Niewöhner, P. 2010. The Rotunda at the Myrelaion in Constantinople

7/25/2019 Niewhner, P. 2010. The Rotunda at the Myrelaion in Constantinople

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THE BYZANTINE COURT:

SOURCE OF POWER AND CULTURE

SECOND INTERNATIONAL SEVG GNL

BYZANTINE STUDIES SYMPOSIUM

PROCEEDINGS

STANBUL, 21-23 JUNE, 2010

VEHB KO VAKFI, 2013

EDITORS

Nevra Necipolu

Ayla dekan

Engin Akyrek

BOOK DESIGN

Blent Erkmen

PRE-PRESS PRODUCTION

Bar Akkurt, BEK

PUBLICATION COORDINATION

Buket Cokuner

REDACTION

Buket Cokuner

TRANSLATION

Nina Ergin

PRODUCTION COORDINATION

BEK Tasarm ve Danmanlk Ltd

PRINT

Ofset Yapmevi

Yahya Kemal Mahallesi

air Sokak, No. 4

Kathane, stanbul

ISBN XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX-X

SYMPOSIUM HONORARY CHAIRMAN

mer M. Ko

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD

Prof. Dr. Ayla dekan (Chair)

Prof. Dr. Yldz tken

Prof. Dr. Melek Delilba

Prof. Dr. Ebru Parman

Prof. Dr. Zeynep Mercangz

Prof. Dr. Nevra Necipolu

Prof. Dr. Engin Akyrek

Dr. Vera Bulgurlu

EXECUTIVE BOARDProf. Dr. Ayla dekan

Prof. Dr. Nevra Necipolu

Prof. Dr. Engin Akyrek

Hlya Bilgi

Melih Fereli

Seil Knay

Glr Tanman

Erdal Yldrm

The Vehbi Ko Foundation gratefully acknowledges

the valuable support and cooperation of the following

institutions in organizing the Second International

Sevgi Gnl Byzantine Studies Symposium:

Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism

General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and

Museums

Istanbul Archaeological Museums

The Byzantne Court:

Source of Power

and Culture


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ABBREVIATIONS

PREFACE

mer M. Ko

EDITORS FOREWORD

Ayla dekan, Nevra Necipolu, Engin Akyrek

OPENING SPEECH

Ayla dekan

1. BYZANTINE PALACE ARCHITECTURE

Albrecht BergerThe Byzantine Court as a Physical Space

Asuman DenkerExcavations at the Byzantine Great Palace (Palatium Magnum) in the Area oOld Sultanahmet Jail

James CrowWater and the Great Palace in Constantinople

Phlpp NewhnerThe Rotunda at the Myrelaion in Constantinople: Pilaster Capitals, Mosaicand Brick Stamps

Peter SchrenerThe Architecture of Aristocratic Palaces in Constantinople in Written Sour

Scott RedfordConstantinople, Konya, Conical Kiosks, Cultural Confluence

Smon MalmbergThe New Palace of Mehmed Fatih and its Byzantine Legacy

2. THE BYZANTINE COURT AS THE CENTER OF IMPERIAL POWE

Paul MagdalnoPower Building and Power Space in Byzantine Constantinople: The Ethics Dynamics of Construction and Conservation

Antony R. LttlewoodPalatial Gardens as Symbols of Imperial Power

Alca WalkerThe Emperor as Cosmopolitan Ruler: Imaging Middle Byzantine Imperial

Mare-France AuzpyThe Great Palace and the Iconoclast Emperors

Judth HerrnFemale Space at the Byzantine Court

Frouke SchrjverDaily Life at the Blachernai Palace: The Servants of the Imperial Bedchamb(12611354)

Robert G. OusterhoutEmblems of Power in Palaiologan Constantinople

CONTENTS


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Davd Jacoby 111Between the Imperial Court and the Western Maritime Powers: The Impact ofNaturalizations on the Economy of Late Byzantine Constantinople

Nevra Necipolu 121Circulation of People between the Byzantine and Ottoman Courts

3. CEREMONIES AT THE COURT AND IN THE CITY

Henry Magure 127Art, Ceremony, and Spiritual Authority at the Byzantine Court

Lesle Brubaker 139Processions and Public Spaces in Early and Middle Byzantine Constantinople

Brgtte Ptaraks 145From the Hippodrome to the Reception Halls of the Great Palace: Acclamationsand Dances in the Service of Imperial Ideology

J. Mchael Featherstone 155De Cerimoniis: The Revival of Antiquity in the Great Palace and the MacedonianRenaissance

Mara G. Paran 161Dressed to Kill: Middle Byzantine Military Ceremonial Attire

Koray Durak 173Diplomacy as Performance: Power Politics and Resistance between th eByzantine and the Early Medieval Islamic Courts

Ruth Macrdes 181Inside and Outside the Palace: Ceremonies in the Constantinople of the Palaiologoi

4. COURT CULTURE AND VISUAL ARTS

Margaret Mullett 189Did Byzantium Have a Court Literature?

Apostolos Karpozlos 199History Writing as Political Propaganda in Late Byzantium

Athanasos Markopoulos 205The School in Byzantium: Structure and Problems

Mara Mavroud 211Translations from Greek into Arabic at the Court of Mehmed the Conqueror

Ivana Jevtc 225Antiquarianism and Revivalism in Late Byzantine Court Culture and Visual Arts

Meryem Acara Eser 235Cultural Aspects of Power in the Byzantine Empire: The Court as Patron ofMetal Art Objects

Vera Bulgurlu 243Byzantine Lead Seals Representing theKanikleiosof the Imperial Palace

CLOSING SPEECH 257Ayla dekan

AASS Acta sanctorum, 71 vols. (Paris, 18631940)

AIPHOS Annuaire de lInstitut de philologie et dhistoire orientales et sla

AJA American Journal of Archaeology

ArtB Art Bulletin

BCH Bulletin de correspondance hellnique

BMFD Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents: A Complete TransSurviving Founders Typika and Testaments, ed. J. Thomas aHero (Washington, D.C., 2000)

BMGS Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies

BSA The Annual of the British School at Athens

BSCAbstr Byzantine Studies Conference, Abstracts of Papers

BSl Byzantinoslavica

ByzF Byzantinische Forschungen

BZ Byzantinische Zeitschrift

CahArch Cahiers archologiques

CRAI Comptes rendus des sances de lanne de lAcadmie des inscripbelles-lettres

CTh Theodosiani libri XVI cum constitutionibus Sirmondianis et lege

Theodosianum pertinentes, ed. Th. Mommsen and P. M. Mey1905)

DOC A. R. Bellinger, P. Grierson, and M. F. Hendy,Catalogue of tCoins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittem ore (Washington, D.C., 196699)

DOP Dumbarton Oaks Papers

DOSeals N. Oikonomides and J. Nesbitt, eds., Catalogue of ByzantineDumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art(Washington,

EHR English Historical Review

EI2 Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed. (Leiden-London, 1960 )

