Читать книгу Byzantine Constantinople, the walls of the city and adjoining historical sites - Alexander Van Millingen - Страница 14
The Golden Gate.
ОглавлениеThe Theodosian Walls were pierced by ten gates, and by several small posterns.
Of the former, some led only to the different parts of the fortifications, serving exclusively the convenience of the garrison. These may be styled Military Gates. Others connected the capital, moreover, with the outside world by means of bridges thrown across the Moat,[210] and constituted the Public Gates of the city. The two series followed one another in alternate order, the military entrances being known by numbers, the public entrances by proper names. Both were double gateways, as they pierced the two walls. The inner gateway, being the principal one, was guarded by two large towers, which projected far beyond the curtain-wall to obtain a good flank fire, and to command at the same time the outer gateway. Thus also the passage from the area between the gateways to the peribolos, on either side, was rendered exceedingly narrow and capable of easy defence. In view of its great importance, the outer gateway of the Golden Gate also was defended by two towers, projecting from the rear of the wall towards the city.
For the sake of security against surprise the posterns were few in number, and occurred chiefly in the great wall and its towers, leading to the peribolos. It is rare to find a postern in a tower of the Outer Wall opening on the parateichion.
Proceeding northwards from the Sea of Marmora, there is a postern immediately to the north of the first tower of the Inner Wall. It is an arched entrance, with the laureated monogram “ΧΡ.” inscribed above it.
The handsome gateway between the seventh and eighth towers north of the Sea of Marmora, Yedi Koulè Kapoussi, is the triumphal gate known, from the gilding upon it, as the Porta Aurea. Its identity cannot be questioned, for the site and aspect of the entrance correspond exactly to the description given of the Golden Gate by Byzantine historians and other authorities.
Plan of the Golden Gate
It is, what the Porta Aurea was, the gateway nearest the Sea of Marmora,[211] and at the southern extremity of the Theodosian Walls,[212] constructed of marble, and flanked by two great marble towers.[213] Beside its outer portal, moreover, were found the bas-reliefs which adorned the Golden Gate, and upon it traces of an inscription which expressly named it the Porta Aurea are still visible. The inscription read as follows:
HAEC LOCA THEVDOSIVS DECORAT POST FATA TYRANNI.
AVREA SAECLA GERIT QVI PORTAM CONSTRVIT AVRO.
The history of our knowledge of this inscription is curious. There is no mention made of the legend by any writer before 1453, unless Radulphus de Diceto alludes to it when he states that in 1189 an old resident of the city pointed a Templar to certain words upon the Golden Gate, foretelling the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders.[214] And of all the visitors to the city since the Turkish Conquest, Dallaway is the only one who speaks of having seen the inscription in its place.[215]
The inscription is cited first by Sirmondi[216] and Du Cange,[217] the former of whom quotes it in his annotations upon Sidonius Apollonius, as furnishing a parallel to that poet’s mode of spelling the name Theodosius with a v instead of an o for the sake of the metre. How Sirmondi and Du Cange, neither of whom ever visited Constantinople, became acquainted with the inscription does not appear.
Matters remained in this position until 1891, when the attention of Professor J. Strzygowski[218] was arrested by certain holes in the voussoirs of the central archway, both on its western and eastern faces. The holes are such as are found on stones to which metal letters are riveted with bolts.
Here, then, was conclusive evidence that the Porta Aurea had once borne an inscription, and here, Professor Strzygowski divined, was also the means by which the genuineness of the legend given by Sirmondi and Du Cange could be verified. Accordingly, a comparison between the arrangement of the holes on the arch and the forms of the letters in the legend was instituted. As several of the original voussoirs of the arch had been removed and replaced by others without holes in them, the comparison could not be complete; but so far as it was possible to proceed the correspondence was all that could be desired. Where H, for example, occurred in the inscription, the holes on the archway are arranged thus, ::; where an A stood, the holes are placed thus, ∴; where V came, their position is ∵; and so on, to an extent which verifies the inscription beyond dispute. Thus, also, it has been ascertained that the letters were of metal, probably gilt bronze, and that the words “Haec loca Thevdosivs decorat post fata Tyranni” stood on the western face of the arch, while the words “Avrea saecla gerit qvi portam constrvit avro” were found on the opposite side.
