The Philadelphion was a public square located in Constantinople.
The two statue groups of the Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs in Venice, possibly originally located at the PhiladelphionMissing heel portion kept in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum
After passing the Forum of Theodosius, the Mese Odos (the main road of Constantinople) branched into two directions. One led to the quarter known today as Yedikule, via the Aksaray and Cerrahpaşa quarters. The other passed through the quarters of Şehzadebaşı and Fatih until reaching the quarter of Edirnekapı (formerly the Gate of Charisius). The space where the road forked was thought to be the physical centre, or mesomphalos, of the city.
Historyedit
According to the 8th-century Parastaseis syntomoi chronikai, the site of the later Philadelphion was originally known as the Proteichisma ("fore-wall"), and the site of a gate in the city wall built by Emperor Carus (r. 282–283).[1]Raymond Janin suggested that this Proteichisma was an outer defensive wall protecting the wall erected by Septimius Severus (r. 193–211) during his rebuilding of Byzantium, possibly indicating that the city had already expanded beyond the Severan wall.[2] The Parastaseis record the presence of statues of Constantine the Great (r. 306–337), his mother Helena, and his sons, seated on thrones, around a large four-sided porphyry column, topped by a gilded cross and marked with the sign of a sponge at the base,[3] as well as statues of Julian the Apostate and his wife, whom the Parastaseis erroneously records as Anastasia. Perhaps this was a statue of Constantine's sister Anastasia.[4] According to the Parastaseis, the column was erected by Constantine to commemorate his having a heavenly vision of the cross at the site; modern scholarship however considers the monument complex to be of later date, commemorating the finding of the True Cross by Helena.[5] The Patria of Constantinople furthermore records that statues of two sons of Constantine seated on thrones stood opposite from the column. These statues apparently survived until the early 15th century, when they were popularly known as the "True Judges".[6]
The Parastaseis records that the place received the name Philadelphion ("place of brotherly love") from a statue group showing the meeting of Constantine's three sons there after Constantine's death in 337 and their embrace as a sign of mutual devotion and support. The event never actually took place—Constantine's sons only met briefly in Pannonia after his death—but the statue probably existed, similar to another three-headed statue of Constantine and two of his sons, Constans and Constantius, which the Parastaseis record as lost at sea at the time of Theodosius II (r. 402–450), symbolizing concord in the imperial family.[7] In 1958, P. Verzone identified[8] the statue groups known as the "Tetrarchs", which was plundered during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, brought to Venice, and incorporated into the St Mark's Basilica, with the statues mentioned in the Parastaseis. This identification was reinforced by the discovery of a missing fragment from the statue group near the Bodrum Mosque,[9] but as the editors of the Parastaseis point out, "there are too many discrepancies between those groups and Parastaseis's descriptions here to permit any certainty".[10] Given the inaccuracy of the historical details in the Parastaseis, it is possible that even the identification with Constantine's sons is wrong, while it is unclear from the phrasing of the text whether this monument survived until the 8th century, or whether it had been destroyed long before.[11]
Cameron, Averil; Herrin, Judith (1984). Constantinople in the Early Eighth Century. The Parastaseis Syntomoi Chronikai: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary. Brill Archive. ISBN9004070109.
Janin, Raymond (1964). Constantinople byzantine. Développement urbaine et répertoire topographique (in French). Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Striker, Cecil L. (1981). The Myrelaion (Bodrum Camii) in Istanbul. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Verzone, P. (1958). "I due gruppi in porfiro di San Marco in Venezia ed il Philadelphion in Costantinopoli". Palladio (in Italian). N.S. 8: 8–14. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Philadelphion.
