Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 1).djvu/93

 *stantine with the pillar alongside it by which Constantinople is officially declared to be a second Rome. This locality is associated in historic tradition with Alexander the Great, of whom it contains a commemorative statue. From hence he is said to have started on his expedition against Darius after holding a final review of his forces. On this account it was chosen by Severus as a permanent site for military quarters. The public prison is also located in this square.

Continuing our way beneath the piazzas of the Mese beyond the Forum of Constantine we reach the district known as the Artopolia or public bakeries which lie to the north of the main street. A strange group of statuary, allegorizing the fecundity of nature, is collocated in this region, viz., a many-headed figure in which the faces of a dozen animals are seen in conjunction; amongst them are those of a lion, an eagle, a peacock, a ram, a bull, a crow, a mouse, a hare, a cat, and a weasel. This eccentric presentment is flanked by a pair of marble Gorgons. Adjacent we may also observe a paved area in which a cross stands conspicuously on a pillar, another record of the hybrid piety of Constantine.

Farther on by a couple of furlongs is the great square of Taurus, also called the Forum of Theodosius, through its being specially devoted to memorials of that prince. It covers an oblong space, extending from level ground on the south up the slope of the third hill, the summit of which it includes