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50-560: The Forum lay along the southern branch of the Mese Odós (the main street of the city), in the valley of the Lycus creek, between the seventh and the third hills of Constantinople . Administratively, it was included in the eleventh Regio of the city, and its site is today located in the neighborhood of Aksaray . This square was possibly part of Constantine the Great 's original city plan design; like

100-723: A bath erected under Theophilos (r. 813–842) by the Patrician Nicetas. The Forum Bovis was well connected with other important parts of the city: the Mese, heading east, connected the Forum with the Forum Amastrianum and the Forum Tauri . In the westerly direction, the same road started to climb the seventh hill, reaching the Forum of Arcadius and the plateau of Xeropholos. Finally, the Mese crossed

150-490: A gathering place for hippies heading for Kathmandu and appeared in the Alan Parker film Midnight Express . As it heads west Divan Yolu merges into Yeniçeriler Caddesi (Janissary Street) and then Ordu Caddesi (Army Street). Theophilos (emperor) Theophilos ( Greek : Θεόφιλος , romanized :  Theóphilos , sometimes Latinised as Theophilus ; c.  812  – 20 January 842)

200-639: A purely theological doctrine, but there is no reason to doubt that he was sincere in his iconoclastic convictions. In 836, following the expiration of the 20-year peace treaty between the Empire and Bulgaria, Theophilos ravaged the Bulgarian frontier. The Bulgarians retaliated, and under the leadership of Isbul they reached Adrianople . At this time, if not earlier, the Bulgarians annexed Philippopolis and its environs. Khan Malamir died in 836. The peace between

250-564: A rectangular plan with sides 250 m and 300 m long. According to one source, in the 1950s its shape was still recognizable as a space limited to the north by 7–8 meters high terraces. According to others, the square should be located south-southeast of the Ottoman Murat Pasha Mosque . In the Byzantine Age, the square was surrounded by porticoes adorned with bas-reliefs and niches with statues. Particularly noteworthy among them

300-560: A three-year war, in which Vlastimir was victorious; Presian was heavily defeated, made no territorial gains, and lost many of his men. The Serbs had a tactical advantage in the hills, and the Bulgars were driven out by the army of Vlastimir . The war ended with the death of Theophilos, which released Vlastimir from his obligations to the Byzantine Empire. The health of Theophilos gradually failed, and he died on 20 January 842. Theophilos

350-623: A vast army and launched a two-pronged invasion of Anatolia in 838. Theophilos decided to strike one division of the caliph's army before they could combine. On 21 July 838 at the Battle of Anzen in Dazimon, Theophilos personally led a Byzantine army of 25,000 to 40,000 men against the troops commanded by al-Afshin . Afshin withstood the Byzantine attack, counter-attacked, and won the battle. The Byzantine survivors fell back in disorder and did not interfere in

400-509: Is no contemporary evidence of this. The majority of the clergy did not revolt against imperial policy, including Joannicius the Great , who was criticised for his compliance by Theodore the Stoudite , and Ignatios , later Patriarch of Constantinople . Neither did Theophilos oppose all monasteries, although he used some to confine iconodule clerics, as did Emperor Leo V the Armenian . Due to

450-548: The Acts of the Council of Constantinople of 815. In 833, he persecuted iconodules who were not in communion with the Patriarch by ordering the seizing of the property of those who helped or sheltered them. Along with his severe iconoclastic policy, Theophilos persecuted numerous individuals for political and religious reasons, in a targeted and methodical way, however it does appear that he

500-555: The Danube by Krum of Bulgaria . The rescue operation was carried out with success in c. 836, and the peace between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire was quickly restored. However, it proved impossible to maintain peace in the East. Theophilos had given asylum to a number of refugees from the east in 834, including Nasr, a Persian . He baptized one of the refugees, Theophobos , who married

550-619: The Emirate of Sicily , and gradually continued to expand across the island. The defence after the invasion of Anatolia by al-Ma'mun the Abbasid Caliph in 830 was led by the Emperor himself, but the Byzantines were defeated and lost several fortresses. In 831 Theophilos retaliated by leading a large army into Cilicia and capturing Tarsus . The Emperor returned to Constantinople in triumph, but in

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600-569: The Forum of the Ox (Forum Bovis) and the Forum of Arcadius towards the Golden Gate , where it joined the Via Egnatia . The Mese was 25 metres wide and lined with colonnaded porticoes which housed shops. It was the route followed by imperial processions through the city at least until Comnenian times. The most characteristic such procession was the triumphal entry of a victorious emperor, who entered

650-651: The Magnaura with a throne and automata of lions and birds. Theophilos also repaired the Walls of Constantinople near the Blachernae district as well as large sections of the sea walls. In 838, in order to impress the Caliph of Baghdad , Theophilus had John the Grammarian distribute 36,000 nomismata to the citizens of Baghdad. In 839 or 840, he initiated diplomatic contact with

