The gate went, probably, by the designation of the Golden Gate,[284] near which it stands, just as it now bears the name given to the latter entrance since the Turkish Conquest. A common name for gates so near each other was perfectly natural; and on this view certain incidents in the history of the Golden Gate become more intelligible. For instance: when Basil, the founder of the Macedonian dynasty, reached Constantinople in his early youth, a homeless adventurer in search of fortune, it is related that he entered the city about sunset through the Golden Gate, and laid himself down to sleep on the steps of the adjoining Monastery of St. Diomed.[285] If the only Golden Gate were the Porta Aurea strictly so called, it is difficult to understand how the poor wayfarer was admitted by an entrance reserved for the emperor’s use; whereas the matter becomes clear if that name designated also an adjoining public gate. Again, when the historian Nicetas Choniates,[286] accompanied by his family and some friends, left the city five days after its capture by the Crusaders in 1204, he made his way out, according to his own statement, by the Golden Gate. In this case also, it does not seem probable that the captors of the city would have allowed a gate of such military importance as the Porta Aurea to be freely used by a company of fugitives. The escape appears more feasible if the Golden Gate to which Nicetas refers was the humbler entrance in the neighbourhood of the Porta Aurea. Footnote 210: Pusculus, iv. 137, 138, “Pontes qui ad mœnia ducunt dirumpunt.” Footnote 211: Pusculus, iv. 151, “Aurea Porta datur ponto vicina sonanti.” Footnote 212: Cananus, p. 460. Footnote 213: Cantacuzene, iv. pp. 292, 293; Manuel Chrysolaras, p. 48. Footnote 214: _Historiæ Anglicanæ Scriptores Antiqui_, p. 642. London, 1652. Footnote 215: See French translation of his work, _Constantinople Ancienne et Moderne_, 1798, vol. i. p. 28, where, quoting the legend, he says, “On y lit encore ces vers.” Footnote 216: _Opera Varia_, vol. i., Paris, 1696; Paneg. Maioriani, _Carmen V._, 354. Footnote 217: _Constantinopolis Christiana_, lib. i. p. 52. Footnote 218: The brilliant monograph of Dr. Strzygowski on the Golden Gate is found in the _Jahrbuch des Kaiserlich Deutschen Archæologischen Instituts_, Band viii., 1893, Erstes Heft. Footnote 219: Zosimus, p. 234. Footnote 220: Cf. the inscription on the pedestal of the obelisk— “Difficilis quondam dominis parere serenis Jussus, et extinctis palmam portare tyrannis Omnia Theodosio cedunt,” etc. Footnote 221: See below, pp. 64, 65. Footnote 222: Malalas, p. 360, ascribes the decoration of the gate with gold to Theodosius II. Footnote 223: See above, p. 42. Footnote 224: Nicephorus, _Patriarcha CP._, p. 59; Constant. Porphyr., _De Cer._, pp. 500, 506. Footnote 225: Malalas, p. 360. Footnote 226: