ABSTRACT
In terms of subject matter, the opening part of Constantine’s poem, describing monuments within the city of Constantinople, has attracted less attention than the section on the church of the Holy Apostles. Constantine’s portrayal of the city has generally been used in an empirical fashion, quarried for information about both existing and lost monuments and their locations, and for what it can say about the dating and survival of monuments. Constantine the Great’s Porphyry Column, known as the Burnt Column, is positioned in what was the Forum of Constantine, a short distance down the Mese, the main road of the city, from Hagia Sophia. Constantine described each of his seven monuments as ‘wonders’. Constantine’s route forms the major triumphal way in Constantinople, from the Golden Gate via the Forum of Arkadios, the Philadelphion, the Forum of Theodosios and the Forum of Constantine to the Milion and Hagia Sophia.
