e
configuration of its site, which falls into three great divisions,--the
level ground and slopes looking towards the Sea of Marmora, the range of
hills forming the midland portion of the promontory, and the slopes and
level ground facing the Golden Horn. In each division a great street ran
through the city from east to west, generally lined with arcades on one
side, but with arcades on both sides when traversing the finer and
busier quarters. The street along the ridge formed the principal
thoroughfare, and was named the Mese ([Greek: Mese]), because it ran
through the middle of the city. On reaching the west of the 3rd hill, it
divided into two branches, one leading across the 7th hill to the Golden
gate, the other conducting to the church of the Holy Apostles, and the
gate of Charisius (Edirneh Kapusi). The Mese linked together the great
fora of the city,--the Augustaion on the south of St Sophia, the forum
of Constantine on the summit of the 2nd hill, the forum of Theodosius I.
or of Taurus on the summit of the 3rd hill, the forum of Amastrianon
where the mosque of Shah Zadeh is situated, the forum of the Bous at Ak
Serai, and the forum of Arcadius or Theodosius II. on the summit of the
7th hill. This was the route followed on the occasion of triumphal
processions.

Of the edifices and monuments which adorned the fora, only a slight
sketch can be given here. On the north side of the Augustaion rose the
church of St Sophia, the most glorious cathedral of Eastern Christendom;
opposite, on the southern side of the square, was the Chalce, the great
gate of the imperial palace; on the east was the senate house, with a
porch of six noble columns; to the west, across the Mese, were the law
courts. In the area of the square stood the Milion, whence distances
from Constantinople were measured, and a lofty column which bore the
equestrian statue of Justinian the Great. There also was the statue of
the empress Eudoxia, famous in the history of Chrysostom, the pedestal
of which is preserved near the church of St Irene. The Augustaion was
the heart of the city's ecclesiastical and political life. The forum of
Constantine was a great business centre. Its most remarkable monument
was the column of Constantine, built of twelve drums of porphyry and
bearing aloft his statue. Shorn of much of its beauty, the column still
stands to proclaim the enduring influence of the foundation of the city.

In the forum of Theodosius I. rose a co