On the occasion of the triumph accorded to Basil I., the Senate and a vast crowd, representing all classes of the population, and carrying wreaths of roses and other flowers, went forth from the city to the Hebdomon to welcome the conqueror, who had crossed to the suburb from the palace at Hiereia (Fener Bagtchè). After the customary salutations had been exchanged, the emperor proceeded to the Church of St. John the Baptist to pray and light tapers at that venerated shrine. Then having put on his “scaramangion triblation,” he and his son Constantine mounted horse and took the road towards the Golden Gate, the Senate and people leading the way, with banners waving in the air. A short halt was made at the monastery of the Abramiti (τῶν Ἀβραμιτῶν), which stood between the suburb and the gate, that Basil might offer his devotions in the Church of the Theotokos Acheiropoietos (Ἀχειροποίητος), and then the procession resumed its march, and entered through the Golden Gate into the jubilant capital.[1261] [Illustration: Trivmphvs Heraclii.] The first writer who mentions the Hebdomon by name refers to it as an Imperial country retreat which the emperors gladly frequented. From the connection in which Rufinus[1262] makes this statement, it is evident that a palace stood at the Hebdomon before the reign of Theodosius the Great. That residence was either rebuilt or enlarged in the reign of Justinian the Great, when mention is made of “the New Consistorium of the Palace of Justinian, at the seventh mile from this renowned city.”[1263] How agreeable a retreat the palace was may be inferred from the name bestowed upon it—the Pleasance, Jucundianæ (Ἰουκουνδιαναὶ).[1264] In front of the palace rose the statue of Justinian, on a porphyry column brought for the purpose from the Forum of Constantine, where it had borne the silver statue of Theodosius I.[1265] Justinian showed his partiality for the suburb, moreover, by the erection of porticoes, fora, baths, churches, all built in a style worthy of the capital itself, and by having the Harbour of the Hebdomon dredged and provided with jetties for the better accommodation and safety of the shipping frequenting the coast.[1266] In the seventh and eighth centuries the palace of the Hebdomon appears under the name of Magnaura;[1267] but whether it was the old residence under a different designation, or a new building added to the Imperial quarters, in the style of the Hall of the Magnaura in the Great Palace beside the Hippodrome,[1268] it is impossible to say.