(7) The passages communicating between the stairway and the chambers in the tower N render it almost certain that the stairway-turret was constructed at the same time as that tower. Thus, also, a short and private way from the Palace of Blachernæ to the country beyond the city bounds was provided; for it may be confidently assumed that at the foot of the stairway there was a small gate, corresponding to the gate l, and the postern x at the mouth of the tunnel Z.
(8) When the stairway-turret was enclosed by the vestibule b, the chamber F, and the L-shaped chamber, the lower loopholes of the turret were built up as superfluous, while the upper ones were widened to form entrances to the L-shaped chamber. Accordingly, the tower S is an old stairway-turret enclosed within later constructions.
(9) In view of some great danger, access to the tower S from without the city was blocked by building up the postern x, the tunnel Z, the gate l, and the vestibule b, to their actual level. The portion of the passage still left open was too narrow to be forced by an enemy, and yet was convenient to be retained for the sake of ventilation, or as a way in and out in some emergency. At the same time, a breach was made in the wall g to place the elevated floor of the vestibule into communication with the stairway-turret E.
(10) What precise object the chambers C in the body of the city wall were intended to serve is open to discussion. In the opinion of Dr. Paspates, who was the first to explore them, they were prison-cells. Possibly the lowest series of these chambers may have been employed for that purpose; but, taken as a whole, the suite of apartments between AA and BB do not convey the impression of being places of confinement. Their spaciousness, their number, the free communication between them, the size of the windows in the two upper stories, the proximity of the windows to the floor, are not the characteristics of dungeons.
It is not impossible that these chambers were store-rooms or barracks,[[528]] and that through the loopholes in the wall BB the palace was defended as, previously, through the openings in AA.
Communication between the three stories must have been maintained by means of wooden stairs or ladders. In the north-eastern wall of C’—the chamber which gave access from the court of the Palace of Blachernæ at v to the second story of the tower N—there was an archway, now filled up, opening upon the level of the highest series of chambers C. When the archway was closed, communication was held through a breach at h. Possibly the same series of chambers was entered from the north-eastern end of the upper gallery in AA. Contrary to what might be supposed, there was no access to the two upper series of chambers from the stairway-turret. Whether the lowest series could be reached by a door at the foot of the stairway cannot be ascertained, on account of the earth in which the lower portion of the stairway lies buried. But it is extremely improbable that such was the case, for the stairway-turret belongs, we have seen, to a later age than the chambers in the body of the adjoining wall.
With these points made clear, we are in a position to consider how far the identification of the towers N and S, respectively, with the historical towers of Isaac Angelus and Anemas can be established.
According to Nicetas Choniates, the Tower of Isaac Angelus stood at the Palace of Blachernæ, and was built by that emperor to buttress and to defend the palace, and to form, at the same time, a residence for his personal use.[[529]] It was constructed with materials taken from ruined churches on the neighbouring seashore, and from various public buildings in the city, ruthlessly torn down for the purpose.[[530]]
This account makes it certain, in the first place, that the Tower of Isaac Angelus was one of the three towers which flank the portion of the city walls now under consideration, the portion which forms the north-western side of the enclosure around the Palace of Blachernæ; for these towers, and they only, at once defended and supported the terrace upon which that palace stood.
This being the case, it is natural to suppose that the Tower of Isaac Angelus is the tower which bears the inscription in his honour.[[531]] But this opinion is attended with difficulties. For the tower in question does not differ in any marked manner from an ordinary tower in the fortifications of the city. It is not specially fitted for a residence, nor does it possess features which render it worthy to have a place in history among the notable buildings erected by a sovereign. Furthermore, it is not constructed, to any striking degree, with materials drawn from other edifices.