# Strategion

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{{Short description|Public square in Constantinople}}
[[File:Byzantine Constantinople-en.png|thumb|Map of Byzantine Constantinople. The Strategion was located at the northern end of the fifth region, near the [Golden Horn](/source/Golden_Horn), to the southwest of today's [Sirkeci](/source/Sirkeci).]]
The '''Strategion''' ({{langx|el|τὸ Στρατήγιον}}) was a public square and market located in [Constantinople](/source/Constantinople). The square was the equivalent of [Campus Martius](/source/Campus_Martius) for Rome, while the market was one of the most important of the city.

==Origin of the name==
The name possibly comes from the military exercises which took place there, akin to those in Rome's [Campus Martius](/source/Campus_Martius),<ref name=ja19>Janin (1950) p. 19</ref><ref name=ja396>Janin (1950) p. 396</ref> or from the victorious generals ({{langx|el|στρατηγός, {{Plural form|στρατηγοί}}}}, pr. strategos) who received military honors in this place.<ref name=ja396/>

==Location==
The square was located in the [fifth region of Constantinople](/source/14_regions_of_Constantinople), in the valley separating the first hill from the second.<ref name=ja19/> Based on an account by [Pierre Gilles](/source/Pierre_Gilles), a French traveler of the 16th century, who claimed to have seen a [granite](/source/granite) [Theban](/source/Thebes%2C_Egypt) [obelisk](/source/obelisk) near the [glassmaker](/source/glassmaker)s' house that stood at the north end of the [Topkapı Palace](/source/Topkap%C4%B1_Palace), the Strategion was thought to be located on the north side of sultan's palace.<ref name=west12/><ref name=ma66>Mamboury (1953) p. 66</ref> More recent research, based on the [surveying](/source/surveying) of the region by [Ernest Mamboury](/source/Ernest_Mamboury), has set its location at the bottom of the north slope of the [first hill of the city](/source/seven_hills_of_Istanbul), near the [Neorion](/source/Neorion_Harbour) and [Prosphorion Harbour](/source/Prosphorion_Harbour)s along the [Golden Horn](/source/Golden_Horn).<ref name=west3>Westbrook (2013), p. 3</ref>

==History==
The Strategion possibly predated the foundation of [Constantinople](/source/Constantinople) in 330 AD, and had an [Hellenistic](/source/Hellenistic_period) origin.<ref name=west5>Westbrook (2013), p. 5</ref> According to one tradition, the square was created by [Alexander the Great](/source/Alexander_the_Great) ({{Reign|336 BC|323 BC}}),<ref name=west5/> and was restored by [Septimius Severus](/source/Septimius_Severus) ({{Reign|193|211}})  after the destruction of [Byzantium](/source/Byzantium).<ref name=ja23>Janin (1950) p. 23</ref> The square was possibly included inside the walled city of [Byzantion](/source/Byzantion), and was the first ''[agora](/source/agora)'' of the city. People coming from the sea met the Strategion as soon as they entered the [city walls](/source/Walls_of_Constantinople), after crossing the gate of Eugenius ({{langx|tr|Yalıköşkü kapısı}}).<ref name=west7>Westbrook (2013), p. 7</ref> The Strategion could also be accessed from land, after crossing the gate of Urbicius.<ref name=west7/>

Originally conceived as a [military parade](/source/military_parade) ground, it was turned into a public square by [Constantine](/source/Constantine_the_Great) ({{Reign|306|337}}),<ref name=west5/> and renewed by [Theodosius I](/source/Theodosius_I) ({{Reign|379|395}}), who possibly transformed its representative part into a [forum](/source/Forum_(Roman)) and gained a market in a smaller section.<ref name=man192>Mango (2000), p. 192</ref> Over time, the importance of the Strategion as a representative center diminished, and in the eleventh century the square had become only a large marketplace.<ref name=west10-11>Westbrook (2013), p. 10-11</ref>

