Page:Destruction of the Greek Empire.djvu/478

 432 DESTEUCTION OF THE GEEEK EMPIEE yet to suggest that the Pempton was not used is altogether un- reasonable. Dethier's suggestion is, that when the Civil Gates were closed people gave to the Military Gate the name of the nearest Civil Gate. Probably the earlier names given on account of their numbers were generally unknown. The latest instance I have found of the use of Pempton is in the ' Paschal Chronicle.' In support of this view it is important to note that many con- temporaries speak of another place where the cannonading was severe as at the Pege Gate (as, for example, Barbaro and Philel- phus), whereas no one doubts that the present condition of the walls affords conclusive evidence that the writers intended to indicate Triton — that is, the Third Military Gate between the Pege and the Ehegium Civil Gates. The suggestion that the Pempton was commonly called the Eomanus Gate explains various statements which are otherwise irreconcilable. We have seen that Ducas says that the sultan was encamped opposite the Chariseus Gate, while Phrantzes places him opposite the Eomanus. Dr. Mordtmann urges 1 that from the small knoll where, according to Ducas and Critobulus, Mahomet's tent was pitched, an observer might fairly describe its position as opposite either, but if the Pempton were called Eomanus, such a suggestion would be much more plausible. Again, Barbaro, as already quoted, places the great gun opposite the San Eomano Gate because this was the weakest gate of all the city. But on p. 18 he uses the same phrase in stating that the 1 Cressu ' or Chariseus was the weakest gate in all the city, the explanation being, I think, that as the Pempton was about mid- way between the Eomanus and the Chariseus Civil Gates he heard it called indifferently by either name. Tetaldi, the Florentine soldier who was present at the siege, states that two hundred fathoms of Outer Wall were broken down during the last days. Now, although the Inner Wall was repaired by Mahomet 2 and continued fairly complete, no attempt appears to have been made to rebuild the Outer. 3 The spectator has little difficulty in distinguishing where the twelve hundred feet of Outer Wall of which Tetaldi speaks was destroyed. It was opposite the Pempton and, judging from the condition of the walls, certainly not opposite the present Top Capou. But the same writer says that it was ' a la porte de Sainct Eomain.' 4 The Moscovite or Slavic chronicler says that the great cannon were placed opposite the station of Justiniani 1 Esquisse Topographique, p. 25. 2 Critobulus, Book II. ch. i. 3 Knolles, History of the Turks, p. 341 (written in 1610, edition of 1621). 4 P. 28.