EO Echos dOrientGOTR Greek Orthodox Theological Review

GRBS Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies

HUkSt Harvard Ukrainian Studies

IstMitt Istanbuler Mitteilungen

CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS

THEBYZANTINECOURT:SOURCEOFPOWERANDCULTURE

CON

TEN

TS

vi


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ABBREVIATION

S

viii

JA Journal asiatique

JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society

JbAC Jahrbuch fr Antike und Christentum

JGH Journal of Garden History

JMedHist Journal of Medieval History

JB Jahrbuch der sterreichischen Byzantinistik

JBG Jahrbuch der sterreichischen Byzantinischen Gesellschaft

JQR Jewish Quarterly Review

JRA Journal of Roman Archaeology

JWalt Journal of the Walters Art Gallery

JWarb Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes

Mansi J. D. Mansi,Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio(ParisLeipzig, 190127)

MDAIRA Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archologischen Instituts, Rmische Abteilung

MetrMusJ Metropolitan Museum Journal

MnchJb Mnchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst

ODB The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. A. Kazhdan et al. (New York-

Oxford, 1991)

OHBS The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies, ed. E. Jeffreys, J. Haldon, andR. Cormack (Oxford, 2008)

PG Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, ed. J.-P. Migne (Paris, 185766)

PLP Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, ed. E. Trapp et al. (Vienna,197694)

RAC Reallexikon fr Antike und Christentum

RBK Reallexikon zur byzantinischen Kunst, ed. K. Wessel (Stuttgart, 1963 )

REB Revue des tudes byzantines

REG Revue des tudes grecques

RH Revue historique

SBMnch Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften,Philosophisch-historische Klasse

SBS Studies in Byzantine Sigillography

SemKond Seminarium Kondakovianum

StVen Studi veneziani

TAPS Transactions of the American Philosophical Society

TM Travaux et mmoires

VizVrem Vizantiiskii vremennik

WrzbJb Wrzburger Jahrbcher fr die Altertumswissenschaft

ZRVI Zbornik radova Vizantolokog instituta

ABBREVIATIONS ABBREVIATIONS


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WATER

AND

THEGREATPALACEIN

CONST

ANTINOPLE

40

For the most part the writer of Theophanes Continuatusin this description was very much a material guy;

what really mattered to him was the marble and thebronze, the silver and gilt, not the cooling, murmuring

water which had appealed to the writer of psalm 42.Although the Byzantine writer does admit that thespouting water, which presumably filled a pool in theSigma, gave no small amount of pleasure.32Fountainsalso appear in the Vita Basilii, in the account Basil Isconstruction of theNea Ekklesia. Having described thesumptuous interior, the author continues to describethe two ornate fountains in the atrium with spouts, oneof porphyry and the other of Sangrian marble. Each of

these was presumably a marble basin, with a centralfountain spouting jets of water; around the rim therewere bronze rams, cocks, and goats. At the time of KhanKrums unsuccessful siege of Constantinople in 812/13,Theophanes describes how he carried away the dragonand bear from the fountain of the suburban palace ofSt. Mamas, both probably of bronze, like the lion thatcame from the palaces hippodrome. The account inthe Vita Basiliicontinues and provides a rare insightinto irrigation within the area of the palace. Followingthe description of the newly located and constructedTzykanisterionthe polo groundclose to the Nea, theVitarecounts how the emperor created a new gardenabounding with every kind of plant and irrigated withabundant water.33These few texts note water for displayin the Great Palace, fountains with their elaborate andprecious decoration figure more frequently, while wateritself is rarely worth more than a passing comment.Perhaps the exceptional setting of the imperial

residence with its marine views sufficed, but it mayalso reflect longstanding and different values of urbandisplay across the Mediterranean Roman world.

Finally, we turn briefly to a contemporary palaceat the furthest reaches of the Mediterranean. Whereashardly anything is known of the physical remains ofthe Great Palace of the Byzantine emperors, close toCordoba in Umayyad Spain excavations have revealedextensive traces of a vast tenth-century rural palacecomplex at Madnat al-Zahr. Supplied by a newaqueduct, here are the remains of three great terraces,of gardens and long pools characteristic of the palacesof the Islamic world but maintaining those Romantraditions we have already observed.34The seventeenth-century historian Al-Maqqarprovides a detailedaccount of the palace (qar al-khilfa). In many senses

32 Theophanes Continuatus, ed. I. Bekker (Bonn, 1838), 140; trans.

C. Mango, The Art of the Byzantine Empire(New Jersey, 1972), 162.33 Theophanes, Chronicle, AM 6305, 503; Vita Basilii8586; trans.Mango,Art of the Byzantine E mpire, 195.The row of cisterns on thesite of the later Topkap Saray, especially those situated on the edgeof the terrace wall overlooking the Bosphorus channel, may beassociated with the gardens and the monastery of the Mangana, seeCrow et al., Water Supply, map 15.34 D. Fairchild Ruggles, Gardens, Landscape, and Vision in Palacesof Islamic Spain(Pennsylvania, 2006).

this reflects a similar taste for precious materials asseen in the Byzantine palace ekphrasis; however, it alsoreveals an appreciation of Byzantine glamour evincedby a magnificent pearl sent to Abd al-Rahmn by Leo,the emperor of Constantinople. There is a difference;the coup de thtreof Al-Maqqars account was thedescription of the mercury tank:

As the sun entered through these doors and its rays playedoff the roof and walls of the h all, it sparkled with light,confounding all vision. When al-Nir wished to impressvisitors, h e would sig nal to one of his s laves to ca use themercury [in the tank] to vi brate, whereupon in the chamberthere would appear a flash like that of lightning bolts that

would fill their hea rts with fear.

35

Whilst the rarity and value of mercury was important, italso appeared as a liquid, albeit poisonous and exotic,but with resonances of the pools and basins of the widerpalace and Islamic decorative hydraulic practices andtradition. For the Byzantines of the ninth and tenthcentury, visitors and emissaries were confoundedby mechanical automata,36and in the palace at leastthey were content to take for granted the legacy of theaqueducts of antiquity.

35 Ruggles, Gardens, Landscape, and Vision, 67, n. 69, 70.36 See A. Littlewood, Gardens of the Palaces, inByzantine CourtCulture from 829 to 1204, ed. H. Maguire (Washington, 1997); see alsoLiudprands account in Mango,Art of the Byzantine E mpire, 20910.