The preservation of the inscription is a matter of very great importance, for it furnishes valuable and interesting information as to the circumstances under which the Porta Aurea was erected. From the fact that the entrance is found in the Theodosian Walls it is natural to infer that the Porta Aurea was a contemporaneous building, and that the emperor extolled in the inscription is Theodosius II. But that inference is precluded by the statement that the arch was set up after the suppression of a usurper, post fata tyranni. For Theodosius II. was not called to suppress the usurpation of his imperial authority at any time during his reign, much less in 413, when the Wall of Anthemius, in which the Porta Aurea stands, was built. On the other hand, Theodosius the Great crushed two serious attempts to dispute his rule, first in 388, when he defeated Maximus, and again in 395, when he put down the rebellion of Eugenius. Hence, as Du Cange first pointed out, the Porta Aurea is a monument erected in the reign of Theodosius the Great, in honour of his victory over one of the rebels above mentioned. It could not, however, have been designed to commemorate the defeat of Eugenius, seeing that Theodosius never returned to Constantinople after that event, and died four months later in the city of Milan. It must, therefore, have been reared in honour of the victory over Maximus, a success which the conqueror regarded with feelings of peculiar satisfaction and pride, celebrating it by one triumphal entry into Rome, in the spring of 389, and by another into Constantinople, when he returned to the eastern capital in 391.[219] Accordingly, the Porta Aurea was originally an Arch of Triumph, erected some time between 388 and 391, to welcome Theodosius the Great upon his return from his successful expedition against the formidable rebellion of Maximus in the West. It united with the Column of Theodosius in the Forum of Taurus, and the Column of Arcadius in the Forum on the Xerolophus, and the Obelisk in the Hippodrome,[220] in perpetuating the memory of the great emperor’s warlike achievements.
In corroboration of the date thus assigned to the monument, it may be added that the only Imperial statue placed over the Porta Aurea was that of Theodosius the Great, while the group of elephants which formed one of the ornaments of the gate was supposed to represent the elephants attached to the car of that emperor on the occasion of his triumphal entry into the city.[221]
There is, however, an objection to this view concerning the age of the Porta Aurea, which, whatever its force, should not be overlooked in a full discussion of the subject. The inscription describes the monument as a gateway, “Qui portam construit auro.”[222] But such a designation does not seem consistent with the fact that we have here a building which belongs to the age of Theodosius the Great, when the city walls in which the arch stands did not exist, as they are the work of his grandson. How could an isolated arch be, then, styled a gateway? Can the difficulty be removed by any other instance of a similar use of the term “Porta”? Or is the employment of the term in the case before us explained by the supposition that in the reign of Theodosius the Great the city had spread beyond the Constantinian Wall, and reached the line marked by the Porta Aurea, so that an arch at that point was practically an entrance into the city? May not that suburban district have been protected by some slight fortified works? Or was the Porta Aurea so named in anticipation of the fulfilment of the prediction of Themistius, that the growth of the city under Theodosius the Great would ere long necessitate the erection of new walls?[223] Was it built in that emperor’s reign to indicate to a succeeding generation the line along which the new bulwarks of the capital should be built?
The Porta Aurea was the State Entrance into the capital,[224] and was remarkable both for its architectural splendour and its military strength. It was built of large squared blocks of polished marble, fitted together without cement, and was flanked by two great towers constructed of the same material. Like the Triumphal Arch of Severus and that of Constantine at Rome, it had three archways, the central one being wider and loftier than those on either side.
The gates glittered with gold,[225] and numerous statues and other sculptured ornaments were placed at suitable points.[226]
The Golden Gate (Inner).
Of these embellishments the following are mentioned: a cross, which was blown down by a hurricane in the reign of Justinian;[227] a Victory, which fell in an earthquake in the reign of Michael III.;[228] a crowned female figure, representing the Fortune of the city;[229] a statue of Theodosius the Great, overthrown by the earthquake at the close of the reign of Leo the Isaurian;[230] a bronze group of four elephants;[231] the gates of Mompseuesta, gilded and placed here by Nicephorus Phocas, as a trophy of his campaign in Cilicia.[232] At the south-western angle of the northern tower the Roman eagle still spreads its wings; the laureated monogram “ΧΡ” appears above the central archway on the city side of the gateway; and several crosses are scattered over the building.
In later days, when taste had altered, the scene of the Crucifixion was painted within one of the lateral archways, while the Scene of the Final Judgment was represented in the other.[233] Traces of frescoes are visible on the inner walls of the southern archway, and suggest the possibility of its having been used as a chapel.
The whole aspect of the gateway must have been more imposing when the parapet on the towers and on the wall over the arches was intact, and gave the building its full elevation.
