MAP OF THE SHORE OF CONSTANTINOPLE BETWEEN THE SERAGLIO LIGHT-HOUSE AND DAOUD PASHA KAPOUSSI _To face_ 269 MARBLE FIGURES OF LIONS ATTACHED TO THE BALCONY IN THE PALACE OF THE BUCOLEON _To face_ 272 RUINS OF THE PALACE OF THE BUCOLEON 274 PORTION OF THE PALACE OF HORMISDAS 277 RUINS OF THE PALACE OF HORMISDAS _To face_ 282 TOWER GUARDING THE HARBOUR OF ELEUTHERIUS AND THEODOSIUS 297 PORTION OF THE WALL AROUND THE HARBOUR OF ELEUTHERIUS AND THEODOSIUS 299 MAP OF THE TERRITORY BETWEEN THE HEBDOMON AND THE CITY WALLS _To face_ 316 TRIUMPHUS THEODOSII 330 TRIUMPHUS HERACLII 334 [Illustration: Bust Over the Gate of Gyrolimne.] BYZANTINE CONSTANTINOPLE. CHAPTER I. THE SITE OF CONSTANTINOPLE—THE LIMITS OF BYZANTIUM. Without attempting any elaborate description of the site occupied by Constantinople, such as we have in Gyllius’ valuable work on the topography of the city,[1] it is necessary to indicate to the reader, now invited to wander among the ruins of New Rome, the most salient features of the territory he is to explore. The city is situated at the south-western end of the Bosporus, upon a promontory that shoots out from the European shore of the straits, with its apex up stream, as though to stem the waters that rush from the Black Sea into the Sea of Marmora. To the north, the narrow bay of the Golden Horn runs inland, between steep banks, for some six or seven miles, and forms one of the finest harbours in the world. The Sea of Marmora spreads southwards like a lake, its Asiatic coast bounded by hills and mountains, and fringed with islands. Upon the shore of Asia, facing the eastern side of the promontory, stand the historic towns of Chrysopolis (Scutari) and Chalcedon (Kadikeui). The mainland to the west is an undulating plain that soon meets the horizon. It offers little to attract the eye in the way of natural beauty, but in the palmy days of the city it, doubtless, presented a pleasing landscape of villas and gardens. The promontory, though strictly speaking a trapezium, is commonly described as a triangle, on account of the comparative shortness of its eastern side. It is about four miles long, and from one to four miles wide, with a surface broken up into hills and plains. The higher ground, which reaches an elevation of some 250 feet, is massed in two divisions—a large isolated hill at the south-western corner of the promontory, and a long ridge, divided, more or less completely, by five cross valleys into six distinct eminences, overhanging the Golden Horn. Thus, New Rome boasted of being enthroned upon as many hills beside the Bosporus, as her elder sister beside the Tiber.