TheColumn of Arcadius (Greek:Στήλη του Αρκαδίου,Turkish:Arkadyos Sütunu orAvrat Taşı) was aRoman triumphal column in theforum of Arcadius inConstantinople built in the early 5th century AD. The marble column was historiated with a spiralling frieze of reliefs on its shaft and supported a colossal statue of the emperor, probably made of bronze, which fell down in 740.[1] Its summit was accessible by an internal spiral staircase. Only its massive masonry base survives.
It is known as theAvret Taş in Turkish and is located on Haseki Kadın Sokak in theFatih district ofIstanbul.[1] It is now mostly surrounded by modern buildings.
The column and forum of Arcadius were on the Seventh Hill of Constantinople, also known as theXerolophos (GreekΞηρόλοφος).[2][3] The column's construction was begun after 401 to commemorateArcadius's triumph over theGoths under the renegademagister militumGainas in the wars of 399–401.[1] Arcadius died in 408, but the column was only completed in 421, so the forum of Arcadius and its column was sometimes referred to by the name of his son and successorTheodosius II.[4][1][5] It was destroyed in the 1719 earthquake.[6]
Inspired by theColumn of Constantine erected the previous century by his predecessor and the city's founderConstantine I, theColumn of Theodosius had been set up by Arcadius's fatherTheodosius I in theforum Tauri in the 380s and follows the tradition of triumphal columns established by those ofTrajan andMarcus Aurelius.
During theOttoman Empire, the monument was ascended and measured, in secret, byPetrus Gyllius and described in hisDe Topographia Constantinopoleos et de illius antiquitatibus libri IV. He described the shaft as being composed of 21 large blocks; only one at the base survives.[1] Detail of the shaft's and pedestal's decoration is conserved in a series of drawings made in 1574 and 1575 and preserved in theFreshfield Album and which are attributed to the Flemish artistLambert de Vos (Trinity College, Cambridge). The carvings on the remaining parts of the structure have since been largely obliterated by fire and erosion.
Nowadays the column is becoming ruined by an unplanned urbanization inIstanbul. Turkish officials say that conservation works including creating a small square around its vicinity for the column must be carried out.[7]
Thesocle was around 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high and of three steps, of which only one remains above ground.[8] A pedestal, nearly 8 m (26 ft) tall with cornice and mouldings at the top and bottom, that probably faced theMese odos to the south and whose southern, eastern and western faces were decorated with carved reliefs in four registers.[9] The north side, mostly undecorated and probably facing away from theMese, had a doorway which allowed access to the spiral staircase within. The pedestal contained three small rooms, the first of which had a niche in the western wall and was decorated with a cross-in-wreath.[10][11] The staircase led to a door on the south face of the column's statue's pedestal, giving access to a platform atop the column's capital. The pedestal's four registers of reliefs were carved on its four courses of monolithic masonry.[1] Above the pedestal's cornice was a plinth of two steps, decorated witheagles at its corners holdinggarlands withputti above and recliningriver gods below.[12] Above this was a torus carved as an oak wreath bound by a floral filet depicting theatrical masks and mythological hunt scenes involving lions,griffons, and birds.[13] This was the base of the column itself; the surviving portion of the column terminates here; nothing above remains.[1]
The column shaft was carved with reliefs depicting the history of the campaigns against Gainas and his Gothicfoederati rebels in 399–401. The sculptural register spiralled up clockwise around the column until theegg-and-dart echinus underneath theDoric capital at the top. Each corner of the abacus, on the capital's underside, was embellished with aChi-Rho. Taken together, the shaft, plinth, and torus were about 31.92 m (104.7 ft) tall.[8] On the capital rested the statue's pedestal, about 4 m (13 ft) high, with smooth shaft and a "Pergamene capital".[8] The statue itself was probably around 8.5 m (28 ft) tall and similar to the one known to have been atop the Column of Theodosius.[14]
The monument's pedestal depictedTriumph celebrated byArcadius and his brother and co-emperorHonorius,augustus of theWest. Although the victory over Gainas was a success in Arcadius's eastern jurisdiction, the emperors are shown together as equals in a joint Triumph that never took place. The lowest of the four registers of reliefs showed bound barbarian captives and arms (west),Victories inscribing on shields with captives (east), and Victories carryingtropaia and leading captives andfemale personifications of cities bearing tribute (south).[1] The next register showed Victories with a trophy approached on either side by Roman soldiers leading captives (west),Senators presenting the annual senatorial tribute, theaurum oblaticium, together with theTyche of Constantinople and of Rome, each wearing theircorona muralis (east) and the co-emperors in armour, affronted and holding Victories standing on globes above bound captives and flanked by ranks of soldiers and statesmen (south).[1] The third register from the bottom showed the paired emperors in armour leaning on their spears and holding globes, attended by soldiers and officials (west), the emperors incivilian dress asconsul, withlictors, soldiers and statesmen (east), and a pair of flying Victories bearing a wreath surrounding a Chi-Rho, each beside a trophy (south).[1] The fourth, topmost register of carvings showed airborne Victories holding a laurel wreath surrounding a Latin cross, alongside each aputto, and theSun andMoon in theirquadrigae (west), flying Victories holding atabula emblazoned with a cross, flanked byputti withtorches (east), and diverse armour and weapons together with two Chi-Rho banners.[1]
Media related toColumn of Arcadius at Wikimedia Commons
41°00′28″N28°56′35″E / 41.0078°N 28.9431°E /41.0078; 28.9431