THE ROTUNDA AT THE MYRELAION IN

CONSTANTINOPLE: PILASTER CAPITALS,

MOSAICS, AND BRICK STAMPS*

Phlpp NewhnerUniversity of Oxford

The rotunda at the Myrelaion constituted thelargest domed hall of Constantinople. It wassituated on the south sideof the main street from

the city center towards the Golden

Gate, in between Philadelphion,Capitol, and Bus (Fig. 1).1Today,the former rotunda appears as a rowof relatively narrow, low, and darkchambers which house a bazaarfor leather goods. The chambersdate from the middle Byzantineperiod, when they replaced thedome and served as a cistern as

well as substructure for a palacewhich was built on top (Fig. 2).The complex was referred to asthe house of Krateros and laterowned by Romanos Lekapenos,

who turned it into a monastery afterhis accession to the throne in 920. The monastery alsocomprised a neighboring church, which became knownas the Myrelaion and was afterwards converted into theBodrum Camii.2

The cistern and palace were studied by K.Wulzinger a century ago,3when the rotunda was not yetvisible. The latter was only discovered in 1931, when T.Macridy and D. T. Rice excavated the substructure ofthe Bodrum Camii and uncovered a small outer section

*The pilaster capitals and mosaics from the rotunda at the Myrelaionare kept in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, and I am indebtedto the directorate as well as to Dr. ehrazat Karagz, the responsiblecurator, for the opportunity to study and present the material. JennyAbura has studied the brick stamps and Walter Prochaska has analyzedthe marble. Their original research as well as a complete catalogue ofall small finds are included in P. Niewhner, Der frhbyzantinischeRundbau beim Myrelaion in Konstantinopel. Kapitelle, Mosaikenund Ziegelstempel,IstMitt60 (2010): 411-59. I would also like tothank Michael Jeffrey Featherstone for reading and correcting themanuscript.1. R. Naumann, Der antike Rundbau beim Myrelaion und der Palast

Romanos I. Lekapenos,IstMitt16 (1966): 199216, at 210f, fig. 3; R.Naumann, Neue Beobachtungen am Theodosiusbogen und Forum Tauriin Istanbul,IstMitt26 (1976): 11741, at 133; A. Berger, Untersuchungen

zu den Patria Konstantinupoleos(Bonn, 1988),33047, fig. 8.2 C. L. Striker, The Myrelaion (Bodrum Camii) in Istanbul(Mainz, 1981).3 K. Wulzinger,Byzantinische Baudenkmler zu Konstantinopel aufder Seraispitze, die Nea, das Tekfur-Serai und das Zisternenproblem(Hannover, 1925), 98108. Cf. S. uri,Architecture in the Balkans(New Haven, 2010), 270f.

of the rotunda.4This was then excavated in 1under the direction of R. Naumann. He was publishing his findings preliminarily within

year,5but no final report ever followed, and small finds are still unknown. They include pilaster capitals or fragments thereof6as wefloor mosaics, all of which are kept at the Ist

Archaeological Museums. In addition, Naumcontains a diary with drawings of a dozen brthat were found during the excavation of the

In the following study, each type of sma

first be considered on its own. The results w

be evaluated with a view to the dating, functiidentification of the rotunda.

ARCHITECTURE

The rotunda lies at the core of a larger build(Fig. 3). It had two opposite doors, a wider onorth and a narrower one on the south. Theportal was 3.70 m wide and opened onto a pThe walls flanking the portal form an angle and indicate that the portico was bent with aapproximately 40 m. It may have surroundeshaped forecourt and possibly a u-shaped eup to the main street which passed by on the(Fig. 1).7Other Constantinopolitan rotunda

4 D. T. Rice, Excavations at Bodrum Camii, 1930,

(1933): 151

74, at 162

71.5 Naumann, Rundbau.6 Three are shown in the preliminary report: Nauman208, pl. 43, 1. Cf. C. Strube, Die Kapitelle von Qasr IbAntiochia und Konstantinopel im 6. Jahrhundert,JbA59106, at 80, 93, pl. 19b; J. Kramer,Korinthische Pilas

Kleinasien und Konstantinopel. Antike und sptantike Wer(Tbingen, 1994), 101f, 104, 139, cat. 50, pl. 9.7 Naumann, Rundbau, 202. uri,Architecture, 90

Fig. 1Topographical sketch-map of the rotunda and subuildings (Berger, Patria 347 sketch 8 with changes Nie


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THEBYZANTINECOURT:SOURCEOFPOWERANDCULT

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THEROTUNDAATTHEMYRELAION

IN

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PILASTER

CAPITALS,MOSAICS,AND

BRICK

STAMPS*

42

similarly combined with sigma-shaped forecourts, e.g.the palace complex at the Hippodrome8and the (later?)

bath or baptistery in the Mangana quarter. 9In all casesthe forecourt will have marked the main entrance.The narrower southern door was 2.85 m wide and

opened onto a semicircular flight of stairs (Figs. 2-5).They led to a lower level, as th e ground slopes downtoward the Sea of Marmara. Here the rotunda wasflanked by two separate porticos on the west and theeast. Roughly 40 m to the south stood a second, smallercentrally-planned building almost on the same axisas the rotunda. This second building was excavated byRice on the same occasion when he studied the BodrumCamii,10but has since vanished. It seems to have

northern portico with forecourt and assumes that the narrowersouthern door served as main entrance instead.8 R. Naumann, Vorberichtber die Ausgrabungen zwischen Meseund Antiochos-Palast 1964 in Istanbul,IstMitt15 (1965): 13548; H.Belting and R. Naumann,Die Euphemiakirche am Hippodrom zu Istanbulund ihre Fresken(Berlin, 1966), 1323. 3444; J. Bardill, The Palaceof Lausus and Nearby Monuments in Constantinople: A TopographicalStudy,AJA 101 (1997): 6795, at 8689, argues that both sigma-shaped squares belonged to a single large palace.9 R. Demangel and E. Mamboury,Le quartier des Manganes et la

premire rgion de Constantinople(Paris, 1939), 8193 (baptistery); A.M. Schneider,Byzanz. Vorarbeiten zur Topographie und Archologie der

Stadt(Berlin, 1936), 90f (bath); uri,Architecture, 8789.10 Rice,Excavations, 15862; S. uri, Design and

been contemporary with the rotunda. The masonry ofalternating layers of blocks of limestone and brick (Fig.4-6) is similar, and the same mullions have been found11 m to the south of th e rotunda as well as in the secondbuilding. Their narrow-pointed acanthus resembles thaton a console from the rotunda itself (cf. Figs. 7 and 8).11

The capitals of the mullions are partly unfinishedbut otherwise of exceptional quality (Fig. 7). Similarlycarved and undercut (narrow-)pointed acanthus was

Structural Innovation in Byzantine Architecture Before HagiaSophia, inHagia Sophia from the Age of Justinian to the Present, ed. R.Mark and A. . akmak (Cambridge, 1992), 1638, at 2931, figs. 26f;uri, Architecture, 90.11 Masonry: Naumann,Rundbau, 205. Mullions (today inthe garden of Hagia Sophia): Rice,Excavations, 160, pl. 6;Naumann,Rundbau, 208, pl. 40, 2. Console (today the tip hasbroken off and the remaining part is lying on top of the rotunda/cistern): P. Forschheimer and J. Strzygowski,Die byzantinischenWasserbehlter von Konstantinopel. Beitrge zur Geschichte derbyzantinische Baukunst und zur Topographie von Konstantinopel(Vienna,1893), 58, no. 4; Naumann, Rundbau, 208, pl. 40, 1 and 41, 1.

