirm’d in the Opinion of the Platonists, That we ought to be indefatigable in the Search of Truth; and, That ’tis beneath a Man to give over, when his Enquiries are Useful, and Becoming.