Besides the bronze serpentine column from Delphi, there still stands in the hippodrome an Egyptian obelisk, set up by Theodosius I. on a pedestal sculptured with a representation of the emperor viewing the games from the Kathisma, and a record of the methods used in erecting the obelisk by means of ropes and winches. Nicetas in his life of S. Ignatius says that a brazen pine-apple surmounted this obelisk. A third monument is a large built-up obelisk of stone, pitted all over where pins which attached bronze plates were inserted. An inscription often quoted, records that Constantine, father of Romanus, repaired it and added to its beauty. The casing of bronze was probably covered with reliefs and ornament, as was the case with the pillar in the Augusteum, and the anemodulium, which was set up by Theodosius in the Forum Tauri. This last was an obelisk entirely cased with bronze, “having reliefs[293] of cattle, sheep and skipping lambs; peasants labouring or playing on their pipes, and birds; there was also represented the sea, and sea-gods, and cupids playing at ball. On the point was a statue of a woman which turned to the slightest breath of the wind.” Among the statues in the hippodrome mentioned by Nicetas as having been destroyed was the colossal bronze Hercules, and a sundial which was in the form of an eagle with wide expanded wings trampling on a serpent. The twelve hours were marked out beneath its wings, six on either side, and the sun shining through a hole in each wing marked the hour or the day. Near the eastern goal was a row of statues of charioteers, driving their chariots and turning the goal. Besides these there were many other statues of persons and animals; an elephant with a proboscis that moved is mentioned, but it is not clear however that this last was in the hippodrome. Sigurd, King of Norway, saw the games given here in 1111; there was a spectacle in which people appeared as if riding in the air, some sort of fireworks, also music with playing of organs, harps, and other instruments.[294] Benjamin of Tudela (1161) says, “lions, bears, and leopards were shown, and all nations of the world were represented, together with surprising feats of jugglery.” The hippodrome was used for spectacles after the change of masters. An Italian MS. of 1582 in the British Museum describes the ambassadors and princes sitting on staging, with a large stand for the band in the “piazza” of the hippodrome; the Sultan and his son sat on an inclosed and covered throne.[295]