Fig. 3Rotunda and second, smaller centrally planned building(Naumann with changes Niewhner).

Fig. 4

Rotunda, blocked south door and later foundations seen fromsoutheast (D-DAI-IST-KB3314).

PILASTER CAPITALS

Much later, when the rotunda was turned intduring the middle Byzantine period, both itclosed off and a wall built at right angles agaclosure of the southern door (Fig. 2). The foof this wall was found during the excavation and subsequently dismantled (cf. Fig. 5). It wto contain the pilaster capitals as well as pardoor jambs, all of which had been reused as material.14Naumann associated the jambs wsouthern door of the rotunda and the capitalrevetment that had covered the facade on bothe door.15Parts of the revetment have been situ and consist of white marble slabs (Figs.

The height of the facade, however, mayagainst Naumanns reconstruction. Startingof the semicircular flight of stairs more thanbelow the threshold, the revetment must havthe door, which was 2.85 m wide and therefo

mass production, see Niewhner,Aizanoi, 132f.14 Naumann, Rundbau, 203 (door jambs), 208 (pil15 Naumann, Rundbau, 208.

last produced at Docimium in central Anatolia in thethird/fourth century, but it was no longer common in thePropontis in the fifth and sixth centuries.12This points toan early date for the Proconnesian mullions; they appearto have been produced as long as the Constantinopolitan

workshop closely followed Docimian models, beforethe carving was simplified, probably as a result of massproduction.13

12 Translation of the German technical term kleingezackt. Cf.P. Niewhner,Aizanoi, Dokimion und Anatolien. Stadt und Land,

Siedlungs- und Steinmetzwesen vom spteren 4. bis ins 6. Jahrhundern.Chr.(Wiesbaden, 2007), 121f. P.Niewhner, Phrygian Marbleand Stonemasonry as Markers of Regional Distinctiveness in LateAntiquity, inRoman Phrygia, ed. P. Thonemann (Cambridge, 2013),215-48.13 Kramer,Pilasterkapitelle, 98101. For the initial influence ofDocimian models and the later simplification, probably as a result of

Fig. 5 Rotunda, south door after dismantling of the later foundations(D-DAI-IST-66-92).

Fig. 6 Rotunda, south facade (detail of Fig. 5), western

wall revetment in situ (D-DAI-IST-66-89).

Fig. 2Rotunda and middle Byzantine palace (Naumann with changesNiewhner).


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at least 5 m high. In contrast, most of the capitals were

not wider than 30 cm at th e bottom, indicating pilastersof hardly more than 3 m total height.16Another problem is the whereabouts of the other

elements of the wall revetment. There must have beenmany more slabs than capitals, but Naumann does notmention any. Perhaps the slabs were reused elsewhere,for a purpose for which the sharp-edged reliefs

16 Kramer,Pilasterkapitelle, 110f.

and rough backsides of the capitals wereunsuitable. Be this as it may, the accumulationof capitals in the foundations indicates thatthey were taken down systematically. Since thedoorjamb was also reused, this most probablyoccurred in connection with the middleByzantine conversion into a cistern, when thedoor was walled up. The jamb must have beentaken up whilst the door was still open. I f thisapplies also to the pilaster capitals, they mayhave come from the interior of the rotunda,

where the original flooring as well as wallrevetment were replaced by water-resistantmortar.17

According to size, material, anddecoration the capitals can be divided intoone series (Figs. 9-13) and five single pieces

(Figs. 14-18). The series comprises twenty-onefragments of at least fifteen capitals made of the samefine yellowish-white marble. Seven fragments havebeen analyzed archaeometrically, and the marble turnsout to be from Docimium.18

The series combines various sorts of acanthus,as was common in Anatolia,19with fine-toothed(Figs. 9-12) as well as soft- (Fig. 11), stiff- (Fig. 13),and broad-pointed leaves (Figs. 12-13).20The acanthusdiffers not only from capital to capital, but also fromleaf to leaf. On the same capital fine-toothed and soft-

17 Naumann, Rundbau, 211f. The existence of pilaster capitals, wallrevetment as well as mosaics (see below) implies that the rotunda wasfinished and a dome had actually been built.18 Cf. an almost identical pilaster capital at Ktahya, most

probably also from Docimium: P. Niewhner, FrhbyzantinischeSteinmetzarbeiten in Ktahya. Zu Topographie, Steinmetzwesen undSiedlungsgeschichte einer zentralanatolischen Region,IstMitt 56(2006): 40773, at 455, cat. 84, fig. 49.19 Cf. pilaster capitals in Ktahya (see note 18 above), Side, Isparta,and Istanbul, each of which combines humpy or spiky fine-toothedwith stiff-, soft-, or broad-pointed leaves respectively: Kramer,Pilasterkapitelle, 125, 130f, cat. 2, 23f, pl. 1.4; four pilaster capitals froma seemingly Tetrarchic/Constantinian repair of a thermae-gymnasiumat Ankara, two with stiff-pointed and two with narrow-pointed leaves:M. Akok, Ankara ehrindeki Roma Hamam,Trk Arkeoloji Dergisi17.1 (1968): 537, at 10, 23 figs. 25f; a 5th/6th-century pilaster capitalwithfat jagged fine-toothed and with soft-pointed acanthusin the crypt of St. Demetrius at Thessaloniki: G.. Soteriou and M.Soteriou,H (Athens, 1952), 161, pl. 45g; Kramer,Pilasterkapitelle, 140, cat. 53,pl. 9. Cf. also column capitals of the 3rd century proscenium II atthe theatre in Perge, one with humpy or spiky fine-toothedacanthus, another with pointed leaves: A. ztrk,Die Architektur der

Scaenae Frons des Theaters in Perge(Berlin, 2009), 29f, 136, cat. 6769,pl. 4, 35; a 4th-century architrave in the archaeological museum atAfyon, one block of which is fine-toothed whilst others are pointed:Niewhner,Aizanoi, 291f, cat. 464f, pl. 58; Niewhner, PhrygianMarble.20 Translations of the German technical terms feingezahnt,starrzackig, weichzackig, and grogezackt. Cf. RAC20:90100s.v. Kapitell (U. Peschlow).

pointed leaf that appears dry and meager23inwith the meaty and swollen kind that Constaput out in the late fourth, fifth, and sixth cen(cf. Fig. 18).24The Docimian lobes do not touare separated by narrow channels (Fig. 11). Tpointed acanthus (Fig. 13) is not known aftercentury.25Only the broad-pointed leaf (Figstrend-setting and favored in Constantinoplelate fourth century onwards.26All consideredof Docimian pilaster capitals from the rotunfrom the third/fourth century.

