It was to the palace of the Hebdomon, probably, that Pulcheria retired from the Court of her brother Theodosius II., while the influence of the Empress Eudoxia had the ascendency.[1269] Basiliscus withdrew to it from the storm of theological hatred which his opposition to the creed of Chalcedon had excited in the capital, and thither the pillar-saint of Anaplus (Arnaoutkeui), Daniel Stylites, went to rebuke him and foretell the loss of the throne which had been usurped and dishonoured.[1270] As already intimated, it was a favourite resort of Justinian the Great,[1271] and several of his laws were promulgated during his residence there. On the occasion of one of his visits, the Imperial crown mysteriously disappeared and was not heard of again for eight months, when it as strangely reappeared, without a single gem missing.[1272] The palace was occupied also by Justin II.[1273] and Tiberius II., the latter dying in it.[1274] The Hebdomon enjoyed, moreover, a great religious reputation on account of its numerous churches. The oldest sanctuary of the suburb was the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist,[1275] which appears first in the reign of Arcadius,[1276] but claimed to be a foundation of Constantine the Great. It is described by the Legates of Hadrian II., after its restoration under Basil I.,[1277] as remarkable for its size, “miræ magnitudinis,”[1278] and continued to be a venerated shrine as late as the Comnenian period,[1279] after which it was allowed to fall into decay. Basil II. was interred in it, according to his dying request,[1280] and his grave was discovered among the ruins of the church in the thirteenth century, while Michael Palæologus was engaged in the siege of Galata, in 1260. Some members of the Imperial household, in the course of their exploration of the surrounding country, then visited the Hebdomon, and found the church of St. John the Evangelist turned into a fold for sheep and cattle. As the visitors wandered among the ruins, admiring the traces of the building’s former beauty, they stumbled upon the dead body of a man. It was naked, but well preserved, and in its mouth a vulgar jester had placed a shepherd’s lute by way of derision. As the corpse lay near a sarcophagus upon which was inscribed an epitaph in honour of Basil II., no doubt could be entertained regarding the identity of the body. When the discovery was reported to Michael Palæologus, he commanded the mortal remains of his predecessor to be conveyed in great state to the camp before Galata, to receive once more a tribute of respect, and then sent them with solemn ceremonial to Selivria,[1281] for interment in the monastery of St. Saviour.