BOOK IV.
CHAP. I. _Of the Eleventh_ Ward, _and of the Fourth and Fifth Hill_, p. 217
II. _Of the Church of the_ Apostles, _of the Sepulchre of_ Constantine _the_ Great, _of the Cisterns of_ Arcadius, _and_ Modestus, _of the Palace of_ Placilla, _and the_ Brazen Bull, p. 221
III. _Of the Sixth Hill, and the Fourteenth_ Ward, p. 236
IV. _Of the_ Hepdomum, _a Part of the Suburbs, of the_ Triclinium _of_ Magnaura, _of the Palace called_ Cyclobion, _of the Statue of_ Mauritius, _and his Arsenal, and also of the Place called the_ Cynegium, p. 238
V. _Of the_ Blachernæ, _the_ Triclinium _of the_ Blachernæ, _of the Palace, the_ Aqueduct, _and many other Places of Antiquity_, p. 244
VI. _Of the Bridge near the Church of St._ Mamas, _of the_ Hippodrom, _of the_ Brazen Lyon, _and the Tomb of the Emperor_ Mauritius, p. 248
VII. _Of the Seventh Hill, the Twelfth_ Ward, _and of the Pillar of_ Arcadius, p. 250
VIII. _Of the Statues, and the ancient_ Tripos _of_ Apollo _plac’d in the_ Xerolophon, p. 255
IX. _Of the_ Columns _now remaining on the Seventh Hill_, p. 261
X. _Of the Thirteenth_ Ward _of the City, called the_ Sycene Ward, _of the Town of_ Galata, _sometimes called_ Pera, p. 264
XI. _A Description of_ Galata, _of the Temples of_ Amphiaraus, _of_ Diana, _and_ Venus, _of its_ Theatre _and the_ Forum _of_ Honorius, p. 270
_An Appendix, taken out of a_ MS. _in the_ Bodleian _Library of the University of_ Oxon, _relating to the antient Statues of_ Constantinople, _demolish’d by the_ Latins, _when they took the City_, p. 285
A DESCRIPTION Of the CITY of CONSTANTINOPLE, As it stood in the REIGNS of ARCADIUS and HONORIUS.
A DESCRIPTION Of the WARDS of CONSTANTINOPLE.
The first _Region_, or _Ward_. p. 3
The Second _Ward_. p. 14
The Third _Ward_. p. 18
The Fourth _Ward_. p. 19
The Fifth _Ward_. p. 27
The Sixth _Ward_. p. 31
The Seventh _Ward_. p. 35
The Eighth _Ward_. p. 38
The Ninth _Ward_. p. 39
The Tenth _Ward_. p. 42
The Eleventh _Ward_. p. 44
The Twelfth _Ward_. p. 46
The Thirteenth _Ward_. p. 48
The Fourteenth _Ward_. p. 51
_A Summary View of the whole City._ p. 53
_Some Account of the_ Suburbs _as they are mention’d in the_ Codes _and_ Law-Books. p. 59
_Of the present Buildings of_ Constantinople. p. 62
THE PREFACE OF THE AUTHOR,
Describing the Situation of _Constantinople_, the Conveniences of its Port, and the Commodities in which it abounds.