23 Cf. Niewhner,Aizanoi, 125f.24 RAC20:92f s.v. Kapitell (U. Peschlow); C. Barsantimanifattura costantinopolitana a Roma, inEcclesiae ucongresso internazionale di studi sulle chiese di Roma (41

F. Guidobaldi and A. Guiglia Guidobaldi (Rome, 2002)144672; C. Baaran,Kyzikos Korinth Balklar,

Dergisi31 (1997): 152, at 32f, 48f, cat. 29 33.25 RAC20:91f s.v. Kapitell (U. Peschlow).26 RAC20:93f s.v. Kapitell (U. Peschlow).

pointed (Fig. 11), fine-toothed and broad-pointed(Fig. 12) or stiff- and broad-pointed leaves (Fig. 13) areplaced next to each other.

The fine-toothed acanthus is of the humpy orspiky type that was carved at Docimium in the third/fourth century (Fig. 9-12,21but was replaced by the fat,

jagged variant in Constantinopolitan production of thefifth and sixth centuries.22The same applies to the soft-

21 Translation of Kramer,Pilasterkapitelle, 24-40:buckel- oderdornenfrmig. Cf. J. Rohmann,Einige Bemerkungen zumUrsprung des feingezahnten Akanthus, IstMitt45 (1995): 10921;Niewhner,Aizanoi, 12225; M. Waelkens,Sagalassos-Jaarboek 2008(Leuven, 2009), 357, fig. 273; J. J. Herrmann Jr. and R. H. Tykot,Some Products from the Dokimeion Quarries. Craters, Tables,Capitals, and Statues, inAsmosia7, ed. Y. Maniatis (Paris, 2009),5975, at 63f; Niewhner, Phrygian Marble.22 Translation of J. Strzygowski, Die Akropolis in altbyzantinischerZeit,Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archologischen Instituts14 (1889):27196, at 280: fett, zackig. Cf. R. Kautzsch,Kapitellstudien. Beitrge

zu einer Geschichte des sptantiken Kapitells im Osten vom 4. bis ins 7. Jh.(Berlin, 1936), 11517.

Fig. 10 Pilaster capital with fine-toothed acanthus.

Fig. 11 Pilaster capital with soft-pointed and fine-too

Fig. 12 Pilaster capital with broad-pointed and fine-toacanthus.

Fig. 7 One of several similar mullions from south of the rotundaand from the smaller centrally planned building, narrow-pointedacanthus (D-DAI-IST-R107).

Fig. 8 Console from the rotunda, narrow-pointed acanthus (D-DAI-IST-R382).

Fig. 9 Pilaster capital with fine-toothed acanthus.


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Another capital which, according toarchaeometrical analyses, also consists of Docimianmarble is otherwise dissimilar from the foregoing series(Fig. 14). This capital is larger and has two rows of leavesthat are cut differently. They may be an early variant ofthe narrow-pointed acanthus, possibly from the th ird/fourth century, and the upper right leaf is windblown.Two completely preserved lobes have five and sevenrelatively small points respectively. They are turnedboth upwards and downwards and enclose comparatively

small eyes. The general impression is herbaceous andreminiscent of the Roman Imperial period.27

Two other fragments are also larger than theseries and have divergent leaves, a different, curledhelix spiral, as well as a dissimilar, complex abacusprofile (Figs. 15-16). Both date from the RomanImperial period. One has long lower points that touchthose of neighboring leaves (Fig. 15). The other hasbeen analyzed archaeometrically and consists ofProconnesian marble (Fig. 16).28

27 Cf. W.-D. Heilmeyer,Korinthische Normalkapitelle. Studien zurGeschichte der rmischen Architekturdekoration(Heidelberg, 1970),88105; L. Vandeput, The Architectural Decoration in Roman Asia Minor.

Sagalassos: A Case Study(Turnhout, 1997).28 For Roman Imperial capitals made from Proconnesian marble,cf. C. Barsanti, Note archeologiche su Bisanzio romana, inCostantinopoli e larte delle province orientali, ed. C. Barsanti, A. GuigliaGuidobaldi, and F. deMaffei (Rome, 1990), 1172, at 38f, pl. 7, figs.3638; P. Pensabene,Scavi di Ostia 7.I capitelli(Rome, 1973), 64,185, cat. 247, pl. 23; K. Freyberger,Stadtrmische Kapitelle aus der Zeit

Fig. 14 Larger pilaster capital, Docimian marble.

Fig. 15 Roman Imperial pilaster capital.

Fig. 16 Roman Imperial pilaster capital, Docimian marble.

Two fragments with soft-pointed acanthus arealso single pieces (Figs. 17-18). One is again larger thanthe series, and the leaves show traits of both earlierDocimian and later Constantinopolitan production(Fig. 17). The lobes are separated by narrow channels,

von Domitian bis Alexander Severus. Zur Arbeitsweise und Organisationstadtrmischer Werksttten der Kaiserzeit(Mainz, 1990), 12529, pl.4446; J. B. Ward-Perkins, Nicomedia and the Marble Trade,BSA48 (1980): 2369, at 4955, pl. 1318.

as was customary at Docimium in the third/fcentury (cf. Fig. 11), but meaty and swollen lcarved from Proconnesian marble during thto sixth centuries (Fig. 18). The pilaster capitherefore have been made at Docimium, butfrom the fifth/sixthcentury, when central Aproduction begins to show Constantinopolitinfluences.29

The other soft-pointed capital is a typicof Constantinopolitan production from the lto the sixth centuries (Fig. 18).30 Archaeomeanalyses have confirmed a Proconnesian pro

All in all, the pilaster capitals form a vacollection of diverse date and provenance. TRoman Imperial fragments are older than thand would appear to have originally been madifferent purpose and then reused (Figs. 15the rotunda may either have been built or rereused material. The other capitals are late ehave been carved originally for the rotunda.

29 See above, note 13.30 See above, note 24.

Fig. 17 Larger pilaster capital with soft-pointed acanthus.

Fig. 18 Pilaster capital with soft-pointed acanthus, Proconnesianmarble.

Fig. 19 Rotunda, floor mosaic fragments as found in fnorth door (D-DAI-IST-66-137).

Fig. 13 Pilaster capital with broad- and stiff-pointed acanthus,Docimian marble.


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may either have been used for the initial building or forlater repair work. The most likely pieces to have beenmade for the initial building are the series of fifteen ormore capitals (Figs. 9-13), in which case all the othercapitals would have been added later.

MOSAICS

The mosaics were found on the floor of the northernportico in front of the northern portal of the rotunda

(Fig. 2).31They were laid out in apatchwork of various fragments withdiffering orientations and with gapsin between (Fig. 19). This layout

was obviously secondary, analogousto the reuse of the pilaster capitalsin the later foundations mentionedabove.

The mosaics consist ofornamental and of figural fragments.If all the figural fragments belong tothe same or similar figures, they couldbe reconstructed as one or more male

youths, each with a round shock ofhair, short cloak and short tunic. Headand gaze are turned sideward (Fig. 20),the right arm is slightly bent and oneheel lifted from the floor (Fig. 21).

