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. 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. The Circus, or Hippodrome, was a
stately building about four hundred paces in length, and one hundred in
breadth. The space between the two met 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. The beauty of the Hippodrome has been long since
defaced by the rude hands of the Turkish conquerors; 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 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. 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. 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, th