Constantinople is situated after such a Manner in a _Peninsula_, that ’tis scarce bounded by the Continent; for on three Sides ’tis inclosed by the Sea. Nor is it only well fortified by its natural Situation, but ’tis also well guarded by Forts, erected in large Fields, extending from the City at least a two Day’s Journey, and more than twenty Miles in Length. The Seas that bound the _Peninsula_ are _Pontus_, or the _Black Sea_, the _Bosporus_, and the _Propontis_. The City is inclosed by a Wall formerly built by _Anastasius_. ’Tis upon this Account that being secured as it were by a double _Peninsula_, she entitles her self the Fortress of all _Europe_, and claims the Preheminence over all the Cities of the World, as hanging over the Straits both of _Europe_ and _Asia_. For besides other immense Advantages peculiar to it, this is look’d upon as a principal Convenience of its Situation, that ’tis encompassed by a Sea abounding with the finest Harbours for Ships; on the South by the _Propontis_, on the East by the _Bosporus_, and on the North by a Bay full of Ports, which can not only be secured by a Boom, but even without such a Security, can greatly annoy the Enemy. For the Walls of _Constantinople_ and _Galata_ straitning its Latitude into less than half a Mile over, it has often destroy’d the Enemies Ships by liquid Fire, and other Instruments of War. I would remark farther, that were it secured according to the Improvements of modern Fortification, it would be the strongest Fortress in the World; _viz._ if the four ancient Ports, formerly inclosed within its Walls by Booms, were rebuilt; two of which (being not only the Ornament, but the Defence of old _Byzantium_) held out a Siege against _Severus_ for the Space of three Years; nor could it ever be obliged to a Surrender, but by Famine only. For besides the Profits and Advantages it receives from the _Propontis_ and _Ægean_ Sea, it holds an absolute Dominion over the _Black Sea_; and by one Door only, namely by the _Bosporus_, shuts up its Communication with any other part of the World; for no Ship can pass this Sea, if the Port thinks fit to dispute their Passage. By which means it falls out, that all the Riches of the _Black Sea_, whether exported or imported, are at her Command. And indeed such considerable Exportations are made from hence of Hydes of all Kinds, of Honey, of Wax, of Slaves, and other Commodities, as supply a great Part of _Europe_, _Asia_ and _Africa_; and on the other hand, there are imported from those Places such extraordinary Quantities of Wine, Oil, Corn, and other Goods without Number, that _Mysia_, _Dacia_, _Pannonia_, _Sarmatia_, _Mæotis_, _Colchis_, _Spain_, _Albania_, _Cappadocia_, _Armenia_, _Media_, _Parthia_, and both Parts of _Scythia_, share in the great Abundance. ’Tis for this Reason, that not only all foreign Nations, if they would entitle themselves to any Property in the immense Wealth of the _Black Sea_, but also all Sea Port and Island Towns are obliged to court the Friendship of this City. Besides, ’tis impossible for any Ships to pass or repass, either from _Asia_ or _Europe_, but at her Pleasure, she being as it were the Bridge and Port of both those Worlds; nay, I might call her the Continent that joins them, did not the _Hellespont_ divide them. But this Sea is thought, in many Respects, to be inferior to that of _Constantinople_; first, as it is much larger, and then, as not having a Bay as that has, by which its City might be made a _Peninsula_, and a commodious Port for Ships: And indeed if it had such a Bay, yet could it reap no Advantage of Commerce from the _Black Sea_, but by the Permission of the People of _Constantinople_. _Constantine_ at first began to build a City upon _Sigeum_, a Promontory hanging over the Straits of the _Hellespont_; but quitting that Situation, he afterwards pitch’d upon a Promontory of _Byzantium_. _Troy_, I acknowledge, is a magnificent City, but they were blind, who could not discover the Situation of _Byzantium_; all stark blind, who founded Cities within View of it, either on the Coast of the _Hellespont_, or the _Propontis_; which though they maintain’d their Grandeur for some Time, yet at present are quite in Ruins, or have only a few Streets remaining, and which, if they were all rebuilt, must be in Subjection to _Constantinople_, as being superior in Power to all of them. Wherefore we may justly entitle her the