<p><SPAN name="link172HCH0002" id="link172HCH0002"></SPAN></p>
<h2> Chapter XVII: Foundation Of Constantinople.—Part II. </h2>
<p>The master of the Roman world, who aspired to erect an eternal monument of
the glories of his reign could employ in the prosecution of that great
work, the wealth, the labor, and all that yet remained of the genius of
obedient millions. Some estimate may be formed of the expense bestowed
with Imperial liberality on the foundation of Constantinople, by the
allowance of about two millions five hundred thousand pounds for the
construction of the walls, the porticos, and the aqueducts. <SPAN href="#link17note-39" name="link17noteref-39" id="link17noteref-39">39</SPAN>
The forests that overshadowed the shores of the Euxine, and the celebrated
quarries of white marble in the little island of Proconnesus, supplied an
inexhaustible stock of materials, ready to be conveyed, by the convenience
of a short water carriage, to the harbor of Byzantium. <SPAN href="#link17note-40" name="link17noteref-40" id="link17noteref-40">40</SPAN>
A multitude of laborers and artificers urged the conclusion of the work
with incessant toil: but the impatience of Constantine soon discovered,
that, in the decline of the arts, the skill as well as numbers of his
architects bore a very unequal proportion to the greatness of his designs.
The magistrates of the most distant provinces were therefore directed to
institute schools, to appoint professors, and by the hopes of rewards and
privileges, to engage in the study and practice of architecture a
sufficient number of ingenious youths, who had received a liberal
education. <SPAN href="#link17note-41" name="link17noteref-41" id="link17noteref-41">41</SPAN> The buildings of the new city were executed
by such artificers as the reign of Constantine could afford; but they were
decorated by the hands of the most celebrated masters of the age of
Pericles and Alexander. To revive the genius of Phidias and Lysippus,
surpassed indeed the power of a Roman emperor; but the immortal
productions which they had bequeathed to posterity were exposed without
defence to the rapacious vanity of a despot. By his commands the cities of
Greece and Asia were despoiled of their most valuable ornaments. <SPAN href="#link17note-42" name="link17noteref-42" id="link17noteref-42">42</SPAN>
The trophies of memorable wars, the objects of religious veneration, the
most finished statues of the gods and heroes, of the sages and poets, of
ancient times, contributed to the splendid triumph of Constantinople; and
gave occasion to the remark of the historian Cedrenus, <SPAN href="#link17note-43" name="link17noteref-43" id="link17noteref-43">43</SPAN>
who observes, with some enthusiasm, that nothing seemed wanting except the
souls of the illustrious men whom these admirable monuments were intended
to represent. But it is not in the city of Constantine, nor in the
declining period of an empire, when the human mind was depressed by civil
and religious slavery, that we should seek for the souls of Homer and of
Demosthenes.</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-39" id="link17note-39">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
39 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-39">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Six hundred
centenaries, or sixty thousand pounds' weight of gold. This sum is taken
from Codinus, Antiquit. Const. p. 11; but unless that contemptible author
had derived his information from some purer sources, he would probably
have been unacquainted with so obsolete a mode of reckoning.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-40" id="link17note-40">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
40 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-40">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ For the forests of the
Black Sea, consult Tournefort, Lettre XVI. for the marble quarries of
Proconnesus, see Strabo, l. xiii. p. 588, (881, edit. Casaub.) The latter
had already furnished the materials of the stately buildings of Cyzicus.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-41" id="link17note-41">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
41 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-41">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ See the Codex Theodos.
l. xiii. tit. iv. leg. 1. This law is dated in the year 334, and was
addressed to the praefect of Italy, whose jurisdiction extended over
Africa. The commentary of Godefroy on the whole title well deserves to be
consulted.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-42" id="link17note-42">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
42 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-42">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Constantinopolis
dedicatur poene omnium urbium nuditate. Hieronym. Chron. p. 181. See
Codinus, p. 8, 9. The author of the Antiquitat. Const. l. iii. (apud
Banduri Imp. Orient. tom. i. p. 41) enumerates Rome, Sicily, Antioch,
Athens, and a long list of other cities. The provinces of Greece and Asia
Minor may be supposed to have yielded the richest booty.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-43" id="link17note-43">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
43 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-43">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Hist. Compend. p. 369.
