Gilles Pierre
The Antiquities of Constantinople
The Twelfth Ward
THE twelfth Ward, from the Entrance of the City at the Porta Aurea, is a long way upon the Level. ’Tis extended on the left Side of it by a gentle Descent, and is bounded by the Sea. This Ward is better guarded, and more handsomly beautified than any other, the Walls rising higher here than in any other part of the City. It contains the Porta Aurea; the Portico’s of Troas; the Forum of Theodosius; A Column with winding Stairs in its Inside; the Mint, or Treasury; the Port of Theodosius; eleven Streets; three hundred and sixty three great Houses; three large Portico’s; five private Baths; five private Mills, and nine Gradus. It has one Curator, one Vernaculus, thirty four Collegiati, and five Vico-Magistri.
NOTES
The Porta Aurea.] The Greeks call it ὡραία both on the account of its own Beautifulness, and that of the neighbouring Buildings; so that it is a palpable Mistake in those who call it Porta Neoria from the Dock, which is near to it. I take this to be the same Gate which Zonaras mentions in his Life of Leo the Philosopher. He calls it the Western Gate of the Golden Triclinium, from whence it is call’d the Porta Aurea, as is observ’d by Nicetas in his Life of Alexius Ducas, Marzulfus, and in the History of their Atchievements, after they had taken the City; as also by Nicephorus Gregoras, in his Treatise entituled, The Entry of Michael Palæologus into the City. In this Gate it is reported, the Elephants were stabled, which were much like those with which Theodosius made his publick Entry into Constantinople, as ’tis mention’d by Cedrinus. Some Historians tell us, that they were transported to Constantinople from the Temple of Mars Atheniensis. This Gate stood Easterly, facing the Sea, and as Nicephorus observes, overlook’d the Imperial Citadel through the City to a great Distance, and that from thence you might look very far backwards into the Inland Countries. This Gate, in a direct Line, was distant from the Sea-shore fourteen thousand and seventy five Feet, so that the City was about three Miles in Length.
The Portico’s of Troas.] I believe these Portico’s took their Name either from the People of Troas, who, while they continued there, built them; or from some Part of the City so call’d, or because some Goods and Merchandize were imported thither from Troas, as I observed before of the Granaries of Troas.
A Column with winding Stairs on its Inside.] Upon this Pillar was erected the Statue of Theodosius, which, as Zonaras writes, was near the Porta Aurea, and fell down in the Reign of Leo Isaurus. Gyllius is of Opinion, that this was the Statue of Arcadius, that the Shaft of it, with the Pedestal and Capital, consisted of twenty one Stones; and adds, that the Battels of Theodosius were carv’d upon it.
The Thirteenth Ward
THE thirteenth Ward is call’d the Sycæne Ward, which is divided from the City by a narrow Bay of the Sea, and maintains an Intercourse with it by Boats, and small Vessels. It stands wholly upon the Side of it, except a broad Tract of Land, which lies Level, at the Foot of it, near the Sea-shore. It contains one Church, the Bagnio’s and Forum of Honorius; A Theatre; A Dock for Ship-building; four hundred and thirty one great Houses; one large Portico; five private Bagnio’s; one publick, and four private Mills; with eight Gradus. It has one Curator, one Vernaculus, thirty four Collegiati, and five Vico-Magistri.
NOTES
The Sycene Ward.] This Ward is a Peninsula divided from Constantinople by a small Bay of the City. ’Tis at present call’d Galata, or Pera. Stephanus (de Urbibus) tells us, that Sycæ is a small City over against New Rome, which in his Time was called Justiniana. But Justinian himself, Novel. 59. Cap. 5. places it so far within the new Walls of the City, that, as he says, it ought to be looked upon as a Part of it. It was named by the Greeks Sycæna, from the great Produce it bears of the best Figs, as is observed by Cedrinus and Dionysius a Byzantian. ’Tis not inhabited at present by the Franks, for so the Greeks call the Latines. Gyllius is of Opinion that it was called Galata, because Brennus, Captain General of the Gauls, whom the Greeks call Γαλάται marched thither with his Army. It was also called Pera, that is, the Ferry, or Peræa, and stood on the other Side of the Water; as Josephus relates, that Judæa was on the other Side of Jordan; and as Strabo mentions a Place, which he says was on the other Side of Euphrates. Anastasius in his Constitutions calls it Sycæ, or the Ferry of Sycæ, where he commands the Dead to be bury’d without Fee, or Reward. ’Tis divided by a Hill that runs from North to South, and is bounded on each Side by two Vales, of a Mile in Length. Its Walls are four Thousand four Hundred Paces in Compass. Near to it, Justinian in his 159th Nov. seems to fix the Suburbs called Coparium: And Socrates in his 30th Chap. of his Eccles. Hist. tells us, that there’s a Place just against the City, which is called Sycæ. The Church of the Novatians was translated hither in the Reign of Constantine.
