There is, however, an objection to this view concerning the age of the Porta Aurea, which, whatever its force, should not be overlooked in a full discussion of the subject. The inscription describes the monument as a gateway, “Qui portam construit auro.”[222] But such a designation does not seem consistent with the fact that we have here a building which belongs to the age of Theodosius the Great, when the city walls in which the arch stands did not exist, as they are the work of his grandson. How could an isolated arch be, then, styled a gateway? Can the difficulty be removed by any other instance of a similar use of the term “Porta”? Or is the employment of the term in the case before us explained by the supposition that in the reign of Theodosius the Great the city had spread beyond the Constantinian Wall, and reached the line marked by the Porta Aurea, so that an arch at that point was practically an entrance into the city? May not that suburban district have been protected by some slight fortified works? Or was the Porta Aurea so named in anticipation of the fulfilment of the prediction of Themistius, that the growth of the city under Theodosius the Great would ere long necessitate the erection of new walls?[223] Was it built in that emperor’s reign to indicate to a succeeding generation the line along which the new bulwarks of the capital should be built? The Porta Aurea was the State Entrance into the capital,[224] and was remarkable both for its architectural splendour and its military strength. It was built of large squared blocks of polished marble, fitted together without cement, and was flanked by two great towers constructed of the same material. Like the Triumphal Arch of Severus and that of Constantine at Rome, it had three archways, the central one being wider and loftier than those on either side. The gates glittered with gold,[225] and numerous statues and other sculptured ornaments were placed at suitable points.[226] [Illustration: The Golden Gate (Inner).] Of these embellishments the following are mentioned: a cross, which was blown down by a hurricane in the reign of Justinian;[227] a Victory, which fell in an earthquake in the reign of Michael III.;[228] a crowned female figure, representing the Fortune of the city;[229] a statue of Theodosius the Great, overthrown by the earthquake at the close of the reign of Leo the Isaurian;[230] a bronze group of four elephants;[231] the gates of Mompseuesta, gilded and placed here by Nicephorus Phocas, as a trophy of his campaign in Cilicia.[232] At the south-western angle of the northern tower the Roman eagle still spreads its wings; the laureated monogram “ΧΡ” appears above the central archway on the city side of the gateway; and several crosses are scattered over the building.