He describes the statue, or rather bust, of Homer with a degree of taste
which plainly indicates that Cadrenus copied the style of a more fortunate
age.]</p>
<p>During the siege of Byzantium, the conqueror had pitched his tent on the
commanding eminence of the second hill. To perpetuate the memory of his
success, he chose the same advantageous position for the principal Forum;
<SPAN href="#link17note-44" name="link17noteref-44" id="link17noteref-44">44</SPAN>
which appears to have been of a circular, or rather elliptical form. The
two opposite entrances formed triumphal arches; the porticos, which
enclosed it on every side, were filled with statues; and 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 twenty feet high; and was composed of ten
pieces of porphyry, each of which measured about ten feet in height, and
about thirty-three in circumference. <SPAN href="#link17note-45"
name="link17noteref-45" id="link17noteref-45">45</SPAN> On the summit of the
pillar, above one hundred and twenty feet from the ground, stood the
colossal statue of Apollo. It was a bronze, had been transported either
from Athens or from a town of 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. <SPAN href="#link17note-46" name="link17noteref-46" id="link17noteref-46">46</SPAN> The Circus, or Hippodrome, was a stately
building about four hundred paces in length, and one hundred in breadth.
<SPAN href="#link17note-47" name="link17noteref-47" id="link17noteref-47">47</SPAN>
The space between the two metoe or goals were filled with statues and
obelisks; and we may still remark a very singular fragment of antiquity;
the bodies of three serpents, twisted into one pillar of brass. Their
triple heads had once supported the golden tripod which, after the defeat
of Xerxes, was consecrated in the temple of Delphi by the victorious
Greeks. <SPAN href="#link17note-48" name="link17noteref-48" id="link17noteref-48">48</SPAN> The beauty of the Hippodrome has been long
since defaced by the rude hands of the Turkish conquerors; <SPAN href="#link17note-4811" name="link17noteref-4811" id="link17noteref-4811">4811</SPAN>
but, under the similar appellation of Atmeidan, it still serves as a place
of exercise for their horses. From the throne, whence the emperor viewed
the Circensian games, a winding staircase <SPAN href="#link17note-49"
name="link17noteref-49" id="link17noteref-49">49</SPAN> descended to the
palace; a magnificent edifice, which scarcely yielded to the residence of
Rome itself, and which, together with the dependent courts, gardens, and
porticos, covered a considerable extent of ground upon the banks of the
Propontis between the Hippodrome and the church of St. Sophia. <SPAN href="#link17note-50" name="link17noteref-50" id="link17noteref-50">50</SPAN>
We might likewise celebrate the baths, which still retained the name of
Zeuxippus, after they had been enriched, by the munificence of
Constantine, with lofty columns, various marbles, and above threescore
statues of bronze. <SPAN href="#link17note-51" name="link17noteref-51" id="link17noteref-51">51</SPAN> But we should deviate from the design of this
history, if we attempted minutely to describe the different buildings or
quarters of the city. It may be sufficient to observe, that whatever could
adorn the dignity of a great capital, or contribute to the benefit or
pleasure of its numerous inhabitants, was contained within the walls of
Constantinople. A particular description, composed about a century after
its foundation, enumerates a capitol or school of learning, a circus, two
theatres, eight public, and one hundred and fifty-three private baths,
fifty-two porticos, five granaries, eight aqueducts or reservoirs of
water, four spacious halls for the meetings of the senate or courts of
justice, fourteen churches, fourteen palaces, and four thousand three
hundred and eighty-eight houses, which, for their size or beauty, deserved
to be distinguished from the multitude of plebeian inhabitants. <SPAN href="#link17note-52" name="link17noteref-52" id="link17noteref-52">52</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-44" id="link17note-44">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
44 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-44">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Zosim. l. ii. p. 106.
