[118] The bronze serpents, which are still on the same site, are three, and not two in number. See Gibbon, chap. xvii., where he describes these serpents, and proves that they form the serpent pillar mentioned by Herodotus, ix. 81; on it was placed the golden tripod, made of part of the spoil taken at the battle of Platæa B.C. 479, and dedicated to Apollo. It was removed from Delphi to Constantinople by order of Constantine. [119] ‘The centre of the Forum was occupied by a lofty column, of which a mutilated fragment is now degraded by the appellation of the _burnt pillar_. This column was erected on a pedestal of white marble 20 feet high, and was composed of ten pieces of porphyry, each of which measured about 10 feet in height and about 33 in circumference. On the summit of the pillar, above 120 feet from the ground, stood the colossal statue of Apollo. It was of bronze, and had been transported either from Athens or a town in Phrygia, and was supposed to be the work of Phidias. The artist had represented the god of day, or, as it was afterwards interpreted, the Emperor Constantine himself, with a sceptre in his right hand, the globe of the world in his left, and a crown of rays glittering on his head.’ Gibbon, chap. xvii. [120] A similar story is told of the obelisk in front of St. Peter’s at Rome. [121] The battle of Tschaldiran, August 23, A.D. 1514. See Creasy, _History of the Ottoman Turks_, chap. viii.; Von Hammer, book xxii. [122] Busbecq is alluding to the then recent conquests of Mexico and Peru. When he penned these lines only thirty-four years had elapsed since Cortez conquered Mexico, and twenty-four since Pizarro made himself master of the kingdom of the Incas; the tide of adventurers was still pouring into those unhappy lands. [123] Busbecq is evidently referring to the exploits of his countrymen in the days of the Crusades. ‘At the same time’ (A.D. 1200), says Gibbon (chap. lx.), ‘Baldwin, Count of Flanders, assumed the Cross at Bruges, with his brother Henry, and the principal knights and citizens of that rich and industrious province.’ See also page 105. [124] Properly, the name of the islet at Alexandria on which the lighthouse stood; hence the name was given to any lighthouse. [125] A Dalmatian fortress captured by the Spaniards in the autumn of A.D. 1538, and recaptured by the Turks in the following August. Von Hammer, book xxix. [126] ‘The straits of the Bosphorus are terminated by the Cyanean rocks, which, according to the description of the poets, had once floated on the face of the waters. The deception was occasioned by several pointed rocks alternately covered and abandoned by the waves. At present there are two small islands, one towards either shore; that of Europe is distinguished by the pillar of Pompey.’ Gibbon, chap. xvii.