Page:From Constantinople to the home of Omar Khayyam.djvu/50

 6 ONCE AGAIN EASTWARD HO I

spirited contests in times gone by owed its beginnings to the Roman emperor, Septimius Severus, about 203 a.d., and its completion to Constantino, who lavished treasures upon it. Among these precious gifts was the Column of Brazen Serpents, brought from Delphi. This serpentine shaft was once a memorial of the victory of Grecian arms over the Persians at Plataea, and it is still to be seen in the midst of the Hippodrome, being one of the three old monuments that have been preserved there. The other two relics are the Egyptian Obelisk from Thebes, and the so-called Built Column, which was restored by Constantino the Seventh, who reigned from 911 to 959. Together these three help to mark the line of the spina^ or central barrier, past which the chariots rushed at breakneck speed to graze the goal post at the end, only to dash back again seven times around the wild course, either to triumph or defeat. Today the easy-riding victoria or phaeton drives comfortably around the historic arena, not for the prize and laurel wreath, but for the reward of so and so many piasters extra as bakshish for the tour.

A score and more of interesting places throughout the city are ready to engage the attention and amply to repay the time spent in a visit ; but our interest on this occasion was of a more special character. It was centered in the Imperial Ottoman Museum and the rich treasures of antiquity — rare sculptures, tablets, and inscriptions — that are gathered there. The collec- tion of sepulchral monuments in the museum is incomparably fine; but the gem of the entire exhibit is the so-called Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great, which was discovered at the site of ancient Sidon in 1887. Long had I wished to feast my eyes upon the beauties of this wonderful monument, partic- ularly as I had traveled much on Alexander's track in Persia and India. To have a glimpse of the precious relic would surely lend added inspiration for our journey through Asia. This masterpiece of Attic art, for it is Attic in origin, though found in Phoenicia, dates from the latter part of the fourth century B.C., and is wrought of beautiful Pentelic marble.

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