NOTES.
The first Ward.] ’Tis evident from Pliny, and also from Tacitus, in that Part of his History, where he mentions the Burning of the City by Nero, that antient Rome was divided into fourteen Regions, or Wards. Sex. Rufus, and P. Victor, who had pass’d the Consular Dignity, have given us some short Descriptions of them. As to the Wards of New Rome, they are here described as I found them placed before the Notitia Utriusque Imperii. Constantinople, which was a kind of Representation of Old Rome, was likewise after her Example, as Justinian observes in his 43ᵈ Novel, divided into fourteen Wards; and he calls them Regions or Wards. There were many Monuments of Antiquity carried thither from Old Rome, and many new ones made there, which I could by no Means pass by, as the Accounts of them may be necessary to the Knowledge of both Places. And therefore to explain and illustrate them the more, I have subjoined some Annotations of my own; and have also taken Notice, as they fell in my Way, of some Observations made in my Comments on the Notitia, &c. The Author of the Description observes this Method. The Churches, and other Matters which are most Material, he treats of in the first Place, then he mentions what is less Important, in the same Order, in every Ward; as the Streets, Houses, Bagnio’s, Mills, the Gradus, then the Curator, Vernaculus, the Collegiati, and last of all, the Vico-Magistri. In the thirteenth Ward, through a Mistake, the Streets are omitted, which Error I have taken Care to correct, as I have also another in the fourteenth Ward, where he has left out the Curator, the Vernaculus, the Collegiati, and the Vico-Magistri. He mentions only fourteen Churches, in seven Wards; whereas at Rome, there was not a Street without some Temple or other, and some had two. I shall make my Annotations upon every Monument of Antiquity, in the same Ward, and in the same Place, that I find it.
The House of Placidia Augusta.] This Lady was the Daughter of Theodosius the Great, and Sister of Arcadius and Honorius. When New Rome was taken by Alaric, King of the Goths and Vandals, he carried her away into Captivity, who afterward married his Kinsman and Successor Athaulfus. Upon his Death, she was restored to her Countrey, and being married again to Constantius, she had by him two Sons, Valentinian and Honoriades; as Eutropius, Zonaras, Cedrinus, and other Historians tell us.
The House of the most illustrious Marina.] Marina was the Daughter of Arcadius, who being honoured with the Title of the Most Illustrious, as Cedrinus writes, continued a Virgin. The Title of the Most Illustrious, is discovered by an antient Inscription to have been first given to Valerianus the Younger, about the Year of our Lord 260. Afterwards it was given to Severinus, and Maximinus Cæsar, and at Length it was ascribed to Ladies of the highest Birth. This sometimes entitled them to a Share in the Government; for whosoever was dignified with this Character, was allowed to wear a Purple Habit, laced round with Gold, and took Place of the Præfecti, (the Mayors or Chief Magistrates of the City) as Zosimus observes, who will have it, that this Honour was first instituted by Constantine; tho’ ’tis very evident, that this Dignity was conferred long before his Time.
The Bagnio’s of Arcadius.] They were so called, because they were built by him, as Procopius writes in his 1st Orat. concerning the Buildings of Justinian. As you sail, says he, out of the Propontis, to the Eastern Coast, you see a Publick Bagnio, call’d the Arcadian Bagnio, which is a great Ornament to the City. In this Place Justinian built a Court, which lies before the City, so near to the Sea, that they who walk upon the Shore, may hold a Discourse with any of the Ships Crew, as they sail by them. The Account I shall give of the Curiosities of this Court, is as follows. The Court it self is a very beautiful Building, and is fann’d with gentle Breezes. ’Tis paved with delicate Marble, and adorned with stately Pillars, which afford a delectable Prospect, even to a Brightness, which seems to rival a Meridian Sun-shine. There are also many other Curiosities which adorn this Court, some of which are Pieces of most elegant Workmanship, both in Brass and Stone. Thus far Procopius. The Bagnio’s here mentioned are probably the same with those which are called the Xerolophus, which Cedrinus tells us were built by Arcadius. The Xerolophus, says he, was built by Arcadius, the Pillars of which are all like that Pillar, which Theodosius erected in the Taurus. Socrates in his Seventh Book, Chap. 1. attests, that this Building stood in the Forum of Arcadius. For speaking of one Sabbatius a Heretick, he says, that the People rais’d a Tax to oppose Sesonnicus their Bishop, in a Place of the City which is called Ξηρόλοφος, in the Forum of Arcadius. Thus Socrates. This was certainly a Building which consisted of several Apartments, which induces me to believe it was the Bagnio’s here mentioned. For Nicephorus Gregoras, in his Seventh Book, Chap. 1. writes, That Athanasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, resided some Time in the Apartments of the Xerolophus. The Word Xerolophus, says Suidas, signifies a Dry Unction, and the Place was called so, because, when any Body was anointed there, they never used to bath, and adds; That this Place was formerly famous for Oracles, and that answers were given to Enquiries there made, from a Tripos. There were also in the same Place sixteen private Apartments, with Winding-Stairs. I have seen it in an antient Greek Author, that there were here twelve Buildings with Winding-Stairs, as also the Columns of Diana, Severus, Marcianus, and the Statues of Valentinian, and Theodosius the Less. Justinian also quotes an Inscription there, taken out of the Fifth Book of Xenophon’s Anabasis. Zonaras also writes, that when Leo Isaurus was Emperor of Constantinople, the Statue of Arcadius, placed upon a Pillar in the Xerolophus, was thrown down by an Earthquake. The Bagnio’s here mentioned were called Publick, or Imperial Bagnio’s; whereas those which were built by private Persons were called Thermæ, or Baths.
