lumn in his honour, constructed
on the model of the hollow columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius at
Rome. There also was the Anemodoulion, a beautiful pyramidal structure,
surmounted by a vane to indicate the direction of the wind. Close to the
forum, if not in it, was the capitol, in which the university of
Constantinople was established. The most conspicuous object in the forum
of the Bous was the figure of an ox, in bronze, beside which the bodies
of criminals were sometimes burnt. Another hollow column, the pedestal
of which is now known as Avret Tash, adorned the forum of Arcadius. A
column in honour of the emperor Marcian still stands in the valley of
the Lycus, below the mosque of Sultan Mahommed the Conqueror. Many
beautiful statues, belonging to good periods of Greek and Roman art,
decorated the fora, streets and public buildings of the city, but
conflagrations and the vandalism of the Latin and Ottoman conquerors of
Constantinople have robbed the world of those treasures.

The imperial palace, founded by Constantine and extended by his
successors, occupied the territory which lies to the east of St Sophia
and the Hippodrome down to the water's edge. It consisted of a large
number of detached buildings, in grounds made beautiful with gardens and
trees, and commanding magnificent views over the Sea of Marmora, across
to the hills and mountains of the Asiatic coast. The buildings were
mainly grouped in three divisions--the Chalce, the Daphne and the
"sacred palace." Labarte and Paspates have attempted to reconstruct the
palace, taking as their guide the descriptions given of it by Byzantine
writers. The work of Labarte is specially valuable, but without proper
excavations of the site all attempts to restore the plan of the palace
with much accuracy lack a solid foundation. With the accession of
Alexius Comnenus, the palace of Blachernae, at the north-western corner
of the city, became the principal residence of the Byzantine court, and
was in consequence extended and embellished. It stood in a more retired
position, and was conveniently situated for excursions into the country
and hunting expeditions. Of the palaces outside the walls, the most
frequented were the palace at the Hebdomon, now Makrikeui, in the early
days of the Empire, and the palace of the Pege, now Balukli, a short
distance beyond the gate of Selivria, in later times. For municipal
purposes, the city was divided, like Rome, into fourteen Regions.