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A porphyry column has been set up by him, and it is his stele, on which are written four verses. 1.565 You, Christ, are the ruler and master of the world. To you now I have prayed for this your servant city and these sceptres and the power of Rome. Guard this and save it from all harm. And under the column lie the twelve baskets. And to the north of the forum is the senate house, which was burned by Leo, Verina's son, in which there is a gate of Ephesian Artemis, a gift of Trajan, having as subjects of its Scythian battle the battle of the Giants and the thunderbolts of Zeus and Poseidon with his trident and Apollo armed with his bow, and below, the giants advancing like dragons, with their hands throwing clods of earth upwards and looking grim. And two statues stand facing the square of the forum, on the west that of Athena of Lindos, having a helmet and the Gorgon monster and serpents entwined about its neck (for thus the ancients described her image), and on the east, Amphitrite, having crab claws on her temples. And she too was brought from Rhodes.
That Constantine erected the great cross. That the great Theodosius raised the four-legged device which they call the strife of the winds, depicting the shape of a pyramid and decorated with sculpted animals and shoots and fruits and pomegranates. And naked Erotes stand smiling gently at one another and mocking those who 1.566 pass below. And other youths crouching on the other side, blowing winds from bronze trumpets. And a bronze figure flying from on high shows the shrill blasts of the winds. That the great Theodosius erected the column of the bull, having his trophies and battles against the Scythians and barbarians. And this has on the inside also a path leading upwards. And the equestrian statue standing in the street is the great Theodosius himself, stretching out his right hand towards the city, and pointing to the trophies inscribed on the column. That the bronze bull came from Pergamum, and it was a furnace in which the holy martyr Antipas was burned. That the Amastrianon is so called either from some humble person whose homeland was Amastris, who came to the city in poverty and died there, or from the active infamy of the place, because every evildoer and murderer pays the penalty there, it received a most shameful name on account of the Paphlagonians' abomination. And once there was a very large temple there of the Sun and Moon, of which columns stood in a row to the north, and in the middle a bay like a well-rounded conch, and above it the Sun on a white chariot, and Selene, in turn, crowned as a bride, was being