Chron. Alexandrin. vel Paschal. p. 284, Ducange, Const. l. i. c. 24. Even
the last of those writers seems to confound the Forum of Constantine with
the Augusteum, or court of the palace. I am not satisfied whether I have
properly distinguished what belongs to the one and the other.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-45" id="link17note-45">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
45 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-45">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The most tolerable
account of this column is given by Pocock. Description of the East, vol.
ii. part ii. p. 131. But it is still in many instances perplexed and
unsatisfactory.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-46" id="link17note-46">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
46 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-46">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Ducange, Const. l. i.
c. 24, p. 76, and his notes ad Alexiad. p. 382. The statue of Constantine
or Apollo was thrown down under the reign of Alexius Comnenus. * Note: On
this column (says M. von Hammer) Constantine, with singular shamelessness,
placed his own statue with the attributes of Apollo and Christ. He
substituted the nails of the Passion for the rays of the sun. Such is the
direct testimony of the author of the Antiquit. Constantinop. apud
Banduri. Constantine was replaced by the "great and religious" Julian,
Julian, by Theodosius. A. D. 1412, the key stone was loosened by an
earthquake. The statue fell in the reign of Alexius Comnenus, and was
replaced by the cross. The Palladium was said to be buried under the
pillar. Von Hammer, Constantinopolis und der Bosporos, i. 162.—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-47" id="link17note-47">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
47 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-47">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Tournefort (Lettre
XII.) computes the Atmeidan at four hundred paces. If he means geometrical
paces of five feet each, it was three hundred toises in length, about
forty more than the great circus of Rome. See D'Anville, Mesures
Itineraires, p. 73.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-48" id="link17note-48">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
48 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-48">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The guardians of the
most holy relics would rejoice if they were able to produce such a chain
of evidence as may be alleged on this occasion. See Banduri ad Antiquitat.
Const. p. 668. Gyllius de Byzant. l. ii. c. 13. 1. The original
consecration of the tripod and pillar in the temple of Delphi may be
proved from Herodotus and Pausanias. 2. The Pagan Zosimus agrees with the
three ecclesiastical historians, Eusebius, Socrates, and Sozomen, that the
sacred ornaments of the temple of Delphi were removed to Constantinople by
the order of Constantine; and among these the serpentine pillar of the
Hippodrome is particularly mentioned. 3. All the European travellers who
have visited Constantinople, from Buondelmonte to Pocock, describe it in
the same place, and almost in the same manner; the differences between
them are occasioned only by the injuries which it has sustained from the
Turks. Mahomet the Second broke the under jaw of one of the serpents with
a stroke of his battle axe Thevenot, l. i. c. 17. * Note: See note 75, ch.
lxviii. for Dr. Clarke's rejection of Thevenot's authority. Von Hammer,
however, repeats the story of Thevenot without questioning its
authenticity.—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-4811" id="link17note-4811">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
4811 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-4811">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ In 1808 the
Janizaries revolted against the vizier Mustapha Baisactar, who wished to
introduce a new system of military organization, besieged the quarter of
the Hippodrome, in which stood the palace of the viziers, and the
Hippodrome was consumed in the conflagration.—G.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-49" id="link17note-49">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
49 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-49">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The Latin name Cochlea
was adopted by the Greeks, and very frequently occurs in the Byzantine
history. Ducange, Const. i. c. l, p. 104.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-50" id="link17note-50">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
50 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-50">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ There are three
topographical points which indicate the situation of the palace. 1. The
staircase which connected it with the Hippodrome or Atmeidan. 2. A small
artificial port on the Propontis, from whence there was an easy ascent, by
a flight of marble steps, to the gardens of the palace. 3. The Augusteum
was a spacious court, one side of which was occupied by the front of the
palace, and another by the church of St. Sophia.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-51" id="link17note-51">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
51 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-51">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Zeuxippus was an
epithet of Jupiter, and the baths were a part of old Byzantium. The
difficulty of assigning their true situation has not been felt by Ducange.
