Show MORE ORIENTAL HISTORY the journal our nal t coh cen ainu s the T tale 10 I 1 in ill the pal jays days 0 constantinople dinople ople there stood about 1 a I stoney stones 8 throw to the southwest of st sophia aop R hia a hipp drom e whose course is today represented repress anted simply by a large 0 vacant space known as the horse squire square it was waa in this hippodrome that the great festivities attending atten dim 0 the dedication deli cation of the city by constantine the great were carried out and where afterwards ards the great drama of eastern astern 11 rome rom e was mostly acted it was here on oil grand or special occa eions that the to the number of gathered to witness ardent and insatiable parrion pas fion rion the exciting games of the period which were in invariably a presided over by the emperor in royal purple and generally ene rally ended with tho the execution of bome captive 1 mice or state criminal here emperors wet c proclaimed and heretics burned aud and here the chariots went seven times in their dizzy whirl around the alie arena huzzard and cheered by ay the excited spectators here generals celebrated their triumphs triumph wild animals were exhibited ibid athletic sports held and liere here on oil one occasion was ivas drunk up tip by the thirsty sands of the arena tile the blood of rebellious citizens the hippodrome was the axis arouca which ea eastern I 1 tern rome homo revolved it was 1300 feet lona ion aud abild feet wide and like nil all other public institutions of that time it had been fitted up regardless of cost nothing that human inc ingenuity could suggest 0 or contrive or that roman conquest or 11 gold old could obtain was spared to make this tile the grandest and most dazzling theatre of its kind in existence tile the monuments that after centuries of battle with tin th elements still grace this open square testify in no uncertain linc ge of glory that has past and fame faine that is dead and lie nearly arly forgotten these monuments are arc but three the first aa obelisk GO feet high was brou brought c lit from by the great on its bae babe are chiseled scenes of the hippodrome 1 po drome the first represents the obelisk being drag dragged 0 oled through the hippodrome hippo drame tho the second shows the obelisk in position another shows tile the imperial family including inc ludins the empress on another side aide we see the ie presentation representation of a chariot race on the east side is a latin inscription ron and on oil the west is an inscription in greek and in the center above all is the imperial tribune occupied bythe by the emperor 1 I and his two sons not far from this is tile serpent column foi tried of three bronzo bronze serpents twisted together with their tails downward this column is but 20 feet beet high though the ibe leads heads of tile the serpents have all been broken off the history of this relic hays a recent writer is very interesting at the celebrated battle of Plat aea B C which delivered greece from the persian invaders tile greeks obtained immense booty one tenth of af w which w was as dedicated to the oracle of delphi out of the gold thus aca acq acquired theio was made according to herodotus a golden tripod which was placed on the bronze three headed beaded serpent that stood cluse to the altar the tripod was carried oil by the Phoc ians in the sacred war the bronze pillar remained at delphi fill ill tile the time of pausanias but was carried to con coll stantin ople by constantine Constant inu and set up where it now stands it is one of the most moat interesting monuments in the world the three heads are gone and tradition says says that one of them was struck off b by mohammed alie with a blow of his axe the third monument is is n pillar of masonry va feet feel hi high 13 h it was at one til time covered with great plates of bronze that made it gleam like a column of sun light there were numerous oilier works of art as tattles statue monuments etc in the hippodrome mostly in ill bronze they were tile melted cited down and in made a 1 I e into coin by the crusaders in 1201 four gilt bronze horses were taken ficia tile the hippodrome to venice in 1204 in 1797 they were taken from venice to paris by napolion bonaparte and afterwards in 1815 they were restored to venice where they now adorn adon the facade of S ain in marco 1 iut but probably the most important monument the capital posses pOa hessed d in early times was th the e column oi of constantine the great it was vas made of porphyry and eur mounted by a bronze statue of apollo representing constantine and rose to the 10 legart ga t of feet the file column is supposed to hare bare been brought 13 from rome and on account 0 of fits its association with the emperor Eipp eror it was endowed with a kind of ofsan sanctity city and nd 1001 looked ed upon as tile tho c itys guardian angel so to speak the palladium from rome was escurex in its foundation knitli a piece of the cross croes fro from m golgotha Gol potha and other sacred kreics while one of the iden identical nails will which ch pierced our redeemer was worked in the shivering crown that encircled the statues brow hero here at tho the be beginning 0 annina of each year a solemn service attended by the emperor was performed by tho the patriarch and when tile turks entered the city it was hoped an an angel 11 el from the column would drive them beyond the boundaries of the empire this sacred pile has been sorely conten contell ded with by the rude eer elements rients until today there is only a few feet left held together by iron iron bands and by abut about the filthiest quarters of tho the ottoman capital west of the hippodrome is tile alie cei stern of 1001 columns whose origin dates back to the age of corl stan ta line ntine this is a wonderful subterraneous palace capable of holding enough water to supply tile the wants of people for two we weeks ks it is feet long iong 0 by feet wide and must have been at one time nearly SO 80 feet deep why it etwas was called the cistern of 1001 columns I 1 do not know for that is not the number of its ita pilla its roof is supported by shafts placed e d in fifteen rows and three deep i e three one above the ill other and each shaft or pillar is about 27 feet long ion part of the middle and the top t pillars are all that are to lie seen at present the others being covered up with the accumulated rubbish of hundreds eds of years the cistern is occupied by a number of silk twisters the th e dessent is by a very comfortable flicht of stairs and the effect produced by those long rows of granite one gets accustomed to tile the gloom of tile place is grand there ure a great many es told of the fortunes buried in this thih cistern during times time of war and many there are today who would like to locate claims and start to mining down in that rubbish but 11 II it II if the sultan will not pr mit tile the dirt to be disturbed it is just possible tile the old world would enjoy a minin raining boom that would cast a shade on the one logan bad about two years back if people were permitted to prospect 1 in f n the old cistern and who kno knows s but what the wealth of monte cristo mi might 0 lit b be uncovered if the mohammedan king could overcome his religious convictions long 0 enough n to give the order to dill dig DON bartholomew to be bc continued |