Chap. III Of the Porphyry Pillar, the Forum of Constantine, and the Palladium
Those Historians who have treated of the Actions of Constantine the Great, report, that he brought the round Porphyry Pillar from Rome. This Pillar was bound, at the Joints, with circular Wreaths of Laurel made of Brass, and was placed in the Forum, call’d the Placoton, because it was paved with smooth broad Stones, which the Greeks call Placæ. They add farther, that there was erected upon this Pillar a curious Statue of Brass, surprizing both for its Workmanship and Size. ’Twas an ancient Piece of Statuary, exquisitely finish’d, even to the Life. They tell you that ’twas originally the Image of Apollo of Troy, that the Emperor gave it his own Name, and commanded to be fix’d in the Head of it, some of those Nails which fasten’d our Saviour to the Cross. Upon the Statue was cut the following Inscription:
To thee, O Saviour, Lord of th’ Universe,
Who rulest the unmeasurable Globe
With deepest Knowledge, I this People offer.
May they be thine, I conquer’d them for thee.
I lay m’ Imperial Sceptre at thy Feet,
With all th’ united Force, and Power of Rome.
Let thy good Providence, with watchful Eye,
Look down, and guard the City from all Ills.
Cedrinus relates, that at the Bottom of the Pillar were carved the twelve Baskets, full of the Fragments which were left, after the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes. This Pillar has no Winding Stairs, but is all solid Marble, and therefore Fulvius, otherwise a good Antiquary, is visibly in an Error, when he tells us, that it had an ascent within it. Zonaras says, that the Statue of Constantine was standing upon the Pillar in his Time, and that in the Spring Time, in the Reign of Alexius Comnenus, among many other Buildings which were thrown down by a violent Storm of Wind, the Statue of Constantine the Great was blown down and demolished, and that by the Fall of it, several People who were passing by, were dashed to Pieces. The Author who has wrote the History of Alexius Comnenus, tells us, that not only the Statue was struck down with Lightning, but also that three of the Tores, or round Circles of the Pillar, were also removed. The Pillar is still standing on the Top of the second Hill; ’tis somewhat impair’d, not so much by Time, altho’ it is very ancient, as by Fires and Earthquakes, and Tempests. The Statue and the three upper Wreaths are gone, and in the Room of them there’s a plain round Superstructure, almost of the same Thickness and Size with the other Part of the Shaft. The Pedestal of it is made of squar’d Marble, and is, every Way, eleven Foot nine Inches broad, and eighteen Foot high. Upon this is placed a Cornice, but after the Doric Manner, consisting of a Plinth, an upper and a lower Tore, and a Scotia between them. Upon the Cornice stands the Shaft of the Pillar, which is about eleven Yards in Circumference. It consists of eight large Pieces of Marble; each of which is encircled at the Joints, with a Wreath of Laurel-Work, which covers the Cement of the Fissures. And if it had not been injured by Time, it would look like one entire Stone of Marble, and has therefore been thought so by some Historians, who have handed it down to Posterity, that it consisted only of one Piece of Marble, and ridicule the Ignorance and Injudiciousness of those, who, they tell you, have been imposed upon by the Wreaths of Brass, which were only added for the sake of Ornament. There’s nothing of these brazen Wreaths or Tores to be seen at present, the Pillar, to prevent its falling to pieces, being bound round with Iron Hoops. At the Top of the Pillar is carv’d the Name of the Emperor, who after the Statue was thrown down, lay’d the uppermost Stone of it. This Pillar bore some Resemblance to those mention’d by Athenæus, who writes, that there were some tall round Pillars erected in Ægypt, made after the same Manner. They were cover’d at the Fissures with circular Wreaths, alternately white and black, one below another. Their Capitals were also round, about which was a fine Sculpture of Roses just opening. There were no Flutings in these Pillars, nor any coarse Foliage (according to the Grecian Model) which enfolded it; but it was adorn’d with Dates, and the Fruit of young Lote Trees, and a Sculpture of all kind of Flowers. Below these, is an Expression of Ægyptian Beans, intermix’d with Flowers, and a Foliage which projects beyond the Fissure of the Capital. Thus it is that the Ægyptians make and adorn their Pillars; and in building their Walls, it is their constant Practice to lay alternately a Row of white over a Row of black Bricks. I have seen the same Method in building their Walls among the Persians and Syrians; the finest of which they built with Bricks, or Stones naturally variegated, the meaner sort they colour’d several ways with Paintings, and other Inventions of Art. The Wreaths or Tores beforemention’d, which were fix’d to the Pillar of Constantine, were carv’d, as some Writers tell us, to presignify the many Years Constantine should live, and the many Victories he should obtain over his Enemies. I believe the Design of the Sculptor was only to express, that the Laurel was sacred to Apollo, and that this ancient Pillar supported the Image of him made in a stupendous Size. However that may be, it is certain that Constantine order’d it to be call’d his own Statue, whether on the account of his many Victories, or whether he was better pleased with the Heathen Notion of that God than any other, so that when he demolish’d other Heathen Idols, he commanded the Statue of a Delphick Apollo, and his Tripos to be set up in the Hippodrom, as is observ’d by a German Orator, who address’d himself in a Panegyrick to Constantine, after the following Manner: When your Imperial Majesty turn’d down to the Temple of Apollo, the most stately, the most beautiful Building in the World, you saw your favourite God offering to you his Crowns, a happy Presage of Length of Days, and a Life extended beyond that of Nestor. You saw him, you gazed on his Features, and beheld your own Likeness in him; who, as the ancient Poets have sung, deserv’d the Empire of the World. That auspicious Period of Time seems to be now come, since you, like that God, are gay and youthful; like him salutary; like him a personable and a beautiful Prince.
If the Turk, whom I employ’d to climb the Pedestal, had follow’d my Directions, (while I was obliged to appear a mere accidental Spectator) and held his Pearch true, I had discover’d the lowest Stone of the Shaft, from a Notch he had cut in it, to have been nine Foot and four Digits high; and the Tore, which projected six Digits beyond it, to have been a Foot and a half broad, I mean the Tore at the Foot of the Shaft, so that every Stone was ten Foot nine Inches high. The Height therefore of all the eight Stones was about eighty six Foot and nine Inches. The whole Pillar was lengthen’d besides with an Abacus placed on the uppermost Stone, and below with a Pedestal and its Cornice, and four Marble Steps at the Bottom. The lowermost of these Steps is a Foot and six Digits high; the second of the same Height; the third and fourth, each of them a Foot and a half. There is no Discovery can be made, from what has been said, where this prodigious Column, or rather where this Colossus stood. For since neither Procopius, nor any other Historian of those Times, takes any Notice of the Forum call’d Πλακότον, where Zonaras, and other modern Writers say it was erected, I was in some Suspence, whether or no this was not the same with the Forum of Constantine. For it seem’d very probable to me, that Constantine had herein follow’d the Example of Trajan, in setting up his Statue in the Forum, which went by his own Name. But I was soon clear’d of this Difficulty, by the Authority of Socrates, (the Author of the Dissensions among Christians,) who writes, that they are one and the same Place; and that Arius, when he came near where the Forum of Constantine stood, expired with the falling of the Guts. But this is no less evident, if it be consider’d where the Palladium of Minerva stood; which, as Zonaras says, was convey’d by the Command of Constantine from Troy to the Placotum, and as Procopius adds, into the Forum of Constantine. The Hirpines, says he, report, that Diomedes met Æneas coming out of Troy, and that in Conformity to the Answer of the Oracle, he gave him the Image of Minerva, which he, with the Assistance of Ulysses, had formerly brought from Troy, when they went thither to consult the Oracle, how Troy might be taken. They add farther, that Diomedes being indisposed, and consulting the Oracle concerning his Recovery, it was foretold by it, that he would never be well, till he had given that Image to Æneas. The Romans pretend that they know nothing of this Image at present, yet they shew you an Image cut in Stone, which to this Day stands in the Eastern Part of the Temple of Fortune, before the Statue of Minerva. The Statue is carv’d in a War-like Posture, brandishing, as in Battle, a Spear, dress’d in a long Garment, not representing the Statue of Minerva, as she is figured by the Greeks, but as described by the Ægyptians. The Inhabitants tell you, that Constantine order’d this Statue, which was placed in the Forum, call’d by his own Name, to be bury’d under Ground. The Authorities that the Placoton and the Forum of Constantine are the same Place ought to be regarded, because it is impossible to come to the Knowledge of four of the Wards without them; for the third Ward contains the Tribunal of the Forum of Constantine; the sixth reaches from the Forum of Constantine, to the Stairs against Sycæ, where is erected the Pillar of Constantine. The seventh extends itself with continual Portico’s from the Right Hand Side of the Pillar of Constantine to the Forum of Theodosius, and the eighth contains part of the Forum of Constantine. When I was ask’d by some Gentlemen who were curious that way, how Constantine came by that Palladium, I answer’d, that I was at an Uncertainty as to that. For Zonaras’s Opinion of its being brought from Troy did not look very probable, since Troy was destroy’d so many Ages before it; and Strabo is hard put to it to trace out the Place of its Situation. The Story of its being brought from ancient Rome seems very improbable, since it was often destroy’d by Fire, and the Inhabitants were entirely ignorant where it originally stood. Yet the Latin Historians tell us, that Diomedes presented it to Æneas, that it was kept for some time at Lavinium, and that it was afterwards removed to Rome, and set up in the Temple of Vesta. The Greek Historians are of another Opinion. Among these, Pausanias, who wrote in the Time of Adrian, tells us, that it was held the most sacred of any Thing in Athens, that it fell down from Heaven, that it was consecrated by the Advice of all the Senators, and placed in the Citadel of Athens. There has been some Dispute, whether it was made of Wood or Brass, and whether it was a Figure or a Shield. Some say, that it was a sacred Shield, such as they had at Rome. Dion and Diodorus think otherwise, and tell us, that it was an Image made of Wood, three Cubits high, that it fell from Heaven into Pessinus, a City of Phrygia, holding in her right Hand a Spear, in her left a Spindle and a Distaff. To me it seems to have been the Image of Pallas, whose Statue, whenever it was placed, was call’d the Palladium. Procopius asserts, that the Statue which the Romans shew in the Temple of Minerva, is not cut after the Grecian Manner. For they carve her, as was mention’d before, in a fighting Posture, with a Spear in her Hand, denoting by the Spear, her Courage; by her Shield, her Wisdom, which repels all Attacks: She is cover’d with a Helmet, to intimate, that the Height of Wisdom is not to be seen and discover’d: She bears an Olive-Tree as affording Matter of Light; and upon her Breast is cut a Medusa, to illustrate the Quickness of Thought, and the surprizing Agility of the Mind. She had also a Breast-Plate, on which was the Figure of a Night-Owl and a Gorgon. The Night-Owl was an Emblem of the Depth of Prudence and Conduct; for Wisdom dives into the Secrets and Darknesses of Nature. I wish the divine Palladium may guard all those, who shall in future Times attempt the same Travels as I have done, and pray that they may be defended, as I have been, by that good Providence, and that heavenly Wisdom, the Wisdom of the Father, which amidst all the Treacheries and Insults of a barbarous People, and the almost incredible Dangers of a long Voyage, did not only support and strengthen, but did animate, enliven, and refresh me.