History seems to connect them with St. Sophia and the palace; but the
original plan inserted in Banduri places them on the other side of the
city, near the harbor. For their beauties, see Chron. Paschal. p. 285, and
Gyllius de Byzant. l. ii. c. 7. Christodorus (see Antiquitat. Const. l.
vii.) composed inscriptions in verse for each of the statues. He was a
Theban poet in genius as well as in birth:—Baeotum in crasso jurares
aere natum. * Note: Yet, for his age, the description of the statues of
Hecuba and of Homer are by no means without merit. See Antholog. Palat.
(edit. Jacobs) i. 37—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-52" id="link17note-52">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
52 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-52">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ See the Notitia. Rome
only reckoned 1780 large houses, domus; but the word must have had a more
dignified signification. No insulae are mentioned at Constantinople. The
old capital consisted of 42 streets, the new of 322.]</p>
<p>The populousness of his favored city was the next and most serious object
of the attention of its founder. In the dark ages which succeeded the
translation of the empire, the remote and the immediate consequences of
that memorable event were strangely confounded by the vanity of the Greeks
and the credulity of the Latins. <SPAN href="#link17note-53"
name="link17noteref-53" id="link17noteref-53">53</SPAN> It was asserted, and
believed, that all the noble families of Rome, the senate, and the
equestrian order, with their innumerable attendants, had followed their
emperor to the banks of the Propontis; that a spurious race of strangers
and plebeians was left to possess the solitude of the ancient capital; and
that the lands of Italy, long since converted into gardens, were at once
deprived of cultivation and inhabitants. <SPAN href="#link17note-54"
name="link17noteref-54" id="link17noteref-54">54</SPAN> In the course of this
history, such exaggerations will be reduced to their just value: yet,
since the growth of Constantinople cannot be ascribed to the general
increase of mankind and of industry, it must be admitted that this
artificial colony was raised at the expense of the ancient cities of the
empire. Many opulent senators of Rome, and of the eastern provinces, were
probably invited by Constantine to adopt for their country the fortunate
spot, which he had chosen for his own residence. The invitations of a
master are scarcely to be distinguished from commands; and the liberality
of the emperor obtained a ready and cheerful obedience. He bestowed on his
favorites the palaces which he had built in the several quarters of the
city, assigned them lands and pensions for the support of their dignity,
<SPAN href="#link17note-55" name="link17noteref-55" id="link17noteref-55">55</SPAN>
and alienated the demesnes of Pontus and Asia to grant hereditary estates
by the easy tenure of maintaining a house in the capital. <SPAN href="#link17note-56" name="link17noteref-56" id="link17noteref-56">56</SPAN>
But these encouragements and obligations soon became superfluous, and were
gradually abolished. Wherever the seat of government is fixed, a
considerable part of the public revenue will be expended by the prince
himself, by his ministers, by the officers of justice, and by the
domestics of the palace. The most wealthy of the provincials will be
attracted by the powerful motives of interest and duty, of amusement and
curiosity. A third and more numerous class of inhabitants will insensibly
be formed, of servants, of artificers, and of merchants, who derive their
subsistence from their own labor, and from the wants or luxury of the
superior ranks. In less than a century, Constantinople disputed with Rome
itself the preeminence of riches and numbers. New piles of buildings,
crowded together with too little regard to health or convenience, scarcely
allowed the intervals of narrow streets for the perpetual throng of men,
of horses, and of carriages. The allotted space of ground was insufficient
to contain the increasing people; and the additional foundations, which,
on either side, were advanced into the sea, might alone have composed a
very considerable city. <SPAN href="#link17note-57" name="link17noteref-57" id="link17noteref-57">57</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-53" id="link17note-53">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
53 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-53">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Liutprand, Legatio ad
Imp. Nicephornm, p. 153. The modern Greeks have strangely disfigured the
antiquities of Constantinople. We might excuse the errors of the Turkish
or Arabian writers; but it is somewhat astonishing, that the Greeks, who
had access to the authentic materials preserved in their own language,
should prefer fiction to truth, and loose tradition to genuine history. In
a single page of Codinus we may detect twelve unpardonable mistakes; the
reconciliation of Severus and Niger, the marriage of their son and
daughter, the siege of Byzantium by the Macedonians, the invasion of the
Gauls, which recalled Severus to Rome, the sixty years which elapsed from
his death to the foundation of Constantinople, &c.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-54" id="link17note-54">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
54 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-54">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Montesquieu, Grandeur
et Decadence des Romains, c. 17.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-55" id="link17note-55">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
55 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-55">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Themist. Orat. iii. p.
