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Show I Seek Old Treasures in Turkish Capital The Angiirii fxoverniiiont hits given to the British inusium permission to excuvut.' the Hippodrome, the heart of the ancient city of the Emperor Constar.tlne. Excavations will begin tiel spring iinfi will be concerned chiefly with a search for the remains of the .'Spina, the wail which ran down the cemer of all ancient hippodromes and which in tills case was covere'i with statues imd monuments brought by CoiiptiiLtine iiod his successors from EK.vpt. Green;. Italy and Asia Everything found in the course of these excavations will become the property of the Turkish government. Tiie Hippodrome of Constantinople was the scene In ancient times of many Important events besides the usual horse races. It was there that the famous revolt against the Emperor Em-peror Justinian in 532 A. D. was sup pressed by General Belisarius. wher rebels were within the walls of th" Hippodrome in the act of crowning a usurper to the throne of Justinian with a necklace taken from the throut of the usurper's wife, since no crown was at hand. The level of the ancient Hippodrome was between 16 and 22 feet below the level of the attractive park t lie Turks ha laid out on the site. Three By zantine relics still rise there: two obelisks obe-lisks and the famous green snake brought by Constantine from the sanctuary sanc-tuary of the Delphic Apollo, where it had been erected by the victorious Greek cities after the battles of Platea and Salamis in 497 B. C. In strange contrast with these ancient an-cient relics, a fountain of modern historic his-toric importance occupies a place In the park which stretches over the grave of Constantine's Hippodrome. This fountain was a gift of Wllhelm. former kaiser of Germany, erected as a token of his friendship for the red sultan Abdul Hamid. |