It maintained an Intercourse with Constantinople, by Boats and small Vessels.] There were in the Bay here many Thousands of small Boats, far exceeding the Number of those which are at Venice to carry Passengers from one Shore to the other, so that this Peninsula might reasonably be looked upon as a Part of the City. ’Tis almost surrounded with Mountains, at the Foot of which, towards the Sea, it lies all upon a Level to the opposite Shore. It contained a Church, the Forum, and Theatre of Honorius, and many other Ornaments and Curiosities in common with other Wards. There stood here a magnificent Church dedicated to St. Irene, which was built by Pertinax, who had pass’d the Consular Dignity, and was then Patriarch of Constantinople: And Constantine, when he had beautified the Ward with many stately Buildings, enclosed it with a Wall, as ’tis recorded by Cardinal Baronius in his Annals of the Year 314.
The Dock.] There was also a Place in this Ward where they built their Ships.
The Author has taken no Notice of two Streets which belonged to this Ward, and which would complete the Number of three hundred and twenty two Streets, mentioned in the Conclusion of his Treatise; but without the Addition of them, we can reckon them three hundred and twenty and no more.
The Fourteenth Ward
Although this Ward is look’d upon to be a fourteenth Part of the City, yet because it is divided from the other Wards by an intermediate Space of Land, and enclosed within its own Walls, it makes the Figure of a small City by it self. The Entrance of it at the Gate is somewhat upon the Level; but the right Side of it, rising into an Ascent, almost to the Middle of the broad Way, falls into a deep Descent, and ends afterwards near the Sea in a Plain. It contains a Church; the Palace; a Nympheum; some Baths; a Theatre; a Lusorium; a Wooden Bridge; eleven Streets; a hundred and sixty seven great Houses; two large Portico’s; five private Baths; one publick, and one private Mill; with five Gradus.
NOTES
The fourteenth Ward, which is enclosed within its own Walls, makes the Figure of a kind of small City by it self.] It was antiently looked upon to be a small City, because one of the Emperors had built there an Imperial Citadel. ’Tis very mountainous about it, and it descends towards the Sea, into the Bosom of a Plain. The Name of the Church in this Ward is not known at present.
A Palace.] This is the Place of Imperial Residence, which was antiently called Palatium, because Augustus dwelt in Mount Palatine at Rome. The Dwelling-House of Romulus was also called by the same Name. Wherefore, says Dion, speaking of Augustus, let the Emperor be where he pleases, yet the Place where he constantly dwells, is always called his Palace.
A Lusorium.] This probably was the same Place with the Ludus Venatorius, in which the Combatants exercised themselves before they engaged with wild Beasts; yet is it more probable, that it was so called from the Naves Lusoriæ, which were built there, of which Marcellinus takes Notice in his sixth Book, as also the Code of Theodosius de Lusoriis Danubii.
A Wooden Bridge.] Suidas writes, that near the Church of St. Mamas, there was a Bridge which consisted of twelve Arches, for there was a great Flood of Waters there. I believe this was after chang’d into a Stone Bridge.
Five Gradus, or Stairs.] At the End of this Ward, after the five Gradus, I would correct the Omission of my Author, by comparing this with the other Wards, and adding one Curator, one Vernaculus, thirty seven Collegiati, and five Vico-Magistri.
The Author, in his following summary View of the City, mentions five hundred and sixty Collegiati, but to complete the Number of them, there are wanting seven. Theodosius the Less has added three in Lib. de Commer. & Mercat. and makes the Number of them to be five hundred and sixty three.