48, edit. Hardouin. Sozomen, l. ii. c. 3. Zosim. l. ii. p. 107. Anonym.
Valesian. p. 715. If we could credit Codinus, (p. 10,) Constantine built
houses for the senators on the exact model of their Roman palaces, and
gratified them, as well as himself, with the pleasure of an agreeable
surprise; but the whole story is full of fictions and inconsistencies.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-56" id="link17note-56">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
56 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-56">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The law by which the
younger Theodosius, in the year 438, abolished this tenure, may be found
among the Novellae of that emperor at the end of the Theodosian Code, tom.
vi. nov. 12. M. de Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 371) has
evidently mistaken the nature of these estates. With a grant from the
Imperial demesnes, the same condition was accepted as a favor, which would
justly have been deemed a hardship, if it had been imposed upon private
property.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-57" id="link17note-57">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
57 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-57">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The passages of
Zosimus, of Eunapius, of Sozomen, and of Agathias, which relate to the
increase of buildings and inhabitants at Constantinople, are collected and
connected by Gyllius de Byzant. l. i. c. 3. Sidonius Apollinaris (in
Panegyr. Anthem. 56, p. 279, edit. Sirmond) describes the moles that were
pushed forwards into the sea, they consisted of the famous Puzzolan sand,
which hardens in the water.]</p>
<p>The frequent and regular distributions of wine and oil, of corn or bread,
of money or provisions, had almost exempted the poorest citizens of Rome
from the necessity of labor. The magnificence of the first Caesars was in
some measure imitated by the founder of Constantinople: <SPAN href="#link17note-58" name="link17noteref-58" id="link17noteref-58">58</SPAN>
but his liberality, however it might excite the applause of the people,
has in curred the censure of posterity. A nation of legislators and
conquerors might assert their claim to the harvests of Africa, which had
been purchased with their blood; and it was artfully contrived by
Augustus, that, in the enjoyment of plenty, the Romans should lose the
memory of freedom. But the prodigality of Constantine could not be excused
by any consideration either of public or private interest; and the annual
tribute of corn imposed upon Egypt for the benefit of his new capital, was
applied to feed a lazy and insolent populace, at the expense of the
husbandmen of an industrious province. <SPAN href="#link17note-59"
name="link17noteref-59" id="link17noteref-59">59</SPAN> <SPAN href="#link17note-5911" name="link17noteref-5911" id="link17noteref-5911">5911</SPAN>
Some other regulations of this emperor are less liable to blame, but they
are less deserving of notice. He divided Constantinople into fourteen
regions or quarters, <SPAN href="#link17note-60" name="link17noteref-60" id="link17noteref-60">60</SPAN> dignified the public council with the
appellation of senate, <SPAN href="#link17note-61" name="link17noteref-61" id="link17noteref-61">61</SPAN> communicated to the citizens the privileges
of Italy, <SPAN href="#link17note-62" name="link17noteref-62" id="link17noteref-62">62</SPAN> and bestowed on the rising city the title of
Colony, the first and most favored daughter of ancient Rome. The venerable
parent still maintained the legal and acknowledged supremacy, which was
due to her age, her dignity, and to the remembrance of her former
greatness. <SPAN href="#link17note-63" name="link17noteref-63" id="link17noteref-63">63</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-58" id="link17note-58">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
58 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-58">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Sozomen, l. ii. c. 3.
Philostorg. l. ii. c. 9. Codin. Antiquitat. Const. p. 8. It appears by
Socrates, l. ii. c. 13, that the daily allowance of the city consisted of
eight myriads of which we may either translate, with Valesius, by the
words modii of corn, or consider us expressive of the number of loaves of
bread. * Note: At Rome the poorer citizens who received these gratuities
were inscribed in a register; they had only a personal right. Constantine
attached the right to the houses in his new capital, to engage the lower
classes of the people to build their houses with expedition. Codex
Therodos. l. xiv.—G.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-59" id="link17note-59">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
59 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-59">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ See Cod. Theodos. l.
xiii. and xiv., and Cod. Justinian. Edict. xii. tom. ii. p. 648, edit.
Genev. See the beautiful complaint of Rome in the poem of Claudian de
Bell. Gildonico, ver. 46-64.——Cum subiit par Roma mihi,
divisaque sumsit Aequales aurora togas; Aegyptia rura In partem cessere
novam.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-5911" id="link17note-5911">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
5911 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-5911">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ This was also at
the expense of Rome. The emperor ordered that the fleet of Alexandria
should transport to Constantinople the grain of Egypt which it carried
before to Rome: this grain supplied Rome during four months of the year.
Claudian has described with force the famine occasioned by this measure:—</p>
<p>Haec nobis, haec ante dabas; nunc pabula tantum<br/>
Roma precor: miserere tuae; pater optime, gentis:<br/>
Extremam defende famem. Claud. de Bell. Gildon. v. 34.—G.<br/></p>
<p class="foot">
It was scarcely this measure. Gildo had cut off the African as well as the
Egyptian supplies.—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-60" id="link17note-60">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
60 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-60">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The regions of
Constantinople are mentioned in the code of Justinian, and particularly
described in the Notitia of the younger Theodosius; but as the four last
of them are not included within the wall of Constantine, it may be doubted
whether this division of the city should be referred to the founder.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-61" id="link17note-61">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
61 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-61">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Senatum constituit
secundi ordinis; Claros vocavit. Anonym Valesian. p. 715. The senators of
old Rome were styled Clarissimi. See a curious note of Valesius ad Ammian.
Marcellin. xxii. 9. From the eleventh epistle of Julian, it should seem
that the place of senator was considered as a burden, rather than as an
honor; but the Abbe de la Bleterie (Vie de Jovien, tom. ii. p. 371) has
shown that this epistle could not relate to Constantinople. Might we not
read, instead of the celebrated name of the obscure but more probable word
Bisanthe or Rhoedestus, now Rhodosto, was a small maritime city of Thrace.
See Stephan. Byz. de Urbibus, p. 225, and Cellar. Geograph. tom. i. p.
849.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-62" id="link17note-62">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
62 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-62">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Cod. Theodos. l. xiv.
13. The commentary of Godefroy (tom. v. p. 220) is long, but perplexed;
nor indeed is it easy to ascertain in what the Jus Italicum could consist,
after the freedom of the city had been communicated to the whole empire. *
Note: "This right, (the Jus Italicum,) which by most writers is referred
with out foundation to the personal condition of the citizens, properly
related to the city as a whole, and contained two parts. First, the Roman
or quiritarian property in the soil, (commercium,) and its capability of
mancipation, usucaption, and vindication; moreover, as an inseparable
consequence of this, exemption from land-tax. Then, secondly, a free
constitution in the Italian form, with Duumvirs, Quinquennales. and
Aediles, and especially with Jurisdiction." Savigny, Geschichte des Rom.