Another indication of the iconographyis provided by the inscription AKabove the head which may be read as. Actaeon is best known asa mythological figure and described

as a young hunter. He was frequently depicted inAntiquity,32for the last time in an early Byzantine floormosaic from Daphne, a garden suburb of Antioch on

31 Naumann, Rundbau, 202. The mosaics were removed and storedat the Mosaic Museum until 1978, when they were transferred to theArchaeological Museum: Inv. 78.94 (head) and 78.95 (leg).32 Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, vol. 1 (Zurich, 1981),45469 s.v. Aktaion (L. Guimond). Cf. B. Poulsen, Pagans in LateRoman Halikarnassos 1. The Interpretation of a Recently ExcavatedBuilding,Proceedings of the Danish Institute at Athens1, (1995): 193-208, at 205, fig. 18.

Fig. 20 Mosaic head of the male youth AK. after conservation.Fig. 22 Megalopsychia mosaic at the Yakto-complex in Daphne nearAntioch (Lassus, Yakto (as note 33) 118 fig. 2.

Fig. 21 Mosaic foot with lifted heel after conservation.

the Orontes (Fig. 22).33

The mosaic floor from Daphne belonged to oneof several sumptuous houses known as the Yakto-complex. The composition consists of a so-calledfigure carpet arranged around a central medallion witha bust of Megalopsychia. The six figures are alike, allof them youthful male hunters dressed in short cloaks

33 J. Lassus, La mosaique de Yakto,inAntioch on-the-Orontes 1:The Excavations of 1932, ed. G. W. Elderkin (Princeton, 1934), 11456,at 122, fig. 6; W. A. Campbell,Excavations at Antioch-on-the-Orontes, AJA38 (1934): 2016, at 202.

and tunics, each wielding a spear. Inscripti

them as well-known mythological figures, AMeleager (Fig. 23), Adonis, Tiresias, NarciHippolytus. The Actaeon figure at Daphne dlend itself to direct comparison with the fraIstanbul because it is turned in the other dBut if instead one compares it with Meleagefragments in Istanbul can be reconstructedor more spear hunters, possibly framed by same double guilloche (Fig. 24)34as at Dap(Fig. 23).

If this reconstruction is correct, the framay formerly have covered the floor of the rhave been laid out in close similarity to Daphcomposition is arranged in circles and woulinitially to have been conceived for a rotundadaptation to the rectangular ground plan atobviously derivative. Furthermore, spear hucommonly depicted on early Byzantine mosaand several have been found at Istanbul, for

34 For the latter, cf. C. Balmelle et al.,Le dcor gommosaique romaine(Paris, 2002), 1:pl. 75b; S. Campbellof Antioch(Toronto, 1988), 88, cat. 74h; S. Campbell, T

Aphrodisias in Caria(Toronto, 1991), 38, cat. 75A. For th(Fig. 25), cf. F. Tlek, A Fifth Century Floor Mosaic anVirgin of Pege in Constantinople, CahArch52 (200522426, figs. 3f.

Fig. 23 Detail of Fig. 22 (Meleager) with elements of Fig. 19 (Lassus,Yakto [as note 33] 118 fig. 2, with changes Niewhner).

Fig. 25 Mosaic double arch (Naumann with changes Niewhner).

Fig. 24 Mosaic double guilloche (Naumann with changNiewhner).


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Sarahane below the Belediye Saray and in the imperialpalace.35It would, therefore, seem appropriate thatspear hunting should also have been depicted in therotunda at the Myrelaion.36

BRICK STAMPS

Eleven brick stamps were drawn by Naumann on twofacing pages of his diary, seven on the left and fouron the right page (Fig. 26).37Both pages bear titlesexplaining that the seven left stamps h ad been found byus, referring probably to Naumann and his team, whilstthe four stamps on the right had been lying in the yardat the lower story.

All seven stamps on the left found by us and thethird of the four stamps on the right have one singleline and probably date from the fifth century, when

35 R. Duyuran, Belediye Saray Mozaikleri,Arkitekt23 (1954):16670, at 167, fig. 3; G. Hellenkemper Salies,Die Datierungder Mosaiken im Groen Palast zu Konstantinopel, Bonner

Jahrbcher187 (1987): 273308 (fig. bibliography);RBK4:61722 s.v.Konstantinopel (G. Hellenkemper Salies).36 Cf. I. Uytterhoeven, Know Your Classics! Manifestations ofClassical Culture in Late Antique Elite Houses, in Faces of Hellenism.

Studies in the History of the Eastern Mediterranean (4th Century B.C. 5th

Century A.D.), ed. P. Van Nuffelen (Leuven, 2009), 32142.37 A detailed catalogue of all brick stamps as well as their individualtypology and dating has been prepared by Jenny Abura: see P.Niewhner, Der frhbyzantinische Rundbau beim Myrelaion inKonstantinopel. Kapitelle, Mosaiken und Ziegelstempel,IstMitt60(2010): 41159, at 43133.

bricks first started to be stamped in Constantinople.38The other three on the right from th e yard at the lowerstory have more lines, are generally more complex, andcan be dated to the sixth century.39

DATING

The chronological distribution of the brick stampsmay not be accidental. The fifth-century stampsfound by us might have belonged to the rotunda,

whereas the sixth-cen tury stamps lying in the yardat the lower story could have come from the middleByzantine palace and/or church, where they would havebeen reused. This seems to be confirmed by the brick

stamps that Rice noticedduring his work at theMyrelaion.40All stampsfrom the rotunda andthe smaller centrally-planned building areagain of the simplefifth-century type,41

whilst those fromthe Bodrum Camiialso include moresophisticated sixth-century specimens.42

Moreover, seventeenof the fifth-centurystamps date from theseventh or the fifteenthindiction.43This

comprises the majority ofstamps with the indictionpreserved and impliesthat the fifth-centurybricks do not form achance collection. Thebricks will have been

originally acquired for the construction of the rotundaand the smaller centrally-planned building, indicating afifth-century date for both. Alternatively, the late fourthcentury may also be considered, because the beginningof brick stamping cannot be dated with any precisionand may have occurred already in the late fourthcentury, when the Theodosian building boom set in.44

38 J. Bardill,Brickstamps of Constantinople(Oxford, 2004), 99.39 Bardill,Brickstamps, 1002.40 Rice, Excavations, 17274, fig. 11. For corrections and morestamps found by Rice but not published, see Bardill,Brickstamps, 163;416 s.v. Bodrum Camii.41 Rotunda: Bardill,Brickstamps, cat. 218.1a, 298.1a; smallercentrally-planned building: ibid., 416 s.v. Bath building nearBodrum Camii.42 Bardill,Brickstamps, cat. 227.1b, 316.1a, 660.1a, 681.1d, 824.1a,1130.1a.43 See Niewhner, Rundbau, 434.44 Bardill,Brickstamps, 28. For a less tight chronological framework,

Fig. 26 Naumanns diary with brick stamps found by us (left) andlying in the yard at the lower story (right).