drawn on a carriage. These were the works of Byzas, the husband of Phidaleia. And below at the foundations of the building sat a certain sceptre-bearer upon a throne, and he commanded the peoples to submit to the 1.567 rulers. And there on the ground was a statue of Zeus made of white stone, a work of Pheidias, appearing to be seated on a couch. That the Xerolophos is a work of Arcadius, similar in all respects to the one of the Bull. That the elephants on the Golden Gate are similar to those on which Theodosius formerly rode when he entered the city. The same great Theodosius desired to reach Jerusalem, and putting on the appearance of a private citizen he came to the gate of the holy Anastasis, and when he knocked someone serving opened it. And when all the lamps had been extinguished, upon the emperor's entering they were suddenly lit again as if at a festival. The gatekeeper, being astonished, led him to John the high priest. And he, through prayer, recognized him, and blessed him because, being an emperor, he had come in such a guise to venerate the holy places. This great Theodosius, while warring against the tyrant Eugenius, finding a prayer-house on the mountain, fell upon the ground weeping and beseeching God to aid him. And having fallen briefly asleep from despondency, he sees two men seated on white horses, telling him to take courage and to rouse the army for war. And of those who appeared, the one
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πορφυροῦς κίων παρ' αὐτοῦ ἥδρα σται, καὶ ἡ στήλη αὐτοῦ ἐστίν, ἐν ᾗ γεγραμμένοι εἰσὶ στίχοι τέσ σαρες. 1.565 σὺ Χριστὲ κόσμου κοίρανος καὶ δεσπότης. σοὶ νῦν προσηῦξα τήνδε σὴν δούλην πόλιν καὶ σκῆπτρα τάδε καὶ τὸ τῆς Ῥώμης κράτος. φύλαττε ταύτην σῶζέ τ' ἐκ πάσης βλάβης. ὑπόκεινται δὲ τῷ κίονι καὶ οἱ δώδεκα κόφινοι. πρὸς δὲ τὰ βόρεια τοῦ φόρου ἔστι τὸ σενάτον, ὅπερ ἐκαύθη ὑπὸ Λέοντος τοῦ τῆς Βηρίνης, ἐν ᾧ πύλη ἐστὶ τῆς Ἐφεσίας Ἀρτέμιδος, Τραϊανοῦδώρημα, τῆς Σκυθῶν μάχης ἔχουσα τὰς αἰτίας τὴν τῶν Γιγάντων μάχην καὶ τοὺς κεραυνοὺς τοῦ ∆ιὸς καὶ τὸν Ποσειδῶνα σὺν τῇ τριαίνῃ καὶ τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα τόξον ἐσκευασμένον, κάτω δὲ τοὺς γίγαντας ὡς δράκοντας ἐπερχομένους, χερσὶ βώλους ῥιπτοῦντας εἰς ὕψος καὶ βλοσυρὸν εἰσορῶντας. ἵστανται δὲ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ φόρου πλατεῖαν ἀγάλματα δύο, πρὸς μὲν δύσιν τὸ τῆς Λινδίας Ἀθηνᾶς, κράνος ἔχον καὶ τὸ Γοργόνειον τέρας καὶ ὄφεις περὶ τὸν τράχηλον ἐμπεπλεγμένους (οὕτως γὰρ τὸ εἴδωλον αὐτῆς οἱ παλαιοὶ ἱστόρουν), πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἀνατολὴν ἡ Ἀμφιτρίτη, χηλὰς ἔχουσα καρκίνου ἐπὶ τῶν κροτάφων. ἤχθη δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ ἀπὸ Ῥόδου.