Rechts i. p. 51—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-63" id="link17note-63">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
63 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-63">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Julian (Orat. i. p. 8)
celebrates Constantinople as not less superior to all other cities than
she was inferior to Rome itself. His learned commentator (Spanheim, p. 75,
76) justifies this language by several parallel and contemporary
instances. Zosimus, as well as Socrates and Sozomen, flourished after the
division of the empire between the two sons of Theodosius, which
established a perfect equality between the old and the new capital.]</p>
<p>As Constantine urged the progress of the work with the impatience of a
lover, the walls, the porticos, and the principal edifices were completed
in a few years, or, according to another account, in a few months; <SPAN href="#link17note-64" name="link17noteref-64" id="link17noteref-64">64</SPAN>
but this extraordinary diligence should excite the less admiration, since
many of the buildings were finished in so hasty and imperfect a manner,
that under the succeeding reign, they were preserved with difficulty from
impending ruin. <SPAN href="#link17note-65" name="link17noteref-65" id="link17noteref-65">65</SPAN> But while they displayed the vigor and
freshness of youth, the founder prepared to celebrate the dedication of
his city. <SPAN href="#link17note-66" name="link17noteref-66" id="link17noteref-66">66</SPAN> The games and largesses which crowned the
pomp of this memorable festival may easily be supposed; but there is one
circumstance of a more singular and permanent nature, which ought not
entirely to be overlooked. As often as the birthday of the city returned,
the statute of Constantine, framed by his order, of gilt wood, and bearing
in his right hand a small image of the genius of the place, was erected on
a triumphal car. The guards, carrying white tapers, and clothed in their
richest apparel, accompanied the solemn procession as it moved through the
Hippodrome. When it was opposite to the throne of the reigning emperor, he
rose from his seat, and with grateful reverence adored the memory of his
predecessor. <SPAN href="#link17note-67" name="link17noteref-67" id="link17noteref-67">67</SPAN> At the festival of the dedication, an edict,
engraved on a column of marble, bestowed the title of Second or New Rome
on the city of Constantine. <SPAN href="#link17note-68"
name="link17noteref-68" id="link17noteref-68">68</SPAN> But the name of
Constantinople <SPAN href="#link17note-69" name="link17noteref-69" id="link17noteref-69">69</SPAN> has prevailed over that honorable epithet;
and after the revolution of fourteen centuries, still perpetuates the fame
of its author. <SPAN href="#link17note-70" name="link17noteref-70" id="link17noteref-70">70</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-64" id="link17note-64">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
64 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-64">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Codinus (Antiquitat. p.
8) affirms, that the foundations of Constantinople were laid in the year
of the world 5837, (A. D. 329,) on the 26th of September, and that the
city was dedicated the 11th of May, 5838, (A. D. 330.) He connects those
dates with several characteristic epochs, but they contradict each other;
the authority of Codinus is of little weight, and the space which he
assigns must appear insufficient. The term of ten years is given us by
Julian, (Orat. i. p. 8;) and Spanheim labors to establish the truth of it,
(p. 69-75,) by the help of two passages from Themistius, (Orat. iv. p.
58,) and of Philostorgius, (l. ii. c. 9,) which form a period from the
year 324 to the year 334. Modern critics are divided concerning this point
of chronology and their different sentiments are very accurately described
by Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 619-625.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-65" id="link17note-65">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
65 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-65">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Themistius. Orat. iii.
p. 47. Zosim. l. ii. p. 108. Constantine himself, in one of his laws,
(Cod. Theod. l. xv. tit. i.,) betrays his impatience.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-66" id="link17note-66">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
66 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-66">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Cedrenus and Zonaras,
faithful to the mode of superstition which prevailed in their own times,
assure us that Constantinople was consecrated to the virgin Mother of
God.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-67" id="link17note-67">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
67 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-67">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The earliest and most
complete account of this extraordinary ceremony may be found in the
Alexandrian Chronicle, p. 285. Tillemont, and the other friends of
Constantine, who are offended with the air of Paganism which seems
unworthy of a Christian prince, had a right to consider it as doubtful,
but they were not authorized to omit the mention of it.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-68" id="link17note-68">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
68 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-68">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Sozomen, l. ii. c. 2.
