Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 1).djvu/56

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great cross.^[1] In the fore area are placed a pair of marble elephants, recalling those used by Theodosius in his triumphal procession after the defeat of Maximus of Gaul; and behind these his grandson,^[2] the builder of the gate, has raised a column bearing a statue of himself. Profusely gilded, this elaborate pile is popularly and officially known as the Golden Gate.^[3]

To proceed with our survey we may re-embark on the Propontis and skirt the promontory by water from end to end of the land-wall, passing through the mouth of the

[Footnote: but no description of the gate as a whole is left to us. The ornaments

are only mentioned incidentally when recording damage done by earthquakes (in their frequency often the best friends of the modern archaeologist) and their arrangement can only be guessed at. Most likely they were of gilded bronze, a common kind of statue among the Byzantines. See Codinus, passim. The idea that the Golden Gate opened into a fortress should be abandoned. The conception of the Seven Towers seems to have originated with the Palaeologi in 1390, but Bajazet ordered the demolition of the unfinished works (Ducas, 13), and it was left to the Turkish conqueror to carry out the idea in 1458. See p. 26. I may remark here that Mordtmann's map has not been brought up to date as regards his own text.]

↑ Cedrenus, i, p. 675.
↑ Ibid., i, p. 567; Codin., pp. 26, 47; said to have been brought from the temple of Mars at Athens.
↑ The first Golden Gate was erected, or rather transformed, by Theodosius I, as the following epigram, inscribed on the gate, shows (Corp. Inscript. Lat., Berlin, 1873, No. 735):

Haec loca Theudosius decorat post fata tyranni,
Aurea secla gerit, qui portam construit auro.

It was, of course, in the wall of Constantine (Codin., p. 122) and seems to have remained to a late date—Map of Buondelmonte, Ducange, CP. Christ., etc. For a probable representation see Banduri, Imp. Orient., ii, pl. xi. But Van Millingen (op. cit.), having found traces of the inscription on the remaining structure, considers there never was any other. In that case it was at first a triumphal arch outside the walls.

[1] Cedrenus, i, p. 675.

[2] Ibid., i, p. 567; Codin., pp. 26, 47; said to have been brought from the temple of Mars at Athens.

[3] The first Golden Gate was erected, or rather transformed, by Theodosius I, as the following epigram, inscribed on the gate, shows (Corp. Inscript. Lat., Berlin, 1873, No. 735):

Haec loca Theudosius decorat post fata tyranni,
Aurea secla gerit, qui portam construit auro.

It was, of course, in the wall of Constantine (Codin., p. 122) and seems to have remained to a late date—Map of Buondelmonte, Ducange, CP. Christ., etc. For a probable representation see Banduri, Imp. Orient., ii, pl. xi. But Van Millingen (op. cit.), having found traces of the inscription on the remaining structure, considers there never was any other. In that case it was at first a triumphal arch outside the walls.

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