and haughty a Spirit, that he commanded many of his Pictures to be placed in Churches, while he was yet alive, from whence he was called _Doxomanes_. The House of _Placidia_, I have observed before, stood in the first _Ward_, so that it may be questioned, whether it ought to be read _Domus Placidiæ_, or _Placillæ_, or _Placidæ_; for _Agathius_ takes Notice of the Palaces of _Placidæ_ or _Placidi_, in the following Inscription. The learned _Agathius_ upon a Picture in the Palace of _Placidia_, set up by the Gentlemen of the LONG ROBE, or new _Chancery_. _The learned Sages of the Law have plac’d At their Expence, great_ Thomas’ _Picture here, Near that which represents his Royal Mistress. This mighty Honour he’s entitl’d to, In that he serv’d his Prince with Faithfulness, And was the constant Guardian of his Throne: His Prudence fill’d the Royal Treasury, And rais’d th’ Imperial Family, yet higher. To celebrate his Worth, for Times to come, His Picture shines amongst our Emperors._ Beyond the Rocks called _Scironides_, _Dionysius_ mentions a long Shore in a Plain of the third Valley, and the fourth Hill, which is looked upon as a remarkable Place for Fishing; for ’tis a very deep and a very still Water, which was antiently call’d _Cycla_, because the _Greeks_ had formerly hemm’d in there the _Barbarians_. There is also in the same Place, an Altar dedicated to _Minerva Dissipatoria_, which was erected in Memory of that Action. Beyond _Cycla_ is a Creek called _Melias_, another famous Place for Fishing, which is enclosed with several Rocks, and a Ridge of the _Promontory_ hanging over the Sea. There is no Creek in this Valley at present. Time has filled it up, as we learn from _Strabo_, who writes, that this Creek was called _Ceras_, because it had many Inlets into the Shore in the Form of a Deer’s Horn, but there’s scarce any Appearance of them at present. _Zosimus_, who wrote his History in the Reign of _Arcadius_ and _Honorius_, tells us, that _Constantinople_ was then so crowded with Inhabitants, that the Emperors did not only enlarge the Walls beyond those of _Constantine_, but that they built upon Timber Foundations over the Sea. This Method of Building, ’tis probable, very much contributed in Time to incumber and stop up these Inlets of the Creek. At the End of the Creek called _Melias_, is a Place which goes by the Name of Κῆπος, because ’tis very good Garden Ground. Beyond the Garden is a Place named _Aspasius_; but of this I have spoken in my _Treatise_ of the _Bosporus_. _The End of the Third Book._ [Illustration: Page Decoration] [Illustration: Page Header Decoration] THE ANTIQUITIES OF CONSTANTINOPLE. BOOK IV. CHAP. I. _Of the Eleventh Ward, and of the Fourth and Fifth Hills._