Head of a serpent belonging to the Column at the Hippodrome, from Sultanahmet, first half of 5th century BC, Istanbul Archeology Museum

When Constantine the Great had expanded Byzantium and had renamed it Constantinople, he started to decorate the city, and ordered the removal of several ancient works of art and monuments. One of these was the Serpents' Column that had, until then, been in Delphi, and was now placed on the spina, the longitudional barrier in the center of the hippodrome. Here the column still stands between the other monuments: the Obelisk of Theodosius, the Porphyrius monuments, and the so-called Obelisk of Constantine Porphyrogenitus.

It had been erected after the Battle of Plataea, in which the Greeks had defeated the Persians (Herodotus, Histories, 9.81). The eighteen feet high column had the shape of three snakes, their tails intertwined, carrying, on their heads, a tripod made of gold. (No marks of joins are visible on the serpent's head that is now in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul, though.) On the tripod was written a poem that is dubiously attributed to the poet Simonides:

This is the gift the saviors of far-flung Hellas upraised here,
Having delivered their states from loathsome slavery's bonds.
[Diodorus, History, 11.33.2]

The original pedestal has been found in Delphi: the monument stood right in front of the temple of Apollo. This may have been a sneer to the Delphian authorities: during the war, the oracle had often sided with the invaders. Every visitor of the sanctuary will have been reminded of the Greek victory - which had been against the odds, at least according to Apollo.

Source: www.livius.org/cn-cs/constantinople/constantinople_hippod...

Taken in: Turkey / İstanbul / İstanbul (show map)

Taken on: April 23, 2011

Tags:

Delphi

Sets appears in: • Circuses/Hippodromes • Istanbul Archaeology Museums

Camera: Olympus SP800UZ, f/3.5, 1/40 sec, 8.9mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Olympus SP800UZ
Aperture:	f/3.5
Exposure Time:	0.025 sec (1/40)
Focal Length:	8.9mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Creative (Slow speed)
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	picnik.com
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