Theophanes Cont., p. 450. The date of the building is by no means settled. Dr. Paspates (p. 65) thinks it older than the time of Theodosius II.; Dr. Mordtmann (p. 33) assigns it to the reign of that emperor. It is a question for experts in Art to determine. Footnote 444: Paspates, p. 42. Footnote 445: Pages 62, 63. Footnote 446: Lib. i. p. 268. Footnote 447: Page 612. Footnote 448: Tafferner, chaplain to the Embassy sent by the Emperor Leopold I. to the Ottoman Court (_Cæsarea Legatio quam, mandante Augustissimo Rom. Imperatore Leopoldi I. ad Portam Ottomanicam, suscepit, perficitque Excellentissimus Dominus Walterus Comes de Leslie_, 1688), gives in his account of the mission (pp. 92, 93) the following description of the palace in his day:—“Præteriri non potuit quin inviseretur aula magni Constantini: Regia hæc ad Occidentem mœnibus adhæret; nobilia sublimibus operibus instructissimo olim colle locata: tribus substructionibus moles assurrexerat; altius nullum in tota urbe domicilium. Palatij coronis superstes marmore inciso elaborata tectum fulcit, ventis et imbribus pervium. Vastæ et eminentes præter sacræ antiquitatis ædilitatem è pario lapide fenestræ liquidò demonstrant, cujus palatij ornamenta fuerint, cujus aulæ etiamnum ruinæ sint. Propylæum decem columnæ magnitudinis et artificij dignitate conspicuæ sustinent: ejus in angulo desolatus, et ruderibus scatens puteus mœret. Pergula è centro prominens universæ urbis conspectum explicat. Columnis constat auro passim illitis, cujus radios color viridis extiamnum animat. Grandiora lapidum fragmenta, cum primis fabricæ ornamentis, ac fulcris cæteris in Moschèas translata sunt: sola tantæ molis vestigia, atque ex ungue cadaver nunc restat. Muro extimo meridiem versùs insertum parieti visitur Oratoriolum hominibus recipiendis sex opportunum: Angustia loci persuadet privatæ illud pietati Constantini sacrum fuisse. Squallet turpiter hæc Imperatorij operis majestas nunc inter arbusta, atque hederas et sive cœli injurias, sive immanitatem barbarorum, sive Christianorum incuriam accuses, non absimilem cum tempore rebus cæteris, utcunque floreant, internecionem minatur.” [Illustration: Plan of the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus, And Adjoining walls.] CHAPTER VIII. THE FORTIFICATIONS ON THE NORTH-WESTERN SIDE OF THE CITY, BEFORE THE SEVENTH CENTURY.