Baths of Zeuxippus
Encyclopedia
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, the capital of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. They were built between 100 to 200, destroyed by the Nika revolt of 532 and then rebuilt several years later. They were so called because they were built upon the site where a Temple of Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
(Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
) had formerly existed. They were built around 500 yards south of the much older baths of Achilles of the earlier Greek Acropolis in Byzantion. The baths were famed primarily for the many statues that were built within, and the famous people they each represented. However, they were later used for military purposes, during the seventh century. Excavations of the site and the Baths were made in 1928.
Description
The original baths, which were founded and built by Septimius SeverusSeptimius Severus
Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...
, and decorated under Constantine I
Constantine I
Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...
were adorned with numerous mosaics and over eighty statue
Statue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
s, mostly those of historical figures, with Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
, Hesiod
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
, Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
, Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
, Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, Demosthenes
Demosthenes
Demosthenes was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by...
, Aeschines
Aeschines
Aeschines was a Greek statesman and one of the ten Attic orators.-Life:Although it is known he was born in Athens, the records regarding his parentage and early life are conflicting; but it seems probable that his parents, though poor, were respectable. Aeschines' father was Atrometus, an...
and Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
all among them, as well as the figures of gods and mythological heroes;. These statues were taken from various places worldwide, including regions such as Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and the surrounding areas, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
. The Baths did, indeed, follow a trend of architecture during the period; places such as the Palace of the Senate, that of the Forums, the Palace of Lausus
Palace of Lausus
The Palace of Lausus or Lausos, also known as the Lauseion , was a 5th-century building located in Constantinople that was acquired and owned by the eunuch Lausus.- Lausus :...
were all adorned with similar statues, of heroes (mythological and not), historical figures, and powerful people, becoming part of a contemporary form of artful architecture.
For a relatively small fee, entrance could be gained by any member of the general public to the Bath complex. While the area was obviously primarily used for public bathing, one could exercise and enjoy a variety of recreational activities. Attendants were paid to oversee these activities, and the happenings of the complex, enforcing opening and closing times, and the rules of conduct. Men and women were not allowed to bathe together; they would either be in separate baths, or bathe at different times of the day.
The popularity of the Baths of Zeuxippus was very great among the citizens, despite the numerous number of baths that had been available for public access at the time in Constantinople, and therefore, the great competition that existed in that commercial area. Even the likes of clergy and monks were seen there, despite the insistence by their superiors that the baths were places of impious behaviour.
Location
Joannes Zonaras
Ioannes Zonaras was a Byzantine chronicler and theologian, who lived at Constantinople.Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held the offices of head justice and private secretary to the emperor, but after Alexios' death, he retired to the monastery of St Glykeria, where he spent the rest of his...
tells of how Severus connected the baths to the Hippodrome
Hippodrome of Constantinople
The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with only a few fragments of the original structure surviving...
and, in doing so, built it on the site of the Temple of Jupiter. However, Leontius
Leontius (writer)
Leontius , theological writer, born at Constantinople, flourished during the sixth century. He is variously styled Byzantinus, Hierosolymitanus Leontius (c. 485 – c. 543), theological writer, born at Constantinople, flourished during the sixth century. He is variously styled Byzantinus,...
, who was more accurate in his writings (which also predate those of Zonaras), instead asserted that the baths were not actually joined to the Hippodrome, but was simply close to it:
In addition to this, the Baths of Zeuxippus were also close (most probably adjacent) to the Great Palace
Great Palace of Constantinople
The Great Palace of Constantinople — also known as the Sacred Palace — was the large Imperial Byzantine palace complex located in the south-eastern end of the peninsula now known as "Old Istanbul", modern Turkey...
grounds. This evidences their popularity, as such a location would have attracted many people, being in such great proximity to such significant places. The square of the Augustaeum and the basilica of Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
were also close to the Baths.
The map to the right shows the Baths' approximate location within Constantinople, as determined by excavations made there. As can be seen, the Baths were roughly quadrangular in shape, and were, indeed, very close to, or even "connected" to the Palace, as Zonaras indicated.
Destruction and later use
As a result of the Nika revoltNika riots
The Nika riots , or Nika revolt, took place over the course of a week in Constantinople in AD 532. It was the most violent riot that Constantinople had ever seen to that point, with nearly half the city being burned or destroyed and tens of thousands of people killed.-Background:The ancient Roman...
of 532, which constituted the worst uprising Constantinople had seen at the time, and which left half of the city in ruins and thousands of people dead, the original Baths of Zeuxippus were destroyed in blazing fire. While Justinian took action to rebuild the Baths, he could not recreate or restore the statues or the antiquities that were lost in 532.
Soon after this however, in the early 7th century, as a result of extreme military and political pressure on the Byzantine Empire, public bathing changed from being a common luxury to a rare and infrequent one, and many public facilities and venues began to be used for the austere purposes of the military. They are last attested as being used as baths in 713, before being converted to other uses: part of the building became the prison known as Noumera, while another part appears to have been used as a silk workshop.
Almost 1,000 years later, in 1556, the Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan built the Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamamı
Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamami
The Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamamı is a Turkish hamam that was commissioned by Sultan Suleiman I's consort Roxelana and constructed by Mimar Sinan during the 16th century in Istanbul...
on the same grounds. Later still, in 1927-1928, excavations were made at the site, and many historical relics were recovered, such as earthenware and glazed pottery, giving unique insights into the architectural designs and social interests of the people and culture of Constantinople at the time.
Most particular of the objects found at the site were two statues which were inscribed with the words Hekabe and Aeschenes [sic] on their bases, giving rise to the theory that tells of how Christodorus of Coptus effectively wrote the six epigrams on the many statues of the Baths, and lending further plausibility to the writings of both Zonaras and Leontius.
Inspired Literature
Christodorus of CoptusChristodorus
Christodorus , a Greek epic poet from Coptos in Egypt, flourished during the reign of Anastasius I .According to Suidas, he was the author of Patria , accounts of the foundation, history and antiquities of various cities; Lydiaka , the mythical history of Lydia; Isaurica Christodorus , a Greek epic...
, an Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian poet and writer wrote a lengthy (416 lines long) hexameter
Hexameter
Hexameter is a metrical line of verse consisting of six feet. It was the standard epic metre in classical Greek and Latin literature, such as in the Iliad and Aeneid. Its use in other genres of composition include Horace's satires, and Ovid's Metamorphoses. According to Greek mythology, hexameter...
piece of poetry inspired by the glory of the statues housed within the halls of the Baths of Zeuxippus. This poem actually consisted of a number of short epigram
Epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, usually memorable and sometimes surprising statement. Derived from the epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia....
s (six in total), each focusing on one or a small group of statues within the Baths, designed to combine to form one work. While it has been suggested that the epigrams of Christodorus of Coptus may actually have been inscribed on the (bases) of the statues themselves, this is unlikely because of his use of the ekphrastic medium, and the presence of the past tense
Past tense
The past tense is a grammatical tense that places an action or situation in the past of the current moment , or prior to some specified time that may be in the speaker's past, present, or future...
in the text.
Sources
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- Karl Otfried Müller, Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker Ancient Art and Its Remains: Or, A Manual of the Archaeology of Art. 1852.
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- Ferdinand Gregorovius, Annie Hamilton History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages
- William Matthews An historical and scientific description of the mode of supplying London with water. 1841