There is yet further evidence for a Theodosiandate of the rotunda-complex. An opus sectile floorexcavated by Rice in the smaller centrally-plannedbuilding has been compared with a similar floor in aportico of the Theodosian church of Hagia Sophia.45The pointed acanthus on the mullions from the smallercentrally-planned building and the area to the southof the rotunda (Fig. 7) appears to be among the earliestof its kind carved from Proconnesian marble, possiblyeven earlier than the earliest dated examples at thepropylon of the Theodosian Hagia Sophia and at theGolden Gate.46An early date, at the beginning of theTheodosian building boom, would also be compatible

with the series of pilaster capitals (Figs. 9-13),and their use at the rotunda might be original.Furthermore, a Theodosian date would explain theparallels between the rotunda and the palace-complexat the Hippodrome which could be identified with theTheodosian aristocracy.47

The Theodosian emperors saw to a successivemonumentalization of the main street, proceeding fromthe forum of Theodosius I (393) to that of Arcadius(402/403),48including also the Philadelphion, whereTheodosius I erected his first obelisk and the Capitol

was probably converted into the Museion (414) and

cf. U. Peschlow, Die Zisterne von Meriamlik. Fragen zu Bau- undMauertechnik im Bezirk von Ayatekla, in Syrien und seine Nachbarnvon der Sptantike bis in die islamische Zeit , ed. I. Eichner and V.Tsamakda (Wiesbaden, 2009), 5780, at 74f.45 A. Guiglia Guidobaldi, Note preliminare per una definizionedellarte pavimentale costantinopolitana dei primi secoli, in 16.

Internationaler Byzantinistenkongress. Akten 2 =JB32.4 (1982):

40313, at 406, 408f, fig. 1; Kramer, Pilasterkapitelle , 99. For asummary of the earlier bibliography as well as new evidence forthe date of the Theodosian Hagia Sophia, see Bardill,Brickstamps,5456, 107.46 Kramer,Pilasterkapitelle, 102f;RAC20:9396 s.v. Kapitell (U.Peschlow). For the propylon see A. M. Schneider,Die Grabung imWesthof der Sophienkirche zu Istanbul(Berlin, 1941), 10f, pl. 1416;F. W. Deichmann,Studien zur Architektur Konstantinopels im 5. und 6.

Jahrhundert nach Christus(Baden-Baden, 1956), 63f; for a summaryof the earlier bibliography as well as new evidence for the dating,see Bardill,Brickstamps, 5456, 107. For the Golden Gate, see B.Meyer-Plath and A. M. Schneider,Die Landmauer von Konstantinopel,2:Aufnahme, Beschreibung und Geschichte(Berlin, 1943), 3960; J.Bardill, The Golden Gate of Constantinople: A Triumphal Arch ofTheodosius I,AJA 103 (1999): 67196, argues that the gate was builtby Theodosius I, but dates the pointed capitals to the building of theland walls by Theodosius II; N. Asutay-Effenberger,Die Landmauer von

Konstantinopel-Istanbul. Historisch-topographische und baugeschichtlicheUntersuchungen(Wiesbaden, 2007), 5461.47 For the palace complex see above, note 9, and Bardill,Brickstamps,107109 (additional evidence for the date of the palace of Antiochus).For the comparison with the rotunda, see Naumann, Rundbau, 203f(masonry), 206 (architectural typology).48 F. A. Bauer,Stadt, Platz und Denkmal in der Sptantike.Untersuchungen zur Ausstattung des ffentlichen Raums in den

sptantiken Stdten Rom, Konstantinopel und Ephesos(Mainz, 1996),187212. 262f.

university (425).49The rotunda may have bethis program of building and rehabilitation

FUNCTION

During the Roman Imperial period rotundasmostly built for the purpose of a mausoleum

At the Myrelaion this seems unlikely since thas two opposite doors creating a passage unfor either of these purposes.51A similar passfound in a rotunda within the aristocratic pacomplex at the Hippodrome.52Naumann, thsuggested that the complex at the Myrelaionintended for the same purpose and may be i

with the domus nobilissimae Arcadiae, whichurbis Constantinopolitanaelists in region IX.hypothesis is supported by the evidence of tfinds. A mythological mosaic floor seems sufor an aristocratic residence and a Theodosiis compatible with Arcadia, daughter of Arcsister of Theodosius II. Arcadia was born inmarried, and died in 444.54

Region IX flanked the Sea of Marmara.have contained the rotunda and extended upPhiladelphion.55The latter was situated to th

49 For location and identity of Philadelphion, Capitol,see D. Feissel, Le Philadelphion de Constantinople: incrits patriographiques, CRAI(2003): 495523. See alsReview of P. Lemerle,Le premier humanisme byzantin. Nremarques sur enseignement et culture Byzance des origin

BZ67 (1974): 38593, at 390; Berger,Patria, 333; P. Spe

Deo donavimus. Konstantins des Groen Konzept fr KBoreas18 (1995): 14373. For the obelisk see P. NiewhPeschlow, Neues zu den Tetrarchenfiguren in VenedigAufstellung in Konstantinopel,IstMitt62 (2012): 341-50 Rice, Excavations, 16971.51 Naumann, Rundbau, 206. In contradiction of hiNaumann, Rundbau, 211 suggests that the rotunda mCapitol, although the latter must have been a temple deCapitoline Triad: C. Mango,Le dveloppement urbain de(4e-7e sicles)(Paris, 1985), 30; E. Mayer,Rom ist dort, Untersuchungen zu den Staatsdenkmldern des dezentralivon Diocletian bis zu Theodosius II(Mainz, 2002), 161652 See above, note 8.53 Naumann, Rundbau, 206. Cf. O. Seeck, ed.,Notit(1876. Reprint Frankfurt, 1962), 237; A. Berger, Regionim frhen Konstantinopel,IstMitt47 (1997): 349-414, Mango, Le dveloppement, 59 and Mayer,Rom, 162 wantidentify the rotunda with the Museion, but the latter haconvincingly located at the Philadelphion to the east ofCamii: see above, note 49.Rice, Excavations, 164 f. and Bardill, Palace, 88 f., nsuggested that the rotunda may have been the Chrysokaaccording to the Patria III 112 the latter stood behind themust therefore have been a different building: Cf. Berge54 J. R. Martindale,The Prosopography of the Later Rom2:A. D. 395527(Cambridge, 1980), 129.55 Not according to Berger,Patria, 344. Cf. P. Magdal


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THE ARCHITECTURE OF ARISTOCRATIC

PALACES IN CONSTANTINOPLE IN

WRITTEN SOURCES

Peter SchrenerUniversity of Cologne

In 1343 the Byzantine man of letters GeorgeMakrembolites composed a work entitled TheDialogue between the Rich and the Poor.1The textwas barely known in its own period and was first

rediscovered in the sociocritical debate of the lastcentury.2The poor gaze full of envy at the life of the rich:

Be content, they say, with your elaborate bedchambers,attracting all eyes, with fabrics embroidered in silver andgold, rugs of strange appearance and exquisite beauty,with delig htful baths, with your pleasan t dwelling s, yourenjoying, in fair weather the mildest airs from the roofs ofyour three-story hou ses.3

I.

