The Antiquities of Constantinople: With a Description of Its Situation, the Conveniencies of Its Port, Its Publick Buildings, the Statuary, Sculpture, Architecture, and Other Curiosities of That CityGilles, Pierre
History
The Antiquities of Constantinople: With a Description of Its Situation, the Conveniencies of Its Port, Its Publick Buildings, the Statuary, Sculpture, Architecture, and Other Curiosities of That City
Gilles, Pierre
Istanbul (Turkey) -- Antiquities; Istanbul (Turkey) -- Description and travel; Turkey -- Antiquities
_Suidas_ proceeds farther, and tells us, that the Statues of _Sophia_,
the Consort of _Justin_ the _Thracian_, of his Daughter _Arabia_, and
his Niece _Helena_; as also the _Equestrian_ Statues of _Arcadius_ and
_Theodosius_ his Son, were placed in the _Miliarium_, near the Statue
of _Theodosius_ the _Great_. _Cedrinus_ writes, that there stood two
Statues above the Nich of the _Miliarium_, one of _Constantine_ the
_Great_, the other of his Mother _Helena_, with a Cross between them:
Behind them was placed the Statue of _Trajan_ on Horse-back, and that
near him was placed the Statue of _Ælius Hadrianus_. _Suidas_ adds,
that the Cross which was placed between _Constantine_ and _Helena_, had
this Inscription; _una sancta, & duo celeres Cursores_. From whence it
is evident, that the _Forum_, the _Miliarium_, and the _Basilica_ stood
so near together, that they are not only placed by different Authors
in different Places, but sometimes by one and the same Historian.
The same Writer says, that there was also in the _Miliarium_ a great
Piece of Antiquity, which was a Chariot drawn by four Fallow Horses,
supported by two square Pillars, in the Place where _Constantine_
was received by his Army with joyful Congratulations, after he had
conquered _Azotium_; but originally, because _Byzas_, the Founder of
_Byzantium_, had there been highly applauded by the People. The Chariot
of the Sun was carried into the _Hippodrom_, in which was seated a
small Statue, made by the Order of _Constantine_. This Statue was the
_Fortune_ of the City, which on great Festivals, and the Day of the
Celebration of the Foundation of the City, was set up with a Cross on
her Head, in the _Senate-House_. _Julian_ the Apostate demolished it
in the same Place, where _Arius_ died in a miserable Manner, which
was at a small Distance from the _Senate-House_. In the same Place,
the pious Emperor _Theodosius_ had ordered the Statues of _Arius_,
_Macedonius_, _Sabellius_, and _Eunomius_, which were cut in Marble,
to be placed in a sitting Posture on the Ground, to be polluted with
the Excrements, and receive the Curses of the People, in Token of
their flagrant Perfidiousness. Other Historians say, that the Statue
of the _Fortune_ of the City was brought from _Rome_ by _Constantine_
the _Great_, and placed in a Nich in the Palace. _Zosimus_ writes, that
_Constantine_ placed the _Fortune_ of _Rome_, on the Side of one of the
four _Portico’s_ that surrounded the great _Forum_. ’Tis very probable,
that the People of _Constantinople_ celebrated a Festival in Honour of
her, as was customary at _Old Rome_, both by Natives and Foreigners,
the same Day, in which the _Palilia_, (the Festivals of _Pales_) were
celebrated. _Socrates_ tells us, that _Julian_, when he was publickly
sacrificing to the _Fortune_ of _Constantinople_, in the _Basilica_,
where her Statue was set up; _Mares_, the Bishop of _Chalcedon_, being
led thither by the Hand, for he was blind with Age, sharply reprimanded
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