Chateau and Marble Tower Near The Western Extremity of the Walls Beside the Sea of Marmora.
But never was she so grand as in her attitude towards the barbarous tribes and Oriental peoples which threatened her existence, and sought to render European civilization impossible. Some of her foes—the Goths and the great Slavic race—she not only fought, but also gathered within the pale of civilized Christendom. With others, like the Huns, Persians, Saracens, Turks, she waged a relentless warfare, often achieving signal triumphs, sometimes worsted in the struggle, always contesting every inch of her ground, retarding for a thousand years the day of her fall, perishing sword in hand, and giving Western Europe, meantime, scope to become worthy to take from her dying hands the banner of the world’s hope. This is service similar to that which has earned for Ancient Greece men’s eternal gratitude, and has made Marathon, Thermopylæ, Salamis, Platæa, names which will never die.
Among the monuments brought by Constantine from various parts of the Empire to adorn his city was the serpent column which had stood for eight centuries before the shrine of Delphi, inscribed with the names of the Greek States whose valour on the field of Platæa hurled the Persian out of Greece. In placing that column in the Hippodrome of New Rome, did he divine the mission of the new capital? It was Greece transferring to the city founded on the banks of the Bosporus the championship of the world’s best life. And as we look backwards upon the tremendous conflict between barbarism and civilization, which forms the very core of Byzantine history, we see that nowhere could that venerable monument have been placed more appropriately, and that if the name of the City of Constantine were inscribed upon it no dishonour would be cast upon the names already there, and only justice would be done to the Empire which assumed their task and emulated their renown.
But the shield of the city in that long heroic contest were the Walls whose history we have reviewed.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE HARBOURS ON THE SEA OF MARMORA.
The number of harbours found, at one time or other, on the southern shore of the city formed one of the most striking features in the aspect of Byzantine Constantinople. This was not due to any natural facilities offered by that shore for the purpose. On the contrary, although the outline of the coast is very irregular, it presents no bay where ships may be moored for the convenience of commerce, or into which they can find refuge from storms. The waves, moreover, cast up great quantities of sand upon the beach. Hence, all the harbours on this side of the city were, to a great measure, artificial extensions of some indentation of the coast, and their construction and maintenance involved great labour and expense. They ranked, in fact, among the principal public works of the capital. But the interests of commerce with the regions around the Sea of Marmora and with the Mediterranean were so great, and the difficulty which vessels coming from those regions often found to make the Golden Horn, owing to the prevalence of north winds, was so serious as to outweigh all drawbacks or impediments, and secured for the accommodation of the shipping frequenting this side of the city no less than five harbours. These harbours were probably constructed in the following chronological order: the Harbour of Eleutherius, known also as the Harbour of Theodosius; the Harbour of the Emperor Julian, known also as the New Harbour, and as the Harbour of Sophia; the Harbour of Kaisarius, the same probably as the Neorion at the Heptascalon; the Harbour of the Bucoleon; and the Kontoscalion. We shall consider them in the order of their position on the shore, proceeding from east to west.
Map of the Shore of Constantinople on the Sea of Marmora Between the Seraglio Lighthouse and Daoud Pasha Kapoussi.
Harbour of the Bucoleon.
The Harbour of the Bucoleon was attached to the Great Palace[[989]] (τὸ τοῦ παλατίου νεώριον ἑν τῷ Βουκολέοντι) for the convenience of the emperor, who in a city like Constantinople would have frequent occasion to move to and fro by water. Its name was derived from a marble group of a Lion and a Bull upon the harbour’s quay, the lion being represented with his left foot upon a horn of the bull, in the act of twisting his victim’s head round to get at the throat.[[990]] The harbour, partly artificial, was protected by two jetties from the violence of the winds and waves;[[991]] and, in keeping with its destination, displayed considerable architectural splendour. Its quay was paved with marble,[[992]] and adorned with figures of lions, bulls, bears, and ostriches;[[993]] a handsome flight of marble steps led to the water;[[994]] and upon the adjoining city walls rose two Imperial villas, known as the Palace of the Bucoleon (τὰ παλάτια τοῦ Βουκολέοντος).[[995]]