The world changed dramatically after Constantinople’s foundation in 330 A.D. In 476, the last remnants of the Roman Empire in the West collapsed. Although most of Europe, including the city of Rome, would slide into poverty and chaos, Constantinople remained vibrant, wealthy, and strong. With nearly a million people in the metropolitan area, Constantinople still enjoyed luxurious baths, rich markets, beautiful forums, and raucous chariot races well into the ninth century and beyond.
Yet time also brought historical amnesia.
Medieval Constantinople was filled to bursting with statues and monuments of antiquity. The medieval citizens had forgotten their original purposes, assigning to them new identities and, most intriguing of all, new mystical powers. The massive bronze statues and towering columns of such beauty were beyond the abilities of medieval people. They chalked them up to lost magic which could still be employed for the good of the city.
An entire book could be written about medieval Constantinople’s mystical protectors.¹ Here, I want to focus on the most visible one – the Column of Justinian.