Ὅτι ὁ Κωνσταντῖνος ἔστησε τὸν μέγαν σταυρόν. Ὅτι τὸ τετρασκελὲς τέχνασμα ὃ δῆριν λέγουσιν ἀνέμων ἤγει ρεν ὁ μέγας Θεοδόσιος, πυραμίδος σχῆμα ζωγραφοῦν καὶ ζῴοις πλαστοῖς κεκοσμημένον βλαστοῖς τε καὶ καρποῖς καὶ ῥοΐσκοις. γυμνοί τε Ἔρωτες ἵστανται προσγελῶντες ἀλλήλοις ἡμέρως καὶ τοῖς 1.566 κάτω περῶσιν ἐμπαίζοντες. ἄλλοι δὲ ἐποκλάζοντες ἔμπαλιν νέοι, σάλπιγξι χαλκαῖς ἐμφυσῶντες ἀνέμους. χαλκοῦν δὲ βρέτας ὑψό θεν πετόμενον πνοὰς λιγείας δεικνύει τῶν ἀνέμων. Ὅτι τὸν τοῦ ταύρου κίονα ἔστησεν ὁ μέγας Θεοδόσιος, τρό παια καὶ μάχας ἔχοντα κατὰ Σκυθῶν καὶ βαρβάρων τοῦ αὐτοῦ. ἔχει δὲ οὗτος ἔνδοθεν καὶ ὁδὸν ἄνω φέρουσαν. καὶ ὁ κατὰ τὸ ἄμφοδον δὲ ἑστὼς ἱππότης αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ μέγας Θεοδόσιος, χεῖρα τείνων δεξιὰν πρὸς τὴν πόλιν, καὶ δεικνὺς τὰ ἐγγεγραμμένα τῷ στύλῳ τρόπαια. Ὅτι ὁ χαλκοῦς βοῦς ἐκ Περγάμου ἦλθε, κάμινος δὲ ἦν ἐν ᾗ πέφλεκται ὁ ἅγιος μάρτυς Ἀντίπας. Ὅτι τὰ Ἀμαστριανοῦ λέγεται εἴτε ἀπό τινος εὐτελοῦς πα τρίδα ἔχοντος τὴν Ἄμαστριν, ἐλθόντος τε κατὰ πενίαν ἐν τῇ πό λει κἀκεῖ τελευτήσαντος, εἴτε ἀπὸ ἐνεργοῦς τῆς τοῦ τόπου δυσφη μίας, ὅτι πᾶς κακοῦργος καὶ φονεὺς αὐτόθι τιννύει δίκην, κλῆσιν ἔλαχεν αἰσχίστην τῆς Παφλαγόνων ἕνεκεν βδελυρίας. ἦν δέ ποτε ναὸς μέγιστος αὐτόθι Ἡλίου καὶ Σελήνης, οὗ πρὸς ἄρκτον κίονες στοιχηδὸν εἱστήκεισαν, μέσον δὲ κόλπος οἷα κόγχης εὐγύρου, ὕπερθεν δὲ αὐτῆς Ἥλιος ἐπὶ λευκοῦ ἅρματος, ἡ δὲ αὖ Σελήνη νυμφικῶς ἐστεμμένη ἐφ' ἁρμαμάξης ἤγετο. Βύζαντος ἔργα ταῦτα, τοῦ Φειδαλείας ξυνευνέτου. κάτω δὲ πρὸς θέμεθλα δόμου ἐκά θητό τις σκηπτοῦχος ἐπὶ θρόνου, καὶ λαοῖς ἐκέλευσε τοῖς κρατοῦ 1.567 σιν ὑπείκειν. αὐτοῦ δὲ πρὸς γῆν ἦν βρέτας ∆ιὸς ἐκ λευκοῦ λίθου, ἔργον Φειδίου, ἱζάνον τῷ δοκεῖν ἐπὶ κλίνης. Ὅτι ὁ Ξηρόλοφος ἔργον ἐστὶν Ἀρκαδίου, ὅμοιον κατὰ πάντα τῷ ταύρῳ. Ὅτι οἱ ἐλέφαντες οἱ ἐν τῇ χρυσῇ πόρτῃ ὅμοιοί εἰσιν ὧν πάλαι Θεοδόσιος ἐπιβὰς εἰς τὴν πόλιν εἰσήλασεν. Ὁ αὐτὸς μέγας Θεοδόσιος ἐπεθύμησε καταλαβεῖν τὰ Ἱερο σόλυμα, καὶ περιβαλόμενος σχῆμα ἰδιωτικὸν ἦλθεν ἐν τῇ πύλῃ τῆς ἁγίας Ἀναστασίας, καὶ κρούσαντος ἤνοιξέ τις ὑπηρετῶν. πάντων δὲ τῶν λύχνων σβεσθέντων, τῷ εἰσελθεῖν τὸν βασιλέα αἰφνίδιον πάλιν ἀνήφθησαν ὡς ἐν πανηγύρει. ὁ δὲ θυρωρὸς ἐκ πλαγεὶς ἀπήγαγεν αὐτὸν πρὸς Ἰωάννην τὸν ἀρχιερέα. ὁ δὲ δι' εὐχῆς ἐπέγνω αὐτόν, καὶ ἐμακάρισεν ὅτι βασιλεὺς ὢν ἐν τοιούτῳ σχήματι παρεγένετο προσκυνῆσαι τοὺς ἁγίους τόπους. Οὗτος ὁ μέγας Θεοδόσιος πολεμῶν τῷ τυράννῳ Εὐγενίῳ, εὑρὼν εὐκτήριον ἐν τῷ ὄρει, ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους κλαίων καὶ τὸν θεὸν ἱκετεύων ἐπικουρῆσαι αὐτῷ. καὶ μικρὸν ἀφυπνώσας ἐξ ἀθυμίας ὁρᾷ δύο τινὰς ἐφ' ἵπποις λευκοῖς καθημένους, λέγοντας αὐτῷ θαρσεῖν καὶ τὸν στρατὸν διεγείρειν εἰς πόλεμον. τῶν δὲ φανέντων ὁ μὲν