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Monuments
Monuments of Byzantine Constantinople
10
Art History
Undergraduate 4
02/05/2013

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Term
[image]
Definition
The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. The "Mese" = The Via Egnatia. Zero point is marked with the "Milion," or Golden Milestone. The Via Egnatia linked Byzantium to Rome.
Term
The Hippodrome (general)
Definition
Probably built by Septimus Severus, and then rebuilt by Constantine. Could seat between 50,000 and 100,000 people. The royal viewing box, called the "Kathisma," was probably on the middle of the East side of the structure. Although at first there were four factions, overtime the races came to focus on the tensions between the "Blues" and the "Greens." There are no chariot races reported after the Latin occupation of 1204-61, instead we see a switch to jousting.
Term
Kathisma
Definition
The term was used for the royal viewing box at the Hippodrome of Constantinople.
Term
The Baths of Zeuxippos (general)
Definition
The popular public baths in the city of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. They were built between 100 to 200 (probably by Septimus Severus), destroyed by the Nika revolt of 532 and then rebuilt several years later. They were so called because they were built upon the site where a Temple of Jupiter (Zeus) had formerly existed.
Term
The Walls of Constantine (general)
Definition
These wall made the city five times larger than it was under Septimus Severus. Nothing remains of the walls now, due to the construction of the Theodosian walls. They enclosed three harbors: Neorion, Prosphorion, ???
Term
The Milion
Definition
It "seems to have been a tetrapylon [a type of ancient Roman monument of cubic shape, with a gate on each of the four sides: generally it was built on a crossroads], covered by a baldachin [a canopy of state over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy,but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in cathedrals, where such a structure is more correctly called a ciborium when it is sufficiently architectural in form]. Its full name was the Miliarium Aureum, or Golden Milestone, after its prototype in Rome" (Freely and Cakmuk 27). This was the zero marker for the Via Egnatia. Demolished by Turks.
Term
Tetrapylon
Definition
A type of ancient Roman monument of cubic shape, with a gate on each of the four sides: generally it was built on a crossroads.
Term
Baldachin
Definition
A canopy of state over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in cathedrals, where such a structure is more correctly called a ciborium when it is sufficiently architectural in form.
Term
[image]
Definition
The Milion was a mile-marker monument erected in the early 4th century AD in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). It was the starting-place for measurement of distances for all the roads leading to the cities of the Byzantine Empire and had the same function as the Milliarium Aureum of Rome. The domed building of the Milion rested on 4 large arches, and it was expanded and decorated with several statues and paintings. It had survived intact, following the Ottomanconquest of Constantinople (1453), for about the next 50 years, but disappeared at the start of the 16th century. During excavations in the 1960s, some partial fragments of it were discovered under houses in the area.
Term
The Forum of Constantine (general)
Definition
Located on the Mese, on top of the Second Hill. The Column of Constantine stood in the middle. Religious festivals and a celebration of the founding of the city took place here. It was circular in shape and had two monumental gates on the East and West. The city's first Senate House lay on the North side of it. It was decorated with a number of statues.
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