700-605: The Serbs , Byzantine foederati , and the Bulgars lasted until 839. Vlastimir of Serbia united several tribes, and Theophilos granted the Serbs independence; Vlastimir acknowledged nominal overlordship of the Emperor. The annexation of western Macedonia by the Bulgars changed the political situation. Malamir or his successor may have seen a threat in the Serb consolidation and opted to subjugate them in

750-479: The Theodosian Walls at the Golden Gate . This part of the road corresponds to the modern Istanbul roads Çerrahpaşa Caddesi and Kocamustafapaşa Caddesi . Two other paths connected the square with the gates of St. Romanus (modern Topkapı) and Pege (modern Silivri kapı). The Forum's location has not yet been excavated. The quarter where the Forum lay was never hit by the large fires which ravaged Istanbul in

800-656: The Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba . The name of his ambassador is somewhat garbled in the Arabic accounts of Ibn Hayyan , but it seems to have been the admiral Krateros. He was accompanied on his return by the Córdoban poet al-Ghazal , who signed a pact of friendship with Theophilos directed against the Abbasids. The persistent warfare had caused a serious manpower shortage, which Theophilos attempted to remedy by resettling defectors from

850-549: The 19th and 20th centuries. In 1956, during the works for the construction of Millet and Vatan Caddesi , the two large roads which cross historic Istanbul, two pillars two meters high and having a base 3 m x 4 m wide were found outside the south wall of the Murat Pasha Mosque. These pillars, possibly belonging to a triumphal Arch , were most probably part of the Forum. Moreover, single constructive elements were also found in situ during these excavations. In 1968–71, during

900-595: The Armenian . Michael II crowned Theophilos co-emperor in 821. The date is almost universally given as 12 May 821 ( Whitsunday ), although this is not really corroborated by any source (another possible date is 24 March, Easter ). Unlike his father, Theophilos received an extensive education from John Hylilas , the grammarian, and was a great admirer of music and art. On 2 October 829, Theophilos succeeded his father as sole emperor. Theophilos continued in his predecessors' iconoclasm , though without his father's more conciliatory tone, issuing an edict in 832 forbidding

950-590: The Byzantines had done, the road leading from the Land Walls once again became important but was now called Divan Yolu or the Road to the Divan, in recognition of the fact that dignitaries would process along it for meetings in the Divan inside Topkapı Palace (Topkapı Sarayı). So important was this road that to this day it is still lined with Ottoman monuments including mosques ( Firuz Ağa Mosque ), libraries (Köprülü Kütüphanesi) and

1000-652: The Caliphate into Asia Minor , and issuing an edict requiring Roman widows to marry barbarian immigrants, which was reported in the Life of Athanasia of Aegina . The capture of Palermo by the Arabs , Theophilos' defeat in Cappadocia in 831 and the discovery of a treasonous plot by iconodules in Constantinople likely pressured the Emperor into enacting an iconoclastic policy that

1050-463: The Emperor's aunt Irene and became one of his generals. As relations with the Abbasids deteriorated, Theophilos prepared for a new war. In 837, Theophilos led a vast army of 70,000 men towards Mesopotamia and captured Melitene and Arsamosata . The Emperor also took and destroyed Sozopetra , which some sources claim as the birthplace of Caliph al-Mu'tasim . Theophilos returned to Constantinople in triumph. Eager for revenge, al-Mu'tasim assembled

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1100-658: The Forum Bovis is known thanks to the work De Ceremoniis , written by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (r. 913–959). He writes that the two imperial processions starting from the Great Palace and directed each year respectively to the Churches of Saint Mary of the Spring and Saint Mocius transited through the square. Based on this information, the Forum should be located in the modern neighborhood of Aksaray . The Forum had

1150-463: The Ox the two Patricians Theodoros and Stephanos, both involved in a failed plot against him. The same Emperor enlarged and adorned the square. During the Byzantine Iconoclasm , Saint Theodosia (d. 729) and Saint Andrew of Crete (d. 766), both defenders of icon veneration, were executed in the square. The former was executed by having a ram's horn hammered through her neck. The position of

1200-548: The Patrician , distant relative of Empress Irene and former stratēgos of Sicily , was banished for refusing to take communion with the Patriarch in 830. The Palestinian monks Theodorus and Theophanes were said to be so defiant that verses describing their crimes were branded on their foreheads. Iconodule monks were forbidden access Much of the persecution of iconodules was in effect punishment for challenging imperial authority rather than iconodulia as such. The abbot Methodios

