Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 1).djvu/91

 chryselephantine, or ivory and gold statue of Zeus by Phidias, which Pericles placed in the temple at Olympia; an allegorical figure of Time by Lysippus, having hair on the frontal part of the head, but with the back bald; and also many figures of animals, including a cameleopard.

Proceeding onwards for about a quarter of a mile we pass on our right the Argyropratia, that is, the abode of the silver-*smiths, and arrive at the Forum of Constantine, which presents itself as an expansion of the Mese. This open space, the most signal ornament of Constantinople, is called prescriptively the Forum; and sometimes, from its finished marble floor, "The Pavement." Two lofty arches of white Proconnesian marble, opposed to each other from east to west, are connected by curvilinear porticoes so as to inclose a circular area. From its centre rises a tall porphyry column bound at intervals with brazen laurel wreaths. This pillar is surmounted by a figure of Constantine with the attributes of the Sun-god, his head resplendent with a halo of gilded rays. The mystic Trojan Palladium, furtively abstracted from Rome, is buried beneath the monument, on the base of which an inscription piously invokes Christ to become the guardian of the city. The sculptural decorations of this*