Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 1).djvu/98

 which sustains a female figure pivoted so as to turn with every breath of wind. The surfaces of the pyramid are decorated with a set of much admired bas-reliefs; on one side a sylvan scene peopled with birds depicted in flight or song; on another a pastoral idyl representing shepherds piping to their flocks, whilst the lambs are seen gambolling over the green; again, a marine view with fishers casting their nets amid shoals of fish startled and darting in all directions; lastly, a mimic battle in which mirthful bands of Cupids assault each other with apples and pomegranates. This elaborate vane, which is visible over a wide area, is known as the Anemodulion, or Slave of the Winds.

Beyond Taurus the Mese leads us to the Philadelphium, a spot dedicated to brotherly love and embellished by a group representing the three sons of Constantine in an affectionate attitude. The monument commemorates the last meeting of these noble youths, who, on hearing of the death of their father, encountered each other here prior to assuming the government of their respective divisions of the Empire. Opposite is another group of the same princes, who ultimately destroyed each other, erected by Constantine himself with the usual accompaniment of a large gilt cross. A few paces farther on, our route is again interrupted by a square, the entrance to which is marked by a Tetrapyle, or arch of fouror middle of the city. The numerous crosses set up by Constantine are supposed to refer to the cross which he is said to have seen in the sky near Rome before his victory over Maxentius—a fiction, or an afterthought, but whose?]