Pierre Gilles - The Antiquities of Constantinople

(now called Chazico ) is highly in Esteem, for that it joins by two Bridges the Island to the Continent, and unites two opposite Bays, and is, as Aristides informs us, the Bond of the Black , and the Mediterranean Sea ; but any Man, who has his Eyes in his Head, may see, that ’tis but a very weak one. The Propontis flows in a broad Sea, between Cyzicus and Europe ; by which Means as a Passage is open into both Seas, though the People of Cyzicus should pretend to dispute it; so they on the other hand, should the People of Hellespont or Constantinople contest it with them, could have no Advantage of the Commerce of either of those Seas. I shall say nothing at present of Heraclea , Selymbria , and Chalcedon , seated on the Coast of the Propontis , anciently Cities of Renown, both for the Industry of their Inhabitants, and the Agreeableness of their Situation; but they could never share in the principal Commodities of other Towns of Traffick, in the Neighbourhood of the Port of Constantinople , which was always look’d upon as impregnable. The Harbours of those Cities have lain for a considerable time all under Water, so that they were not of sufficient Force to sail the Bosporus and the Hellespont , without the Permission of the Inhabitants of those Places: But the Byzantians rode Masters of the Black Sea , in Defiance of them all. Byzantium therefore seems alone exempted from those Inconveniencies and Incapacities which have happen’d to her Neighbours, and to many other potent and flourishing Cities, which for several Years having lain in their own Ruins, are either not rebuilt with their ancient Grandeur, or have changed their former Situation. All its neighbouring Towns are yet lost: There is only the Name of Memphis remaining. Whereas Babylon , seated in its Neighbourhood, from a small Fort, is become a large and populous City; and yet neither of them is so commodious as Constantinople . I shall take no Notice of Babylon in Assyria , who, when she was in her most flourishing State, had the Mortification to see a City built near her, equal in Largeness to her self: Why is not Alexandria rebuilt, but because she must support her self more by the Industry of her People, than the Agreeableness of her Situation? ’Twas the Sanctity of St. Peter , and the Grandeur of the Roman Name, that contributed more to the rebuilding old Rome , than the natural Situation of the Place itself, as having no Convenience for Ships and Harbours. I pass by in Silence Athens and Lacedæmon , which were more remarkable for the Learning and resolute Bravery of their People, than the Situation of their City. I omit the two Eyes of the Sea Coast, Corinth and Carthage , both which falling into Ruins at the same Time, were first repaired by Julius Cæsar ; afterwards, when they fell entirely to decay, nobody rebuilt them: And though Carthage is seated in a Peninsula with several Havens about it, yet in no part of it are there two Seas which fall into each other: For though Corinth may be said to lie between two Seas, and is call’d the Fort of Peloponnesus , the Key and Door of Greece ; yet is it so far from uniting in one Chanel two Seas, or two Bays adjoining to the Peninsula , that she was never able to make Head against the Macedonians or Romans , as Cyzico and Negropont did; the one by its well built Forts and other War-like Means, and the other by the Strength of its natural Situation. But Constantinople is the Key both of the Mediterranean and Black Sea , which alone, by the best Skill in Navigation, nay though you were to make a Voyage round the World, you will find to meet only in one Point, and that is, the Mouth of the Port. I shall say nothing of Venice , which does not so much enclose the Sea for proper Harbours, as ’tis enclosed by it, and labours under greater Difficulties to keep off the Swellings and Inundations of the Seas, than unite them together. I pass by the Situations of the whole Universe, wherever there are, have, or shall be Cities; in none of them shall you find a Port abounding with so many and so great Conveniencies, both for the Maintenance of its Dominion over the Seas, and the Support of Life, as in this City. It is furnish’d with Plenty of all manner of Provisions, being supply’d with Corn by a very large Field of Thrace , extending itself, in some Parts of it, a Length of seven Days, and in others, of a more than twenty Days Journey. I shall say nothing of Asia adjoining to it, abounding with the greatest Fruitfulness both of Corn and Pasture, and the best Conveniencies for their Importation from both Seas. And as to the immense Quantity of its Wines, besides what is the Product of its own Soil, it is furnish’d with that Commodity from all the Coasts of the Bosporus , the Propontis , and the Hellespont , which are all well stock’d with Vineyards; and without the Danger of a long Voyage, Constantinople can, at her Pleasure, import the choicest Wines of all Kinds, and whatever else may contribute to her own Gratification and Delight. ’Tis for this Reason that Theopompus gives her this Character, That ever since she became a Mart-Town, her People were wholly taken up, either in the Market, in the Port, or at Taverns, giving themselves up entirely to Wine. Menander , in his Comedy Auletris , tells us, that Constantinople makes all her Merchants Sots. I bouze it , says one of his Actors, all Night; and upon my waking after the Dose, I fancy I have no less than four Heads upon my Shoulders . The Comedians play handsomely upon them, in giving us an Account, that when their City was besieged, their General had no other Way to keep his Soldiers from deferring, but by building Taverns within the Walls; which, tho’ a Fault proceeding from their popular Form of Government, yet at the same time denotes to us the great Fruitfulness of their Soil, and the great Plenty they have of Wine. They who have been Eye-witnesses can best attest, how well they are provided with Flesh, with Venison and Fowls, which they might share more abundantly, but that they are but indifferent Sportsmen. Their Markets are always stored with the richest Fruits of all Kinds. If any Objection be made to this, I would have it consider’d, what Quantities the Turks use, after hard Drinking, to allay their Thirst. And as to Timber, Constantinople is so plentifully supply’d with that, both from Europe and Asia , and will in all probability continue to be so, that she can be under no Apprehensions of a Scarcity that