Tentative reconstruction of the site at the Byzantium 1200 project
philadelphion, confused, with, philadelphian, public, square, located, constantinople, statue, groups, portrait, four, tetrarchs, venice, possibly, originally, located, missing, heel, portion, kept, istanbul, archaeology, museum, contents, location, history, r. Not to be confused with Philadelphian The Philadelphion was a public square located in Constantinople The two statue groups of the Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs in Venice possibly originally located at the PhiladelphionMissing heel portion kept in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum Contents 1 Location 2 History 3 References 4 Sources 5 External linksLocation editAfter passing the Forum of Theodosius the Mese Odos the main road of Constantinople branched into two directions One led to the quarter known today as Yedikule via the Aksaray and Cerrahpasa quarters The other passed through the quarters of Sehzadebasi and Fatih until reaching the quarter of Edirnekapi formerly the Gate of Charisius The space where the road forked was thought to be the physical centre or mesomphalos of the city History editAccording to the 8th century Parastaseis syntomoi chronikai the site of the later Philadelphion was originally known as the Proteichisma fore wall and the site of a gate in the city wall built by Emperor Carus r 282 283 1 Raymond Janin suggested that this Proteichisma was an outer defensive wall protecting the wall erected by Septimius Severus r 193 211 during his rebuilding of Byzantium possibly indicating that the city had already expanded beyond the Severan wall 2 The Parastaseis record the presence of statues of Constantine the Great r 306 337 his mother Helena and his sons seated on thrones around a large four sided porphyry column topped by a gilded cross and marked with the sign of a sponge at the base 3 as well as statues of Julian the Apostate and his wife whom the Parastaseis erroneously records as Anastasia Perhaps this was a statue of Constantine s sister Anastasia 4 According to the Parastaseis the column was erected by Constantine to commemorate his having a heavenly vision of the cross at the site modern scholarship however considers the monument complex to be of later date commemorating the finding of the True Cross by Helena 5 The Patria of Constantinople furthermore records that statues of two sons of Constantine seated on thrones stood opposite from the column These statues apparently survived until the early 15th century when they were popularly known as the True Judges 6 The Parastaseis records that the place received the name Philadelphion place of brotherly love from a statue group showing the meeting of Constantine s three sons there after Constantine s death in 337 and their embrace as a sign of mutual devotion and support The event never actually took place Constantine s sons only met briefly in Pannonia after his death but the statue probably existed similar to another three headed statue of Constantine and two of his sons Constans and Constantius which the Parastaseis record as lost at sea at the time of Theodosius II r 402 450 symbolizing concord in the imperial family 7 In 1958 P Verzone identified 8 the statue groups known as the Tetrarchs which was plundered during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 brought to Venice and incorporated into the St Mark s Basilica with the statues mentioned in the Parastaseis This identification was reinforced by the discovery of a missing fragment from the statue group near the Bodrum Mosque 9 but as the editors of the Parastaseis point out there are too many discrepancies between those groups and Parastaseis s descriptions here to permit any certainty 10 Given the inaccuracy of the historical details in the Parastaseis it is possible that even the identification with Constantine s sons is wrong while it is unclear from the phrasing of the text whether this monument survived until the 8th century or whether it had been destroyed long before 11 References edit Cameron amp Herrin 1984 p 131 Janin 1964 pp 19 20 Cameron amp Herrin 1984 p 135 Cameron amp Herrin 1984 pp 151 153 266 Cameron amp Herrin 1984 pp 135 247 Cameron amp Herrin 1984 p 247 Cameron amp Herrin 1984 pp 151 265 266 Verzone 1958 pp 8 14 Striker 1981 p 29 Cameron amp Herrin 1984 p 265 Cameron amp Herrin 1984 p 266 Sources editCameron Averil Herrin Judith 1984 Constantinople in the Early Eighth Century The Parastaseis Syntomoi Chronikai Introduction Translation and Commentary Brill Archive ISBN 9004070109 Janin Raymond 1964 Constantinople byzantine Developpement urbaine et repertoire topographique in French Paris a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Striker Cecil L 1981 The Myrelaion Bodrum Camii in Istanbul Princeton NJ Princeton University Press Verzone P 1958 I due gruppi in porfiro di San Marco in Venezia ed il Philadelphion in Costantinopoli Palladio in Italian N S 8 8 14 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a volume has extra text help External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Philadelphion Tentative reconstruction of the site at the Byzantium 1200 project 41 00 50 71 N 28 57 24 81 E 41 0140861 N 28 9568917 E 41 0140861 28 9568917 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Philadelphion amp oldid 1193899652, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