1250-399: The autumn he was defeated in Cappadocia . Another defeat in the same province in 833 forced Theophilos to sue for peace (Theophilos offered 100,000 gold dinars and the return of 7,000 prisoners), which he obtained the next year, after the death of al-Ma'mun. During the respite from the war against the Abbasids, Theophilos arranged for the abduction of the Byzantine captives settled north of

1300-407: The caliph's continuing campaign. Al-Mu'tasim took Ancyra , and al-Afshin joined him there. The full Abbasid army advanced against Amorium , the cradle of the dynasty. Initially there was determined resistance. Then a Muslim captive escaped and informed the caliph where there was a section of the wall that had only a front facade. Al-Mu'tasim concentrated his bombardment on this section, and the wall

1350-499: The city of Tyana in raids led by Caliph al-Ma'mun from 830 to 832, and the Sack of Amorium by Caliph al-Mu'tasim in 838. Nevertheless, his reputation as a just ruler endured, as can be seen in the composition Timarion , in which Theophilos is featured as one of the judges in the Netherworld . Theophilos strengthened the Walls of Constantinople , built the fortress of Sarkel on

1400-612: The city through the Golden Gate and followed the Mese to the Great Palace , while jubilant crowds lining the street would greet him and welcome the imperial army home. As Byzantium went into decline so the Mese lost its importance. It was, however, revived after the Ottoman Conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Since the Ottomans chose to develop a new palace on more or less the same site as

1450-571: The city's two Senate houses stood. This stretch of the street was also known as the Regia ( ἡ Ῥηγία , "Imperial Road"), as it formed the original ceremonial route from the Great Palace and the Augustaion square to the forum of the city's founder. From there, the street continued to the square Forum of Theodosius or Forum of the Bull ( Forum Tauri ), as it was also known. In about the middle of this stretch,

1500-505: The construction of lavish palaces and exchange of precious goods and manuscripts, he intended to rival the court at Baghdad , which was itself seeing a revival of Hellenic thought. Even as far as the streets of Guangzhou during the era of the Tang dynasty , the Arab-style kaftan was in fashion. In the tenth century, Liudprand of Cremona reported that Theophilos decorated the reception hall of

1550-649: The first persecution of Christians in Asia Minor under Emperor Domitian (r. 81–96) the Ox, still in Pergamum, was used to execute Saint Antipas . According to the Patrologia Latina , in the reign of Julian, the Apostate (r. 361–363) many Christians were burned inside the Bull, and at that time already moved to Constantinople. In 562 the Forum, at that time surrounded by warehouses and workshops, burned down. The body of

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1600-783: The great mall known as Makros Embolos joined the Mese . At their junction stood a tetrapylon known as the Anemodoulion ('Servant of the Winds). Shortly after it passed the Theodosian Forum, the street divided in two branches at the site of the Capitolium : one branch going northwest, passing the Church of the Holy Apostles , towards the Gate of Polyandrion , while the other continued southwest, through

1650-566: The midst of the conquest of Slav lands. Another cause might have been that the Byzantines wanted to divert attention so that they could cope with the Slavic uprising in the Peloponnese , meaning they sent the Serbs to instigate the war. It is thought that the rapid extension of Bulgars over Slavs prompted the Serbs to unite into a state. Khan Presian I (r. 836–852) invaded Serbian territory in 839 (see Bulgarian–Serbian Wars ). The invasion led to

1700-490: The other fora of Constantinople, it was certainly built sometime in the 4th century. The name of the square originated from a large, hollow bronze statue representing the head of an ox . The statue, brought to Constantinople from Pergamum in Asia Minor , was used both as a furnace and a device implementing the brazen bull torture: people were closed inside the ox, which then was heated until they suffocated and burned. During

1750-440: The renowned iconoclast emperors of the eighth century. In both cases, the father was a soldier of humble origins and the son brought up in the intellectually sophisticated environment of the imperial household. Theophilos' wife Theodora ( r.  842–856 ) defended him, which mitigated the damnatio memoriae against him and his father Michael, nevertheless the later iconodule sources were highly critical of them. Theophilos

1800-560: The roadworks to build the Aksaray road interchange southeast of the Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque , no remains of the square have been found. 41°00′36″N 28°57′11″E  /  41.01000°N 28.95306°E  / 41.01000; 28.95306 Mese (Constantinople) The Mese ( Greek : ἡ Μέση [Ὀδός] i Mése [Odós] , lit. "Middle [Street]") was the main thoroughfare of ancient Constantinople and

1850-553: The scene of many Byzantine imperial processions. Its ancient course is largely followed by the modern Divan Yolu ("Road to the Divan"). The Mese started at the Milion monument, close to the Hagia Sophia , and led straight westwards. It passed the Hippodrome and the palaces of Lausos and Antiochus , and after ca. 600 meters reached the oval-shaped Forum of Constantine where one of