way, as long as she continues a City. Woods of an unmeasurable Length, extending themselves from the Propontis beyond Colchis , a more than forty Days Journey, contribute to her Stores so that she does not only supply the neighbouring Parts with Timber for building Ships and Houses, but even Ægypt , Arabia and Africa , partake in the inexhaustible Abundance; while she, of all the Cities in the World, cannot lie under the want of Wood of any Kind, under which, even in our Time, we have observed the most flourishing Cities, both of Europe and Asia , sometimes to have fallen. Marseilles , Venice , Taranto , are all famous for Fish; yet Constantinople exceeds them all in its Abundance of this Kind. The Port is supply’d with vast Quantities from both Seas; nor do they swim only in thick Shoals through the Bosporus , but also from Chalcedon to this Port. Insomuch that twenty Fish-Boats have been laden with one Net; and indeed they are so numberless, that oftentimes from the Continent you may take them out of the Sea with your Hands. Nay, when in the Spring, they swim up into the Black Sea , you may kill them with Stones. The Women, with Osier Baskets ty’d to a Rope, angle for them out of the Windows, and the Fishermen with bare Hooks take a sort of Fish of the Tunny Kind, in such Quantities, as are a competent Supply to all Greece , and a great part of Asia and Europe . But not to recount the different Kinds of Fish they are stock’d with, they catch such Multitudes of Oysters, and other Shell Fish, that you may see in the Fish Market every Day, so many Boats full of them, as are a Sufficiency to the Grecians , all their Fast-Days, when they abstain from all sorts of Fish which have Blood in them. If there was not so considerable a Plenty of Flesh at Constantinople , if the People took any Pleasure in eating Fish, and their Fishermen were as industrious as those of Venice and Marseilles , and were also allow’d a Freedom in their Fishery, they would have it in their Power, not only to pay as a Tribute a third part of their Fish at least to the Grand Seignor , but also to supply all the lesser Towns in her Neighbourhood. If we consider the Temperature of the Climate of New Rome , it must be allow’d by proper Judges, that it far excels that of Pontus . For my own part, I have often experienced it to be a more healthy Air than that of Old Rome ; and for many Years past, I have scarce observed above a Winter or two to have been very cold, and that the Summer Heats have been allay’d by the northern Breezes, which generally clear the Air for the whole Season. In the Winter, ’tis a little warm’d by the southern Winds, which have the same Effect. When the Wind is at North, they have generally Rain, though ’tis quite otherwise in Italy and France . As to the Plague, ’tis less raging, less mortal, and no more rife among them, than it is, commonly speaking, in great Cities; and which indeed would be less rife, were it not for the Multitudes of the common People, and the foul Way of Feeding among their Slaves. But that I may not seem to flourish too largely in the Praise of this City, never to be defamed by the most sour Cynick , I must confess that there is one great Inconvenience it labours under, which is, that ’tis more frequently inhabited by a savage, than a genteel and civiliz’d People; not but that she is capable of refining the Manners of the most rude and unpolish’d; but because her Inhabitants, by their luxurious way of living, emasculate themselves, and for that Reason are wholly incapable of making any Resistance against those barbarous People, by whom, to a vast Distance, they are encompass’d on all Sides. From hence it is, that although Constantinople seems as it were by Nature form’d for Government, yet her People are neither under the Decencies of Education, nor any Strictness of Discipline. Their Affluence makes them slothful, and their Pride renders them averse to an open Familiarity, and a generous Conversation; so that they avoid all Opportunities of being thrust out of Company for their Insolence, or falling into Dissensions amongst themselves, by which means the Christian Inhabitants of the Place, formerly lost both their City and Government. But let their Quarrels and Divisions run never so high, and throw the whole City into a Flame, as they have many times done, nay tho’ they should rase her even with the Ground, yet she would soon rise again out of her own Ruins, by reason of the Pleasantness of her Situation, without which the Black Sea could not so properly be called the Euxine , as the Axine Sea, (the Inhabitants of whose Coast used to kill all Strangers that fell into their Hands) by reason of the great Numbers of barbarous People who dwell round the Black Sea . It would be dangerous venturing on the Coasts of the Black Sea , either by Land or Water, which are full of Pyrates and Robbers, unless they were kept in a tolerable Order by the Government of the Port. There would be no passing the Straits of the Bosporus which is inhabited on both Shores by a barbarous People, but for the same Reason. And though a Man was never so secure of a safe Passage, yet he might mistake his Road at the Mouth of the Bosporus , being misguided by the false Lights, which the Thracians , who inhabit the Coasts of the Black Sea , formerly used to hang out, instead of a Pharos . ’Tis therefore not only in the Power of Constantinople , to prevent any Foreigners sailing the Black Sea ; but in reality no Powers can sail it, without some Assistance from her. Since therefore Constantinople is the Fortress of all Europe , both against the Pyrates of Pontus , and the Savages of Asia , was the never so effectually demolish’d, as to all Appearance, yet would she rise again out of her Ruins to her former Grandeur and Magnificence. With what Fury did Severus pursue this City, even to an entire Subversion? And yet when he cool’d in his Resentments against these People, he recollected with himself, that he had destroy’d a City which had been the common Benefactress of the Universe, and the grand Bulwark of the Eastern Empire. In a little time after he began to rebuild her, and order’d her, in Honour of his Son, to be call’d Antonina . I shall end with this Reflection; That though all other Cities have their Periods of Government, and are subject to the Decays of Time, Constantinople alone seems to claim to herself a kind of Immortality, and will continue a City, as long as the Race of Mankind shall live either to inhabit or rebuild her.Читать дальше