A Hundred and eighteen Houses.] I take the Word Houses in this Place, to signifie the Dwelling Houses of some of the principal Men of the City, as the Great Mens Houses at Rome were distinguished by standing by themselves, and having no other Houses adjoining to them.
Two Portico’s of a great Length.] These Portico’s, as at present, were not joined to Houses, so as to seem a Part of them, but were built separate from them, contrived for the Pleasure of Walking, and refreshing the Mind. Hence it is, that Strabo, Lib. V. de Geogra. where he is describing the Parts of Rome, calls the Portico of Livia the περίπατον, or Walk. Pliny is of the same Opinion in his Fourth Book, Chap. 1. Strabo tells us in another Place, that the Cumani of Æolis borrowed Money to build a Portico, and that when they failed, as to the Time of Payment, the Person, who gave them Credit, laid them under a Prohibition not to walk in it, but only when it rained; and when the Cryer called aloud to them to enter the Portico, it passed into a Proverb, That the Cumani dared not to enter their Portico without the Leave of the Cryer. These are the same Kind of Portico’s which Ulpian means, where he mentions the Portico’s, which had no Houses adjoining to them. Tacitus, Lib. XV. speaking of the Burning of Rome by Nero, takes Notice of these Ambulatory Portico’s, when he tells us, that the Portico’s which were dedicated to Pleasure, were most of them destroyed by Fire. There was a Portico of this Sort at Athens, Part of which, as Pliny records, Lib. XXXV. Cap. 3. was painted by Myco, who was paid for it; and the other Part was finished gratis by Polygnotus, an eminent Painter. It was for this Reason, that ’twas call’d Porticus varia, or ποικίλη. This is the same Portico in which Zeno taught, and for which he was called the Father of the Stoicks. Suidas says, that it was customary to adorn such Portico’s with Silver and Marble Statues, as appears by a Will mentioned by Marcellus, which runs thus, My Will and Pleasure is, that my Heir, at his own Expence, build in my native Countrey a Publick Portico, in which, I desire my Silver and Marble Statues may be reposited. I believe my Author understands in this Clause of the Will, the same Kind of Portico’s with those I now comment upon, which were of so considerable a Length, that they reached from the Imperial Palace, to the Forum of Constantine. For Procopius writes, in his First Orat. de Ædif. Justin. That in the Reign of Justinian, the Church of St. Sophia, and both the long Portico’s, stretching themselves as far as the Forum of Constantine, were burnt down. The same Fact is testified by Cedrinus, who says, that both these Portico’s were consumed by Fire, in the Reign of Basiliscus, altho’ after these Casualities, they were always rebuilt. I would observe, that every Ward at Constantinople had in it some Portico’s, though some Wards at Rome had none.
Four Gradus.] The Word, which is here called Gradus, signifies a Tribunal, which was ascended by Marble Steps, to receive the Bread which was to be distributed among the common People, and which, was therefore called, Panis Gradilis. Valentinian tells us, that the carrying the Panis Gradilis from one Tribunal to another, is strictly forbidden. He also commands in Cod. Theod. that every one receive the Panis Gradilis from the Tribunal. From which Passages it is plain, that this Gradus was a famous Tribunal, from whence they used to distribute Bread. For Constantine, as Metaphrastes writes, bestowed every Day upon the Poor, eighty Thousand Loaves. Socrates, Lib. II. Cap. 13. says expressly, that he gave Daily eighty Thousand Bushels of Corn to the Poor; besides, as Suidas adds, Wine, and Flesh, and Oil. These were therefore Gradus, or Tribunals, erected in this Ward for that Purpose.