1900-457: The tombs of some of the sultans, including Mahmud II , Abdülaziz and Abdülhamid II . The modern Divan Yolu is lined with cafes, restaurants, hotels, bookshops and other amenities aimed at tourists. The T1 tramline also runs along it, with a stop at Sultanahmet. Of passing interest on the modern street is the Lale Restaurant which was, in the 1970s, the famous Pudding Shop that served as

1950-465: The unanimous iconodule sympathies of contemporary sources, it is difficult to determine the existence and extent of a popular iconoclast or iconodule tradition. It is likely that the changes in imperial policy in 787 and 815 only affected a small number of individuals and did not alter the religious practices of the whole population to a great degree. Theophilos' iconoclasm may have served as an opportunistic means of asserting imperial authority, rather than

2000-475: The usurper Phocas (r. 602–610) was also incinerated in the ox's head following his deposition. According to some sources, Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641) melted the statue to mint coins needed to pay his army for his war against the Persians . However, this is not certain since executions using the Ox continue to be attested after Heraclius's reign, for example, when Justinian II (r.685-695; 705–711) let burn in

2050-462: The veneration of icons . He also saw himself as the champion of justice, which he served most ostentatiously by executing his father's co-conspirators against Leo V immediately after his accession. At the time of his accession, Theophilos was obliged to wage wars against the Arabs on two fronts. Sicily was once again invaded by the Arabs, who took Palermo after a year-long siege in 831, established

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2100-563: Was a group representing Constantine the Great and his mother Helena holding their hands on a gold plated silver cross, a composition that became very popular in Byzantine art . Near the Forum lay also the Palace of Eleutherios (named so since it lay in the Byzantine community of ta Eleutheriou and overlooked the harbour of the same name on the Sea of Marmara ), built by Empress Irene (r. 775–797), and

2150-530: Was breached. Having heroically held for fifty-five days, the city fell to al-Mu'tasim on 12 or 15 August 838. Around 841, the Republic of Venice sent a fleet of 60 galleys (each carrying 200 men) to assist the Byzantines in driving the Arabs from Crotone , but it failed. During this campaign al-Mu'tasim discovered that some of his top generals were plotting against him. Many of these leading commanders were arrested and some executed before he arrived home. Al-Afshin seems not to have been involved in this, but he

2200-451: Was detected in other intrigues and died in prison in the spring of 841. Caliph al-Mu'tasim fell sick in October 841 and died on 5 January 842. Despite major defeats at the hands of the Abbasids, the Byzantines consolidated and gained a degree of economic stability, and was no longer facing an existential threat. Theophilos was a keen builder and administrator, and in 837 constructed an "Abbasid"-style palace in Bryas near Chalcedon . Through

2250-417: Was more politically than religiously motivated overall. Euthymius of Sardis and Joseph the Confessor were arrested and beaten for distributing or writing pamphlets foretelling the death of the Emperor. Euthymius was elderly and died from his injuries, Joseph was imprisoned and their associate Theophilos of Ephesos was forced into hiding. The pamphlets were considered defamatory and thus treasonous. Nicetas

2300-447: Was more severe than that of his father, which Theophilos had maintained from the beginning of his reign. He was supported by John the Grammarian , patriarchal synkellos (secretary) of Patriarch Antony I of Constantinople . Theophanes Continuatus reports that Theophilos forbade the painting of religious images and removed existing images, replacing them with secular images (e.g., of birds and animals), on similar grounds expressed in

2350-408: Was publicly and provocatively opposed to the imperial policy, and was imprisoned and beaten for his disobedience. However perhaps through his connections to the imperial household or his alleged prophetic powers that may have awed Theophilos, Methodios became an associate of the Emperor. Tenth-century sources report that Theophilos' own wife, Theodora and her mother maintained iconodulia, however there

2400-416: Was successful in establishing his reputation as a just ruler, and even hostile anti- Amorian chronicles retain accounts of his justice. Like Emperor Leo V the Armenian , he was viewed as close to the people and eager to defend them against injustices committed by their officials. However, Theophilos' dealings with the Empire's enemies drew criticism, particularly due to the loss of the fortress of Loulon and

2450-403: Was the Byzantine Emperor from 829 until his death in 842. He was the second emperor of the Amorian dynasty and the last emperor to support iconoclasm . Theophilos personally led the armies in his long war against both the Abbasid Caliphate and the Aghlabids in Sicily , beginning in 831. Theophilos was the son of Emperor Michael II and his wife Thekla , and the godson of Emperor Leo V

2500-427: Was the last iconoclast emperor of the Byzantine Empire , and his strict insistence on the removal of images and banning of the production of icons as reported by later sources represents a return to the spirit of Constantine V 's Council of Hieria of 754. Theophilos was a more committed iconoclast than his father, Michael II , and so their relationship resembles that between Leo III the Isaurian and Constantine V,

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