Key, not only of the _Black Sea_, but also of the _Propontis_ and the _Mediterranean Sea_. _Cyzicus_ (now called _Chazico_) is highly in Esteem, for that it joins by two Bridges the Island to the Continent, and unites two opposite Bays, and is, as _Aristides_ informs us, the Bond of the _Black_, and the _Mediterranean Sea_; but any Man, who has his Eyes in his Head, may see, that ’tis but a very weak one. The _Propontis_ flows in a broad Sea, between _Cyzicus_ and _Europe_; by which Means as a Passage is open into both Seas, though the People of _Cyzicus_ should pretend to dispute it; so they on the other hand, should the People of _Hellespont_ or _Constantinople_ contest it with them, could have no Advantage of the Commerce of either of those Seas. I shall say nothing at present of _Heraclea_, _Selymbria_, and _Chalcedon_, seated on the Coast of the _Propontis_, anciently Cities of Renown, both for the Industry of their Inhabitants, and the Agreeableness of their Situation; but they could never share in the principal Commodities of other Towns of Traffick, in the Neighbourhood of the Port of _Constantinople_, which was always look’d upon as impregnable. The Harbours of those Cities have lain for a considerable time all under Water, so that they were not of sufficient Force to sail the _Bosporus_ and the _Hellespont_, without the Permission of the Inhabitants of those Places: But the _Byzantians_ rode Masters of the _Black Sea_, in Defiance of them all. _Byzantium_ therefore seems alone exempted from those Inconveniencies and Incapacities which have happen’d to her Neighbours, and to many other potent and flourishing Cities, which for several Years having lain in their own Ruins, are either not rebuilt with their ancient Grandeur, or have changed their former Situation. All its neighbouring Towns are yet lost: There is only the Name of _Memphis_ remaining. Whereas _Babylon_, seated in its Neighbourhood, from a small Fort, is become a large and populous City; and yet neither of them is so commodious as _Constantinople_. I shall take no Notice of _Babylon_ in _Assyria_, who, when she was in her most flourishing State, had the Mortification to see a City built near her, equal in Largeness to her self: Why is not _Alexandria_ rebuilt, but because she must support her self more by the Industry of her People, than the Agreeableness of her Situation? ’Twas the Sanctity of St. _Peter_, and the Grandeur of the _Roman_ Name, that contributed more to the rebuilding old _Rome_, than the natural Situation of the Place itself, as having no Convenience for Ships and Harbours. I pass by in Silence _Athens_ and _Lacedæmon_, which were more remarkable for the Learning and resolute Bravery of their People, than the Situation of their City. I omit the two Eyes of the Sea Coast, _Corinth_ and _Carthage_, both which falling into Ruins at the same Time, were first repaired by _Julius Cæsar_; afterwards, when they fell entirely to decay, nobody rebuilt them: And though _Carthage_ is seated in a _Peninsula_ with several Havens about it, yet in no part of it are there two Seas which fall into each other: For though _Corinth_ may be said to lie between two Seas, and is call’d the Fort of _Peloponnesus_, the Key and Door of _Greece_; yet is it so far from uniting in one Chanel two Seas, or two Bays adjoining to the _Peninsula_, that she was never able to make Head against the _Macedonians_ or _Romans_, as _Cyzico_ and _Negropont_ did; the one by its well built Forts and other War-like Means, and the other by the Strength of its natural Situation. But _Constantinople_ is the Key both of the _Mediterranean_ and _Black Sea_, which alone, by the best Skill in Navigation, nay though you were to make a Voyage round the World, you will find to meet only in one Point, and that is, the Mouth of the Port. I shall say nothing of _Venice_, which does not so much enclose the Sea for proper Harbours, as ’tis enclosed by it, and labours under greater Difficulties to keep off the Swellings and Inundations of the Seas, than unite them together. I pass by the Situations of the whole Universe, wherever there are, have, or shall be Cities; in none of them shall you find a Port abounding with so many and so great Conveniencies, both for the Maintenance of its Dominion over the Seas, and the Support of Life, as in this City. It is furnish’d with Plenty of all manner of Provisions, being supply’d with Corn by