The statue of Constantine reclining on his throne is a representation of his Coronation. It was here in York, of all places that he was crowned Emperor in 324 A.D. on the death of his father Constantius. The building to the rear is York Minster and the actual site of his Coronation can be seen in the crypt where the Roman floor level has been excavated.

Constantine was reputed to have seen a vision of the Cross in the sky at the battle of Milvian Bridge in A.D. 312 and subsequently converted to Christianity. When he was crowned Emperor he made his new capital in New Rome which he changed to Constantinople and eventually decreed that all of the Roman Empire should be of the Christian faith. The consequences of this for Constantinople and Rome resounded through the centuries. Constantine took up residence in the city in 326 A.D. and despite his new found faith, like so many before and after, could not resist the urge to build a monument to himself.

Constantine decided that his monument would take the form of a column and having seen just the one he wanted in Rome he had it transported to his capital and erected in what is now Bayazit square where what is left of it can be seen today. The column was an incredible 57 metres high with a golden statue of Constantine placed on top { evidently Constantine had not reached the bit about Humility yet } and there he stood for the next 800 years until a bolt of lightning finally brought him down to earth in the year 1105. The nearby Covered Bazaar was devastated by a fire in 1779 and the smoke blackened the columns as it still is to this day. Time has a different meaning in this part of the world and although the above timescales may seem enormous they are small compared to the age of the artifacts buried at the base of The Burnt Column. There are Holy Relics, items from the Sack of Troy, Noah's axe, the Staff of Moses and other long-forgotten relics. There are stories of historians circling the column, whispering incantations and hoping it will fall down but this is only hearsay.

It is difficult to look at the Burnt Column without thinking of the poem Ozymandias. This old postcard on the right shows the Column as it was at the turn of the last century. The quiet lane of yesteryear has been overwhelmed by the volume of traffic seen in the picture above. Acid rain and the fumes of the cars will probably cause more damage in a century than all the previous years put together.

The Emperor Justinian { 527 - 565 A.D }

By the time Justinian had been made Emperor, the Roman Empire had long since been threatened by Barbarians from the North and the outposts of the Empire were far from immune from the threat. The great land walls surrounding Constantinople had been built in answer to the problem in 450 A.D. and as a result Justinian reigned in relative peace. He was later to find that his greatest problems would come from within the city confines. But while all was peaceful Justinian indulged in building. He built the Aya Irene and the underground cisterns both of which are still in existence but his greatest achievement will always be the Hagia Sophia - The Church of Divine Wisdom.

The massive building was originally a Christian Church and remained so until the Ottoman Turks took the city n 1453 when it was converted into a mosque. The church was inaugurated in 563 A.D. and as Justinian performed the opening ceremony his words were recorded for posterity ; "Glory be to God who has thought me worthy of accomplishing such a work. Oh Solomon, I have surpassed you" And 1430 years later the building still stands as Justinian's monument.

Roman Emperors almost always came with an innate siege mentality and Justinian built his underground cisterns to retain water in such times. The cisterns are so big that they can be traversed by rowing boat and the condition is so fine that they look as if they were built yesterday { well last week anyway }.

The Gorgon's Head below is really upside down and the heads are facing down deliberately to dispel their power. The Yerebatan is called the Cistern of 1001 Columns but there are only 224.

The Cistern was used to water the gardens of the Topkapi Palace at one time but knowledge of its existence was lost for many years until in 1545 a Frenchman became curious as to how the locals could let down a bucket into the ground and come up with fresh water and the occasional fish if they were lucky. The intrepid Frenchman swung down into the abyss and rediscovered the lost Cisterns.

While Justinian reigned in Constantinople the Roman Empire was falling into ruin. Goths, Vandals, Huns and all manner of pagan tribes sacked Rome time after time. By 610 the mad Emperor Phocas ruled Constantinople.

The Fury of The Goths By Ivanovitz

I strongly suspect that the Director of "Gladiator" was acquainted with this painting because the opening scenes of the movie are very reminiscent and bring a stark reality to the word " Gothic".

Bayazit Square once the Forum of Constantine was also once called the Forum Tauri at one time. There was a bizarre and particularly gruesome method of punishment carried out on this site wherein a criminal or other unfortunate was incarcerated within the belly of a bronze bull and a fire was lit beneath the thing. The insane Emperor Phocas came to his end in this way but there were few who mourned as his reign had been particularly violent.

After the Justinian period the history of the city became more kaleidoscopic than ever. There were sieges by Arabs, Slavs, Bulgars and Avars and in 726 A.D. there was a strange event called the Iconoclastic Crisis triggered by an imperial decree banning idolatry. This was translated literally and the city split into warring factions, either supporting or opposing the edict. The dispute was not settled until 120 years later but by that time vast amounts of religious imagery had been destroyed and lost to posterity. The following 4 centuries came to be called the Heroic Age and up until 1204 A.D. there was a renewal in building and a consolidation of power by three generations of the Comnenid Dynasty. In 1204 the 4th Crusade reached Constantinople and like a cloud of locusts completely devastated the city for no reason which is apparent then or now. Once again the treasures of the city were stolen or smashed until the Crusaders moved on having made few converts in this part of the world. Once again Constantinople picked itself up and dusted itself down like so many times before and awaited the coming of the Ottoman Turks.