Ducange C. P. l. i. c. 6. Velut ipsius Romae filiam, is the expression of
Augustin. de Civitat. Dei, l. v. c. 25.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-69" id="link17note-69">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
69 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-69">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Eutropius, l. x. c. 8.
Julian. Orat. i. p. 8. Ducange C. P. l. i. c. 5. The name of
Constantinople is extant on the medals of Constantine.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-70" id="link17note-70">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
70 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-70">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The lively Fontenelle
(Dialogues des Morts, xii.) affects to deride the vanity of human
ambition, and seems to triumph in the disappointment of Constantine, whose
immortal name is now lost in the vulgar appellation of Istambol, a Turkish
corruption of. Yet the original name is still preserved, 1. By the nations
of Europe. 2. By the modern Greeks. 3. By the Arabs, whose writings are
diffused over the wide extent of their conquests in Asia and Africa. See
D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 275. 4. By the more learned Turks,
and by the emperor himself in his public mandates Cantemir's History of
the Othman Empire, p. 51.]</p>
<p>The foundation of a new capital is naturally connected with the
establishment of a new form of civil and military administration. The
distinct view of the complicated system of policy, introduced by
Diocletian, improved by Constantine, and completed by his immediate
successors, may not only amuse the fancy by the singular picture of a
great empire, but will tend to illustrate the secret and internal causes
of its rapid decay. In the pursuit of any remarkable institution, we may
be frequently led into the more early or the more recent times of the
Roman history; but the proper limits of this inquiry will be included
within a period of about one hundred and thirty years, from the accession
of Constantine to the publication of the Theodosian code; <SPAN href="#link17note-71" name="link17noteref-71" id="link17noteref-71">71</SPAN>
from which, as well as from the Notitia <SPAN href="#link17note-7111"
name="link17noteref-7111" id="link17noteref-7111">7111</SPAN> of the East and
West, <SPAN href="#link17note-72" name="link17noteref-72" id="link17noteref-72">72</SPAN> we derive the most copious and authentic
information of the state of the empire. This variety of objects will
suspend, for some time, the course of the narrative; but the interruption
will be censured only by those readers who are insensible to the
importance of laws and manners, while they peruse, with eager curiosity,
the transient intrigues of a court, or the accidental event of a battle.</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-71" id="link17note-71">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
71 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-71">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The Theodosian code was
promulgated A. D. 438. See the Prolegomena of Godefroy, c. i. p. 185.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-7111" id="link17note-7111">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
7111 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-7111">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The Notitia
Dignitatum Imperii is a description of all the offices in the court and
the state, of the legions, &c. It resembles our court almanacs, (Red
Books,) with this single difference, that our almanacs name the persons in
office, the Notitia only the offices. It is of the time of the emperor
Theodosius II., that is to say, of the fifth century, when the empire was
divided into the Eastern and Western. It is probable that it was not made
for the first time, and that descriptions of the same kind existed before.—G.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link17note-72" id="link17note-72">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
72 (<SPAN href="#link17noteref-72">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Pancirolus, in his
elaborate Commentary, assigns to the Notitia a date almost similar to that
of the Theodosian Code; but his proofs, or rather conjectures, are
extremely feeble. I should be rather inclined to place this useful work
between the final division of the empire (A. D. 395) and the successful
invasion of Gaul by the barbarians, (A. D. 407.) See Histoire des Anciens
Peuples de l'Europe, tom. vii. p. 40.]</p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />