Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/97

 OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE / / constructed on the banks of the Tigris. The model was in- stiintly copied and surpassed ; the new buildings of Theophilus'^' were accompanied with gardens, and with five churches, one of which was conspicuous for size and beauty ; it was crowned with three domes, the roof, of gilt brass, reposed on columns of Italian marble, and the walls were encrusted with marbles of various colours. In the face of the church, a semi-circular portico, of the figure and name of the Greek signia, was supported by fifteen columns of Phrygian marble, and the subterraneous vaults were of a similar construction. The square before the rrhe Mystic sigma was decorated with a fountain, and the margin of the bason was lined and encompassed with plates of silver. In the beginning of each season, the bason, instead of water, was re- plenished with the most exquisite fruits, which were abandoned to the populace for the entertainment of the prince. He en- joyed this tumultuous spectacle from a throne resplendent with gold and gems, which was raised by a marble staircase to the height of a lofty terrace. Below the throne were seated the officers of his guards, the magistrates, the chiefs of the factions of the circus ; the inferior steps were occupied by the people, and the place below was covered with troops of dancers, singers, and pantomimes. The square was surrounded by the hall of justice, the arsenal, and the various offices of business and pleasure ; and the purple chamber was named from the annual distribution of robes of scarlet and purple by the hand of the empress herself. The long series of the apartments was adapted to the seasons, and decorated with marble and porphyry, with painting, sculpture, and mosaics, with a profusion of gold, silver, and precious stones. His fanciful magnificence employed the skill and patience of such artists as the times could afford ; but the taste of Athens would have despised their frivolous and costly labours : a golden tree, with its leaves and branches, which sheltered a multitude of birds, warbling their artificial notes, and two lions of massy gold, and of the natural size, who '■"' See the anonymous continuator of Theophanes (p. 59, 61, 86 [p. 94, 98, 139, ed. Bonn]), whom I have followed in the neat and concise abstract of Le Bean (Hist, dii Bas. Empire, torn. xiv. p. 436, 438). [The great building of Thoophilus was the Trikonchon (so called from its three apses) with a semicircular peristyle called the Sigma. The building had an understorey, which from its acoustic property of rendering whispers audible was called Mi>o-7)ipioi — "The Whispering Room". Theophilus was so pleased with his new edifice that he made considerable changes in the ceremonies of the Court ; transferring to the Trikonchon many solemnities and receptions which used to be held in other rooms. See Thcoph. Contin. p. 142, ed. Bonn.]