A Summary View of the whole City
Having taken a particular View of the City, as divided into Wards, I shall now, continues my Author, give the Reader a more large and general Description of it, to shew that its Beauty and Magnificence is not only to be ascribed to Art and good Workmanship, but that Nature herself by the Mediation of the Elements, has happily contributed to its Security and Defence. The divine Providence has with so much Wisdom consulted the Preservation of its Inhabitants, even to future Ages, that a long Tract of Land, in the Nature of a Promontory, full of Windings and Harbours in its Sides, facing the Chaps of the Black-Sea, narrow in Breadth, is strongly fortified by the Sea. The Isthmus, the only Part of the City not bounded by the Sea, is at the same Time strengthened with a double Wall with numerous Towers on its Ramparts. The City thus enclosed and defended, contains in the Whole the following Buildings. Five Palaces; fourteen Churches; five divine Houses of the Augustæ; three of the most illustrious Ladies; eight Bagnio’s; two Basilica’s; four Fora’s; two Senate-Houses; five Granaries, or Store-Houses; two Theatres; two Lusoria; four Havens; one Circo; four Cisterns; four Nymphea; three hundred and twenty two Streets; four Thousand three hundred and eight large Houses; fifty two Portico’s; a hundred and fifty three private Baths; twenty publick, and a hundred and twenty private Mills; a hundred and seventeen Gradus; five Flesh Markets; one Porphyry Pillar; two Pillars with winding Stairs; one Colossus; one Golden Tetrapylum; the Forum of Augustus; the Capitol; the Mint, or Treasury; and three Gradus by the Sea-Shore. It was under the Care and Government of fourteen Curators, fourteen Vernaculi, five hundred and sixty Collegiati, and sixty five Vico-Magistri. The Length of the City from the Porta Aurea in a direct Line to the Sea-Shore, is fourteen Thousand and seventy five Feet; the Breadth of it, six Thousand one Hundred and fifty. Thus concludes the Author of the Description, I shall now go on with my
NOTES
It has five Palaces.] Old Rome, instead of these, has one Thousand one hundred and eighty Houses.
Fourteen Churches.] Rome had four Hundred and twenty four Temples.
Five divine Houses of the Augustæ, and of those who bore the Title of the Most Illustrious three.] The Houses of those Ladies, who bore the Title of Augustæ were called Divine. They had also other Marks of Imperiality and Honour conferr’d upon them. By the Mistake of the Writer these Houses were reckoned six, though they were no more in Number than five only, viz. two of Placidia, two of Pulcheria, and one of Eudocia, the Wife of Theodosius. As to the Houses belonging to the Ladies, entitled the Most Illustrious, one of them belonged to Marina, and the other two to Arcadia, and bore the same Title with themselves.
Eight Bagnio’s.] Victor writes, that at Rome there were eleven.
Two Basilica’s.] There were ten of them at Rome.
Four Fora’s.] At Rome there were eleven; Victor says nineteen.
Two Senate-Houses.] At Rome, as Victor says, there were three; one stood between the Capitol, and the Forum Romanum, where was the Temple of Concord; another by the Porta Capena, and a third in the Temple of Bellona, which stood in the Circo of Flaminius, where the Foreign Ambassadors resided, because they would not allow them Admittance into the City.
Five Granaries.] At Rome there were two hundred and ninety two.
Two Theatres.] At Rome there were three.
Two Lusoria.] At Rome, according to Victor, there were sixteen.
Four Havens.] At Rome there was but one.
One Circo.] At Rome there were two.
Four Cisterns.] At Rome there were none.
Four Nymphea.] At Rome there were fifteen.
Three hundred and twenty two Streets.] At Rome four Hundred and twenty four.
Four Thousand three hundred and eighteen large Houses.] At Rome there were forty six Thousand six hundred and two Insulæ, and one Thousand seven hundred and eighty large Houses. The Houses here mentioned were large roof’d Buildings, tyl’d at Top four Ways; the Insulæ were roof’d Buildings, tyl’d only before and behind.
Forty two Portico’s.] At Rome there were six only.
A hundred and fifty three private Baths.] At Rome there were eight hundred and fifty six.
Twenty publick, and a hundred and twenty private Mills.] At Rome two hundred and fifty four.
A hundred and seventeen Gradus.] At Rome none.
Five Flesh-Markets.] At Rome two only.
Five hundred and sixty Collegiati.] It is apparent that thirty seven of them are omitted in the last Ward. There was no such Office at Rome, yet there were, instead of them, Watchmen divided into seven Companies, whose Business, according to Dion and Suetonius, was much the same with that of the Collegiati.
Sixty five Vico-magistri.] It should be read seventy; for five of them are omitted in the last Ward. At Rome the Number of Collegiati was six hundred and seventy two.
A Porphyry Pillar.] There was no such Pillar, as Cedrinus says, at Rome, tho’ this was brought from thence. Gyllius writes, that this Pillar was made of square marble Stones, and that it stood in the Hippodrom.
Two Pillars with Winding-Stairs in the Inside of them.] There was the same Number at Rome.
One Colossus.] At Rome there were two. ’Tis omitted in the Description of the Wards, as many other Things of Note are.
The Golden Tetrapylum.] Gyllius quotes an unknown Author who will have this Tetrapylum to have been a Quadrangle with Portico’s round it, having Four Gates, and was formerly call’d Quadrivium. The Latines call it a Stadium. But there’s no such Place to be found in the Wards of the City, unless it be the Stadium in the Fourth Ward, which is omitted in the Summary View of the City. Cedrinus, in his Life of Leo Magnus, mentions this Tetrapylum. Evagrius in the twenty eighth Chapter of his third Book tells us, that it was built by the Senator Mammianus, in the Reign of Zeno. He built, says he, two stately Portico’s of exquisite Workmanship, and beautify’d them with a neat glossy Marble. As to the Tetrapylum built by Mammianus, there are not, as Gyllius tells us, the least Remains of it. Victor writes, that there was a Pentapylum in the tenth Ward of Rome.
The Augusteum.] This was the Forum of Augustus.
The Capitol.] At Rome, as Victor writes, there were two; the old and the new Capitol.
The Mint, or Treasury.] There was no such Place at Rome.
Three Gradus by the Sea-Shore.] There were no such Stairs at Rome, yet they had their Lakes, their Naval Fights, &c.
The City is reported to have had twenty three Gates. Laonicus Chalcondylus, in his History of the Ottomans, tells us, that Constantinople contains in compass a hundred and eleven Furlongs, which is more than thirteen Italian Miles. ’Tis generally thought to be eighteen Miles in Circumference. Besides the foremention’d Curiosities, Constantinople has been famous for the Aqueduct of Hadrian, which furnish’d the Palace, the Nymphea, and the Bagnio’s with a Sufficiency of Waters, as Theodosius mentions in a Letter to Cyrus, Prefect of the City. The Bagnio’s of Achilles are also mention’d by him, where he says, that these Bagnio’s were supply’d with Water convey’d into them from the said Aqueduct by leaden Pipes. Cedrinus says, that these Bagnio’s were built near the Strategium, and took their Name from an Altar, which was dedicated to Ajax and Achilles: And Cassiodorus relates, that the Fire, which happen’d in the Reign of Constantine the Great, burnt down the City, as far as the Bagnio’s of Achilles.
Some Account of the Suburbs as they are mention’d in the Codes and Law-Books
Procopius tells us, in his first Book de Ædif. Justin. that the Hepdomum was one Part of the Suburbs of Constantinople. Justinian, says he, built another Church dedicate to St. Theodora in a Place call’d the Hepdomum, which in the Greek signifies the Seventh. Zonaras, in the Life of Phocas, mentions the same Thing, as does also Cedrinus in the Life of Arcadius and Justin, with many others. In this Place were many Laws enacted; and Zonaras writes, that Theodosius the Great built a Church there, in Honour of St. John Baptist. Gyllius says, that ’tis at present enclos’d within the Walls of the City, that it stands upon the sixth Hill, and that ’tis call’d Hepdomum, or Seventh, as denoting the Number of the Suburbs of the City.
The Blachernæ.] This is another Part of the Suburbs, mention’d by Justinian in his 151st Nov. where he says, that Hierius bequeath’d by Will to his Son Anthemius the Suburbs in the Blachernæ. Zonaras writes, that Pulcheria, the Sister of Theodosius the Less, built a Church to the Blessed Virgin in this Place, which, as Procopius tells us, was repair’d by Justinian. Cedrinus observes, that the Emperor Justin, Nephew of Justinian, enlarg’d it with two Arches. Suidas reports, that Anastasius the Emperor built there a large Triclinium and Tiberius a Bagnio, as Zonaras writes. It took its Name of the Blachernæ, as Gyllius believes, upon the Authority of Dionysius a Byzantian Writer, from some Person, who was formerly a kind of a petty King there. It was situate near the Sea, in the Place, as Nicephorus observes in his 15th Book Chap. 25th of his Eccl. Hist. where Leo the Great built a Church to the Virgin Mary.
The Monastery of Studius was another Part of the Suburbs of Constantinople, in which, as Justinian observes, in his 6th Chap. Novel 59th. was kept a large Bier, for the Burial of the Dead. The following Account is given of Studius by Nicephorus, in his 15th Book, Chap. 25th of his Eccles. Hist. An eminent Citizen of Rome, says he, nam’d Studius, came from thence to Constantinople, where he built a Church to the Memory of St. John Baptist, and that divine Service might be celebrated there with more Decency and Solemnity, he took some Monks out of the Monastery of the Ἀκοίμητοι, who were so call’d, because some of them were always waking to attend divine Worship. The heavenly-minded Marcellinus built them a Monastery, in which they continually sang Hymns to God, their Society being divided into three Tribes for that Purpose. Thus far Nicephorus. Upon this Occasion Studius was made Consul, as appears by an Inscription over the Gate of his own Monastery, which runs thus:
This Pyle was rais’d by Studius’ bounteous Hand:
Great Actions greatest Honours should command.
In just Acknowledgment, the grateful Town,
Repay’d the Founder with a Consul’s Gown.
This happen’d in the Reign of Leo the Emperor.
The Coparia, as is plain from the 159th Nov. of Justinian, was another Part of the Suburbs, and was bequeath’d, as appears by the Codicil of Hierius’s Will to his Niece.
There was also another Part of the Suburbs in the Promontory of the Creek of Sosthenium, which was formerly in the Possession of Ardaburus, General of the Army to Theodosius the Less. The Right of it afterwards came to Hierius, who was Præfectus Prætorio, or General of the Life-Guard to the Emperor Zeno. Nicephorus in the 50th Chap. of his 7th Book of Eccl. Hist. gives this Reason why it was call’d Sosthenium, ’Tis recorded, says he, that the Argonauts of Greece, when they arriv’d here, began to plunder the Countrey, but were defeated by Amycus, who was then Governor of the Place, and being dispers’d, they wander’d about till they came to a woody unhospitable Place, where they took shelter in a large Thicket of Trees; that in this Calamity Virtue came down to them from Heaven in a human Shape, having Wings like an Eagle, and by her Oracle foretold, that if they would venture another Battle, they should conquer Amycus. Directed by this Advice, they engag’d them again, obtain’d an entire Victory over them, slew him, and all his Forces; and that to express their Gratitude to the Vision, they built a Temple, and erected a Statue to her, in the Shape she appear’d to them, which gave the Place the Name of Sosthenium, because they secur’d themselves by the second Battle.
Bytharium, or Philotheum.] This was also another Part of the Suburbs, and is mention’d as such in 159th Nov. of Justinian.
The Porta Veneta is mentioned by Procopius in his History of the Persian War; who, speaking of some military Officer, tells us, that when he came to the Porta Veneta, which stands on the Right Hand of the Palace, he halted and determin’d to march to Hypalium. This Gate seems to take its Name from the Suburbs call’d in Venetis, probably because the Venetian Faction, a Company of Chariot-Racers dress’d in Sky-colour’d Cloths, dwelt there.
Procopius also takes Notice of the Pontichium by the Ferry, and also of the Rusiniana, as two other Parts of the Suburbs. These Places he mentions in his 1st Book of the Persian War; as does also Sozomen in the 21st Chap. Book the 8th.