The nobles palace has not hitherto attracted specialattention either in Byzantine cultural history orin architectural history or topographical studies.4In addition to the Great Palace and the Palace ofBlachernai, and the smaller imperial palaces ofConstantinople, which have likewise never beensubjected to a comprehensive study, the palaces ofthe nobility represent the third (and certainly mostextensive) component of the topographical presence of

the court in the city of Constantinople.First of all, it has to be determined what is meant,in a sociohistorical sense, by the term nobles palace.

We are dealing with the house of an individual, who isconnected to the court through a state office or dignity.It is in this sense also that the terms aristocracy andaristocratic should be understood in Byzantium.5In

1 Firstpublishedwith Englishtranslationby I.evenko, AlexiosMakrembolitesand hisDialogue betweentheRich andthe Poor,ZRVI6(1960): 187228;see alsothe commentedItaliantranslation:Alessio

Macrembolite,Dialogodeiricchiedeipoveri,ed.M.diBranco(Palermo,2007).2 G. Wei,Johannes Kantakuzenos Aristokrat, Staatsmann, Kaiser und

Mnch in der Gesellschaftsentwicklung von Byzanz im 14. Jahrhundert(Wiesbaden, 1969); K.-P. Matschke,Fortschritt und Reaktion in Byzanzim 14. Jahrhundert: Konstantinopel in der Brgerkriegsperiode von 1341 bis1354(Berlin, 1971); see also Alessio Macrembolite, 38 n. 31.3 evenko, Alexios Makrembolites, 209.1420; see also P.Schreiner, Das Haus in Byzanz nach den schriftlichen Quellen,

Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Gttingen,Philologisch-historische Klasse. Dritte Folge218 (1997): 277320, esp.31112.4 See also M. Grnbart,Inszenierung und Reprsentation derbyzantinischen Aristokratie vom 10. bis 1 3. Jahrhundert(Mnster,forthcoming).5 A. P. Kazhdan and S. Ronchey,Laristocrazia bizantina dal principiodellXI alls fine del XII secolo (Palermo, 1997).

contrast to the Great Palace and the Palace othe palaces of the nobility are in general entto the designation oikia, just like all the rehouses in Constantinople. We encounter a fsuch houses in connection with the foundatcity in thePatria Konstantinoupoleos.6A secotraced back to the great families whose origithe second half of the eighth and ninth centthe time many members of the clan still liprovinces.7It was not until the eleventh cenespecially during the rule of the Komnenianthat the city itself, in a third wave, became thresidence of aristocratic families, and remato 1453.8A statistical enumeration was nevethough it is possible in the tenth century thathe lists for orders of ranks and the seals. Leas example theKletorologionof Philotheos ofenumerates seventy-eight dignities and offinine of them are attributed to military aristolived outside Constantinople. There remainseven persons, who had because of their pospossibility to possess a house (palace) of t

The palace of an aristocratic family was bound to the political, and in consequence sofortunes of the family. With a decline in socia

which often followed a decline in political stapalace in many cases also passed into other hoften those of an individual currently in favoemperor. In a small number of cases the diffare also named in literary sources, whereas, aknown, the cadastres for Byzantine Constantilonger preserved. It would be wrong to assumthat the fabric of buildings (excepting substr

remained intact. Rather each new owner undmodifications, and the only reminder of the pname: when thePatriawas composed at the etenth century, the House of the Senator Daretime of Constantine the Great) was in the poscertain Hikanatissa, who was the wife or daugof the Skleros family.10The Houses of Consta(thus originally imperial palaces) in the ninthbelonged to a Toubakes and an Iberitzes, whilthem somewhat later belonged to an Akropol

In one case archaeological and wrievidence combine. The palace of the usurpeLekapenos (r. 920-944), which he convertemonastery after his accession to the thronebefore him to a certain Krateros, who is per

6 Scriptores originum Constantinopolitanarum, ed. Th. Palter, Ps.-Codini origines continens (Leipzig, 1907), 146366).7 F. Winkelmann,Quellenstudien zur herrschenden Kla8. und 9. Jahrhundert (Berlin, 1987).8 Kazhdan and Ronchey,Laristocrazia.9 N. Oikonomids,Les listes de prsance byzantines de(Paris, 1972), 65235.10 Scriptores, 148.45 (cap. 67); A. Berger, Untersuchu

Patria Konstantinupoleos(Bonn, 1988), 225.11 Scriptores, 150.12; Berger, Untersuchungen, 231.

of the rotunda in front of the Laleli Camii, whichprobably occupies the site of the former Capitol.56The Capitol belonged to region VIII which continuedeastward from the Philadelphion, whilst region X lay tothe north (Fig. 1).57

A second indication of an imperial origin of therotunda may be found in the written record. Sourcesmention the square Ta Amastrianou, also referred toas theModion, HoreionorHorologion(Patria), at thehouse of Krateros (Parastaseis), which belonged tothe Myrelaion (Suda). Ta Amastrianou can be locatedin between the Bus and Philadelphion, for imperialprocessions stopped at all three places in this order.ThePatriamention a sigma-shaped colonnade at Ta

Amastrianou, probably the portico to the north of therotunda. In addition to the sigma, Kedrenos detailsa straight colonnade to the north and an old temple,possibly to be identified with a second portico along themain street and the Capitol on the opposite side, wherethe Laleli Camii now stands. The Patriaalso mentionthe depiction of the river Lycos, which discharges intothe nearby harbor of Theodosius, and an arch whichmay have formed an entrance from the main street. Ontop of the arch the Modion was on display. This latter

was the standard measure for grain and seems to beidentical with theMolionreferred to by theParastaseisSyntomoi Chronikai. This source also mentions the oldtemple on the north (the Capitol), the figure of a fox(the Lycos?) as well as anaktorikoi oikoito the south,58possibly a reference to the rotunda and former domusnobilissimae Arcadiae.

AristocraticOikoiin the Tenth and Eleventh Regions ofConstantinople, inByzantine Constantinople: Monuments, Topographyand Everyday Life, ed. N. Necipolu (Leiden, 2001), 5369, at 56.56 For the location of the Philadelphion, see above, note 49. Forthe Laleli Camii occupying the site of the former Capitol, cf. Berger,

Patria, 330f.; P. Speck, Urbs, quam Deo donavimus. Konstantinsdes Groen Konzept fr Konstantinopel,Boreas18 (1995): 14373.57 According to this reconstruction, the boundaries of region IX andX may have met at the Philadelphion. This would explain a passage intheNotitiawhere these regions are said to be separated by the mainstreet: Seeck, ed.,Notitia, 237. Cf. Berger, Regionen, 369.58 Berger,Patria, 33747; Mango,Le dveloppement, 70 and C.Mango, The Triumphal Ways of Constantinople and the GoldenGate,DOP54 (2000): 17388, fig. 2 suggests a different localization ofTa Amastrianou and the Modion; cf. Bauer, Stadt, 23842.