Two columns crowned with graceful capitals adorned the outer gateway, while the wall north and south was decorated with twelve bas-reliefs, executed with considerable skill, and representing classical subjects. Remains of the marble cornices and of the pilasters which framed the bas-reliefs are still found in the wall, and from the descriptions of the slabs given by Manuel Chrysolaras, Gyllius, Sir Thomas Roe, and others, a fair idea of the nature of the subjects treated can be formed.[234] Six bas-reliefs were placed on either side of the entrance, grouped in triplets, one above another, each panel being supported by pilasters, round or rectangular.
On the northern slabs the subjects pourtrayed were: Prometheus tortured; a youth pursuing a horse, and trying to pull off its rider; a satyr, between a woman with a vessel of water behind her, and a savage man, or Hercules, holding a whip; Labours of Hercules (on three slabs).
The bas-reliefs to the south were of superior workmanship, and represented: Endymion asleep, a shepherd’s lute in his hand, with Selene and Cupid descending towards him; Hercules leading dogs; two peasants carrying grapes; Pegasus and three female figures, one of them attempting to hold him back; the fall of Phaëthon; Hercules and a stag.[235]
As the Porta Triumphalis of Constantinople, the Golden Gate was the scene of many historical events and imposing ceremonies.
So long as the inauguration of an emperor upon his accession to the throne was celebrated at the Hebdomon (Makrikeui), it was through the Golden Gate that a new sovereign entered his capital on the way to the Imperial Palace beside St. Sophia. Marcian (450),[236] Leo I. (457),[237] Basiliscus (476),[238] Phocas (602),[239] Leo the Armenian (813),[240] and Nicephorus Phocas (963),[241] were welcomed as emperors by the city authorities at this portal.
Distinguished visitors to the Byzantine Court, also, were sometimes allowed to enter the city by this gate, as a mark of special honour. The Legates of Pope Hormisdas were met here upon their arrival on a mission to Justin I.:[242] here, in 708, Pope Constantine was received with great ceremony, when he came to confer with Justinian II.:[243] and here, in the reign of Basil II., the Legates of Pope Hadrian II. were admitted.[244] Under Romanus Lecapenus, the procession which bore through the city to St. Sophia the Icon of Christ, brought from Edessa, entered at the Porta Aurea.[245]
It was, however, on the return of an emperor to the city after a victorious campaign that the Porta Aurea fulfilled its highest purpose, and presented a brilliant spectacle of life and splendour.
Through this triumphal arch came Theodosius the Great, after his defeat of Maximus;[246] by it Heraclius entered the capital to celebrate the success of his Persian expeditions;[247] through it passed Constantine Copronymus, after the defeat of the Bulgarians;[248] Theophilus, on two occasions, after the repulse of the Saracens;[249] Basil I., after his successes at Tephrice and Germanicia;[250] Zimisces, after his victories over the Russians under Swiatoslaf;[251] Basil II., after the slaughter of the Bulgarians;[252] and, for the last time, Michael Palæologus, upon the restoration of the Greek Empire in 1261.[253]
It would seem that, in accordance with old Roman custom, victorious generals, below Imperial rank, were not allowed to enter the city in triumph through this gate. Belisarius,[254] Maurice,[255] Nicephorus Phocas, before he became emperor,[256] and Leo his brother,[257] celebrated their respective triumphs over the Vandals, Persians and Saracens, in the Hippodrome and the great street of the city.[258]
The Golden Gate (Outer).
An Imperial triumphal procession[259] was marshalled on the plain in front of the Golden Gate,[260] and awaited there the arrival of the emperor, either from the Hebdomon or from the Palace of Blachernæ. The principal captives, divided into several companies, and guarded by bands of soldiers, led the march. Next followed the standards and weapons and other spoils of war. Then, seated on a magnificent white charger, came the emperor himself, arrayed in robes embroidered with gold and pearls, his crown on his head, his sceptre in his right hand, his victorious sword by his side. Close to him rode his son, or the Cæsar of the day, another resplendent figure of light, also on a white horse. Upon reaching the gate the victor might, like Theophilus, dismount for a few moments, and falling thrice upon his face, humbly acknowledge the Divine aid to which he owed the triumph of his arms. At length the Imperial cortège passed through the great archway. The civic authorities came forward and did homage, offering the conqueror a crown of gold and a laurel wreath, and accepting from him a rich largess in return; the Factions rent the air with shouts—“Glory to God, who restores our sovereigns to us, crowned with victory! Glory to God, who has magnified you, Emperors of the Romans! Glory to Thee, All-Holy Trinity, for we behold our Emperors victorious! Welcome, Victors, most valiant sovereigns!”[261] And then the glittering procession wended its way to the Great Palace, through the dense crowds that packed the Mesè and the principal Fora of the city, all gay with banners, flowers, and evergreens.
Sometimes the emperor, as in the case of Heraclius,[262] rode in a chariot instead of on horseback; or the occupant of the triumphal car might be, as on the occasion of the triumph of Zimisces, the Icon of the Virgin.[263] Michael Palæologus entered the city on foot, walking as far as the Church of St. John Studius before he mounted his horse.[264] On the occasion of the second triumph of Theophilus, the beautiful custom was introduced of making children take part in the ceremonial with wreaths of flowers.[265]
But besides serving as a State entrance into the city, the Porta Aurea was one of the strongest positions in the fortifications.[266] The four towers at its gateways, the deep moat in front, and the transverse walls across the peribolos on either hand, guarding approach from that direction, constituted a veritable citadel. Cantacuzene repaired it, and speaks of it as an almost impregnable acropolis, capable of being provisioned for three years, and strong enough to defy the whole city in time of civil strife.[267] Hence the great difficulty he found in persuading the Latin garrison which held it on his behalf, in 1354, to surrender the place to his rival John VI. Palæologus.
The Golden Gate, therefore, figures also in the military annals of Constantinople. In the reign of Anastasius I. it was the object of special attack by Vitalianus at the head of his Huns and Bulgarians.[268] Repeated attempts were made upon it by the Saracens in the siege of 673-675.[269] Crum stood before it in the reign of Leo the Armenian, and there he invoked the aid of his gods against the city, by offering human sacrifices and by the lustration of his army with sea-water in which he had bathed his feet.[270] His demand to plant his spear in the gate put an end to the negotiations for peace. In 913 the Bulgarians, under their king Simeon, were again arrayed before the entrance.[271] Here, also, in 1347, John Cantacuzene was admitted by his partisans.[272]
John Palæologus, upon receiving the surrender of the gate foolishly dismantled the towers, lest they should be turned against him, in the fickle political fortunes of the day.[273] He did not, however, carry the work of destruction so far as to be unable to use the position as an “acropolis” when besieged, in 1376, by his rebellious son, Andronicus.[274] Later, when Sultan Bajazet threatened the city, an attempt was made to restore the towers, and even to increase the strength of this point in the fortifications.[275] With materials taken from the churches of All Saints, the Forty Martyrs, and St. Mokius, the towers were rebuilt, and a fortress extending to the sea was erected within the city walls, similar to the Castle of the Seven Towers constructed afterwards by Mehemet the Conqueror, in 1457. Upon hearing of this action, Bajazet sent peremptory orders to John Palæologus to pull down the new fortifications, and compelled obedience by threatening to put out the eyes of Manuel, the heir to the throne, at that time a hostage at Brousa. The humiliation affected the emperor, then seriously ill, so keenly as to hasten his death. Subsequently, however, probably after the defeat of Bajazet by Tamerlane at Angora, the defences at the Golden Gate were restored; for the Russian pilgrim who was in Constantinople between 1435 and 1453 speaks of visiting the Castle of the Emperor Kalo Jean.[276]
In 1390, Manuel II., with a small body of troops, entered the city by this gate and drove away his nephew John, who had usurped the throne.[277] During the siege of 1453 the gate was defended by Manuel of Liguria with 200 men, and before it the Sultan planted a cannon and other engines of assault.[278]
Between the second and third towers to the north of the Golden Gate is an entrance known at present, like the Porta Aurea, also by the name Yedi Koulè Kapoussi. Dr. Paspates thinks it is of Turkish origin.[279] It has certainly undergone repair in Turkish times, as an inscription upon it in honour of Sultan Achmet III. testifies; but traces of Byzantine workmanship about the gate prove that it belongs to the period of the Empire;[280] and this conclusion is supported by the consideration that, since the Porta Aurea was a State entrance, another gate was required in its immediate neighbourhood for the use of the public in this quarter of the capital. Hence the proximity of the two gateways.
Regarding the name of the entrance opinions differ. Some authorities regard the gate as the Porta Rhegiou (Ῥηγίου), the Gate of Rhegium,[281] mentioned in the Greek Anthology.[282] But this identification cannot be maintained, for the Porta Rhegiou was one of two entrances which bore an inscription in honour of Theodosius II. and the Prefect Constantine, and both those entrances, as will appear in the sequel, stood elsewhere in the line of the fortifications.[283]
Yedi Koulè Kapoussi. (By kind permission of Phenè Spiers, Esq., F.S.A.)
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.