a very large Field of _Thrace_, extending itself, in some Parts of it, a Length of seven Days, and in others, of a more than twenty Days Journey. I shall say nothing of _Asia_ adjoining to it, abounding with the greatest Fruitfulness both of Corn and Pasture, and the best Conveniencies for their Importation from both Seas. And as to the immense Quantity of its Wines, besides what is the Product of its own Soil, it is furnish’d with that Commodity from all the Coasts of the _Bosporus_, the _Propontis_, and the _Hellespont_, which are all well stock’d with Vineyards; and without the Danger of a long Voyage, _Constantinople_ can, at her Pleasure, import the choicest Wines of all Kinds, and whatever else may contribute to her own Gratification and Delight. ’Tis for this Reason that _Theopompus_ gives her this Character, That ever since she became a Mart-Town, her People were wholly taken up, either in the Market, in the Port, or at Taverns, giving themselves up entirely to Wine. _Menander_, in his Comedy _Auletris_, tells us, that _Constantinople_ makes all her Merchants Sots. _I bouze it_, says one of his Actors, _all Night; and upon my waking after the Dose, I fancy I have no less than four Heads upon my Shoulders_. The Comedians play handsomely upon them, in giving us an Account, that when their City was besieged, their General had no other Way to keep his Soldiers from deferring, but by building Taverns within the Walls; which, tho’ a Fault proceeding from their popular Form of Government, yet at the same time denotes to us the great Fruitfulness of their Soil, and the great Plenty they have of Wine. They who have been Eye-witnesses can best attest, how well they are provided with Flesh, with Venison and Fowls, which they might share more abundantly, but that they are but indifferent Sportsmen. Their Markets are always stored with the richest Fruits of all Kinds. If any Objection be made to this, I would have it consider’d, what Quantities the _Turks_ use, after hard Drinking, to allay their Thirst. And as to Timber, _Constantinople_ is so plentifully supply’d with that, both from _Europe_ and _Asia_, and will in all probability continue to be so, that she can be under no Apprehensions of a Scarcity that way, as long as she continues a City. Woods of an unmeasurable Length, extending themselves from the _Propontis_ beyond _Colchis_, a more than forty Days Journey, contribute to her Stores so that she does not only supply the neighbouring Parts with Timber for building Ships and Houses, but even _Ægypt_, _Arabia_ and _Africa_, partake in the inexhaustible Abundance; while she, of all the Cities in the World, cannot lie under the want of Wood of any Kind, under which, even in our Time, we have observed the most flourishing Cities, both of _Europe_ and _Asia_, sometimes to have fallen. _Marseilles_, _Venice_, _Taranto_, are all famous for Fish; yet _Constantinople_ exceeds them all in its Abundance of this Kind. The Port is supply’d with vast Quantities from both Seas; nor do they swim only in thick Shoals through the _Bosporus_, but also from _Chalcedon_ to this Port. Insomuch that twenty Fish-Boats have been laden with one Net; and indeed they are so numberless, that oftentimes from the Continent you may take them out of the Sea with your Hands. Nay, when in the Spring, they swim up into the _Black Sea_, you may kill them with Stones. The Women, with Osier Baskets ty’d to a Rope, angle for them out of the Windows, and the Fishermen with bare Hooks take a sort of Fish of the _Tunny_ Kind, in such Quantities, as are a competent Supply to all _Greece_, and a great part of _Asia_ and _Europe_. But not to recount the different Kinds of Fish they are stock’d with, they catch such Multitudes of Oysters, and other Shell Fish, that you may see in the Fish Market every Day, so many Boats full of them, as are a Sufficiency to the _Grecians_, all their Fast-Days, when they abstain from all sorts of Fish which have Blood in them. If there was not so considerable a Plenty of Flesh at _Constantinople_, if the People took any Pleasure in eating Fish, and their Fishermen were as industrious as those of _Venice_ and _Marseilles_, and were also allow’d a Freedom in their Fishery, they would have it in their Power, not only to pay as a Tribute a third part of their Fish at least to the Grand _Seignor_, but also to supply all the lesser Towns in her Neighbourhood. If we consider the Temperature of the Climate of New _Rome_, it must be allow’d by proper Judges, that it far excels that of _Pontus_. For my own part, I have often experienced it to be a more healthy Air than that of Old _Rome_; and for many Years past, I have scarce observed above a Winter or two to have been very cold, and that the Summer Heats have been allay’d by the northern Breezes, which generally clear the Air for the whole Season. In the Winter, ’tis a little warm’d by the southern Winds, which have the same Effect. When the Wind is at North, they have generally Rain, though ’tis quite otherwise in _Italy_ and _France_. As to the Plague, ’tis less raging, less mortal, and no more rife among them, than it is, commonly speaking, in great Cities; and which indeed would be less rife, were it not for the Multitudes of the common People, and the foul Way of Feeding among their Slaves. But that I may not seem to flourish too largely in the Praise of this City, never to be defamed by the most sour _Cynick_, I must confess that there is one great Inconvenience it labours under, which is, that ’tis more frequently inhabited by a savage, than a genteel and civiliz’d People; not but that she is capable of refining the Manners of the most rude and unpolish’d; but because her Inhabitants, by their luxurious way of living, emasculate themselves, and for that Reason are wholly incapable of making any Resistance against those barbarous People, by whom, to a vast Distance, they are encompass’d on all Sides. From hence it is, that although _Constantinople_ seems as it were by Nature form’d for Government, yet her People are neither under the Decencies of Education, nor any Strictness of Discipline. Their Affluence makes them slothful, and their Pride renders them averse to an open Familiarity, and a generous Conversation; so that they avoid all Opportunities of being thrust out of Company for their Insolence, or falling into Dissensions amongst themselves, by which means the Christian Inhabitants of the Place, formerly lost both their City and Government. But let their Quarrels and Divisions run never so high, and throw the whole City into a Flame, as they have many times done, nay tho’ they should rase her even with the Ground, yet she would soon rise again out of her own Ruins, by reason of the Pleasantness of her Situation, without which the _Black Sea_ could not so properly be called the _Euxine_, as the _Axine_ Sea, (the Inhabitants of whose Coast used to kill all Strangers that fell into their Hands) by reason of the great Numbers of barbarous People who dwell round the _Black Sea_. It would be dangerous venturing on the Coasts of the _Black Sea_, either by Land or Water, which are full of Pyrates and Robbers, unless they were kept in a tolerable Order by the Government of the Port. There would be no passing the Straits of the _Bosporus_ which is inhabited on both Shores by a barbarous People, but for the same Reason. And though a Man was never so secure of a safe Passage, yet he might mistake his Road at the Mouth of the _Bosporus_, being misguided by the false Lights, which the _Thracians_, who inhabit the Coasts of the _Black Sea_, formerly used to hang out, instead of a _Pharos_. ’Tis therefore not only in the Power of _Constantinople_, to prevent any Foreigners sailing the _Black Sea_; but in reality no Powers can sail it, without some Assistance from her. Since therefore _Constantinople_ is the Fortress of all _Europe_, both against the Pyrates of _Pontus_, and the Savages of _Asia_, was the never so effectually demolish’d, as to all Appearance, yet would she rise again out of her Ruins to her former Grandeur and Magnificence. With what Fury did _Severus_ pursue this City, even to an entire Subversion? And yet when he cool’d in his Resentments against these People, he recollected with himself, that he had destroy’d a City which had been the common Benefactress of the Universe, and the grand Bulwark of the Eastern Empire. In a little time after he began to rebuild her, and order’d her, in Honour of his Son, to be call’d _Antonina_. I shall end with this Reflection; That though all other Cities have their Periods of Government, and are subject to the Decays of Time, _Constantinople_ alone seems to claim to herself a kind of Immortality, and will continue a City, as long as the Race of Mankind shall live either to inhabit or rebuild her.
THE ANTIQUITIES OF CONSTANTINOPLE.