THAT the tenth Ward extended itself towards the North, and that it was situate in the third Valley, and on the East Side of it; as also on the Top of the Promontory, rising above the third Valley, is evident from the Author of the Description of the Wards, who writes, that the tenth Ward is divided from the ninth by a broad Way; that it lies much more upon the Level; that ’tis in no part of it uneven, but near the Sea Shore; that ’tis of a proportionable Length and Breadth; and that it contains the Church of St. Achatius, the Bagnio’s of Constantine, the House of Placidia Augusta, and many other fine Buildings. But I could not find, after the utmost Search and Enquiry, the Situation of any of them; so that I was obliged to have Recourse to the Authority of Historians who had wrote of these Matters; and in consulting them, I could not but take Notice of a Mistake in the Author of the Description, &c. who says, that this Ward contain’d the Bagnio’s of Constantine, whereas I cannot find, that Constantine ever had any Bagnio’s at Constantinople, but that Constantius had. For Sozomen, speaking of those Persons, who, favouring St. Chrysostom and his Doctrine, were expelled the City, says, That perceiving the People to be furiously enraged against them, they did not assemble the next Day in the great Church, but celebrated the Holy Communion in a Bagnio, which was called the Bagnio of Constantius. Suidas reports, that Elladius Alexandrinus wrote a Description of the Bagnio’s of Constantius, in the Time of Theodosius the Less. Socrates relates, that Valens the Emperor commanded the Walls of Chalcedon to be taken down, and the Stones to be carried to Constantinople to build a Bagnio, which was to be called the Bagnio of Constantius; and adds, That in one of these Stones was cut a Prophecy, which had been hid for many Ages, but was then explained, viz. That when the City abounded with Water, a Wall would be of some Service to a Bagnio, and that numberless Nations of the Barbarians, should invade the Territories of the Romans, make great Devastations there, but at last should be overcome. The Prophecy, as described by Socrates, is as follows:
When tender Virgins shall in Circles dance
Around the publick Cistern, and with Flowers
Dress the capacious Vessel, when the Streets
Shall be with fragrant Sweets, and Garlands crown’d,
When rising Waters shall o’reflow its Top,
And a Stone-Bason made to catch them in;
A mighty Host, in shining Armour clad,
A wild and warlike Race, shall come from far,
And pass the rapid Danube’s silver Streams: