Those Historians who have treated of the Actions of _Constantine the Great_, report, that he brought the round _Porphyry_ Pillar from _Rome_. This Pillar was bound, at the Joints, with circular Wreaths of Laurel made of Brass, and was placed in the _Forum_, call’d the _Placoton_, because it was paved with smooth broad Stones, which the _Greeks_ call _Placæ_. They add farther, that there was erected upon this Pillar a curious Statue of Brass, surprizing both for its Workmanship and Size. ’Twas an ancient Piece of Statuary, exquisitely finish’d, even to the Life. They tell you that ’twas originally the Image of _Apollo_ of _Troy_, that the Emperor gave it his own Name, and commanded to be fix’d in the Head of it, some of those Nails which fasten’d our Saviour to the Cross. Upon the Statue was cut the following Inscription: _To thee, O Saviour, Lord of th’ Universe, Who rulest the unmeasurable Globe With deepest Knowledge, I this People offer. May they be thine, I conquer’d them for thee. I lay m’ Imperial Sceptre at thy Feet, With all th’ united Force, and Power of_ Rome. _Let thy good Providence, with watchful Eye, Look down, and guard the City from all Ills._ _Cedrinus_ relates, that at the Bottom of the Pillar were carved the twelve Baskets, full of the Fragments which were left, after the Miracle of the _Loaves_ and _Fishes_. This Pillar has no Winding Stairs, but is all solid Marble, and therefore _Fulvius_, otherwise a good _Antiquary_, is visibly in an Error, when he tells us, that it had an ascent within it. _Zonaras_ says, that the Statue of _Constantine_ was standing upon the Pillar in his Time, and that in the Spring Time, in the Reign of _Alexius Comnenus_, among many other Buildings which were thrown down by a violent Storm of Wind, the Statue of _Constantine_ the _Great_ was blown down and demolished, and that by the Fall of it, several People who were passing by, were dashed to Pieces. The Author who has wrote the History of _Alexius Comnenus_, tells us, that not only the Statue was struck down with Lightning, but also that three of the _Tores_, or round Circles of the Pillar, were also removed. The Pillar is still standing on the Top of the second Hill; ’tis somewhat impair’d, not so much by Time, altho’ it is very ancient, as by Fires and Earthquakes, and Tempests. The Statue and the three upper Wreaths are gone, and in the Room of them there’s a plain round Superstructure, almost of the same Thickness and Size with the other Part of the Shaft. The Pedestal of it is made of squar’d Marble, and is, every Way, eleven Foot nine Inches broad, and eighteen Foot high. Upon this is placed a Cornice, but after the _Doric_ Manner, consisting of a _Plinth_, an upper and a lower _Tore_, and a _Scotia_ between them. Upon the _Cornice_ stands the _Shaft_ of the Pillar, which is about eleven Yards in Circumference. It consists of eight large Pieces of Marble; each of which is encircled at the Joints, with