==Description==

About its layout not much is known, but it was possibly rectangular, like those of other [Hellenistic](/source/Hellenistic_art) foundations, like [Miletus](/source/Miletus), [Priene](/source/Priene) and [Palmyra](/source/Palmyra).<ref name=west9>Westbrook (2013), p. 9</ref> The Strategion was divided in two zones, with different functions: a larger one ("mega strategion"), devoted to representative duties, and a smaller one ("mikron strategion"), commercial.<ref name=west4>Westbrook (2013), p. 4</ref>  The structure was adjacent to two small harbors lying along the south shore of the [Golden Horn](/source/Golden_Horn): the [Neorion](/source/Neorion_Harbour), which connected the city with the suburb of [Sykae](/source/Sykae), on the northern shore of the gulf, and the [Prosphorion](/source/Prosphorion_Harbour), which was the terminal of the sea traffic with [Chalcedon](/source/Chalcedon), on the Asian shore.<ref name=west4-5>Westbrook (2013), p. 4-5</ref>

Its original military function is confirmed by several military monuments in its premises: a statue of [Constantine the Great](/source/Constantine_the_Great), another of [Emperor](/source/List_of_Byzantine_emperors) [Leo I](/source/Leo_I_(emperor)) ({{Reign|457|474}}) erected in the ''mikron'' strategion, a bronze [tripod](/source/tripod) and a statue of the [Fortuna](/source/Fortuna) goddess bearing a [cornucopia](/source/cornucopia) over an [arch](/source/arch).<ref name=west6>Westbrook (2013), p. 6</ref> Near the statue of Constantine lay a stone [obelisk](/source/obelisk) bearing an inscription where the Emperor proclaims the city as the [new Rome](/source/new_Rome).<ref name=west5/> According to a tradition, a statue of Alexander the Great, originally erected by his soldiers in [Chrysopolis](/source/%C3%9Csk%C3%BCdar) to thank him for having received double salary, stood on the square after being moved there by Constantine.<ref name=ja396/><ref name=west5/> 

A sculpture group called ''pelargos'' ({{langx|el|Πελαργός}}, "[stork](/source/stork)" in Greek), representing three storks facing each other, and carved by [Apollonius of Tyana](/source/Apollonius_of_Tyana), was erected at the Strategion. The group was displayed there to ward off the storks, because the birds used to drop the remains of caught snakes in the nearby water cisterns, polluting the water.<ref name=ja105-106>Janin (1950) p. 105-106</ref>

The forum had also a representational function: when the emperor landed at one of the two harbors, and wanted to climb the hill to go to the [Hagia Sophia](/source/Hagia_Sophia) and the [great Palace](/source/great_Palace), entering the city through one of the two gates cited above, the [senators](/source/byzantine_Senate) with the [Eparch](/source/Eparch) greeted him at the Strategion, offering him crowns.<ref name=west8>Westbrook (2013), p. 8</ref> The forum was also the arrival point of imperial processions: in fact the Emperor, standing on top of a [chariot](/source/chariot) and accompanied by a mounted escort, descended regularly from its palace to the Strategion to inspect the grain depots.<ref name=west10>Westbrook (2013), p. 10</ref> During one of these processions, Emperor [Theodosius II](/source/Theodosius_II) ({{Reign|402|450}})  was attacked with stones by a hungry mob because of lack of bread.<ref name=west10/>

The most important function of the Strategion was the commercial one: along the square lay four warehouses: the ''horrea olearia'' and the ''horrea troadensia'', ''valentiaca'' and ''costantiaca'', respectively oil (the first) and wheat (the latter three) depots, whose content fed the population of the city.<ref name=man198>Mango (2000), p. 198</ref><ref name=west11>Westbrook (2013), p. 11</ref>  In the square converged several arcaded roads ({{langx|el|Ἔμβολος, pl. Ἔμβολοι}} pr. embolos) devoted to commerce.<ref name=west16>Westbrook (2013), p. 16</ref> Moreover, the square hosted two markets ({{langx|la|macellum, pl. macella}}), devoted to meat and fish:<ref name=man198/><ref name=west12>Westbrook (2013), p. 12</ref> butchers came there to buy livestock [branded](/source/Livestock_branding) for sale by the ''[Praefectus urbi](/source/Praefectus_urbi)'', and until the beginning of [Lent](/source/Lent) merchants of sheep were allowed to sell there their animals, while from [Easter](/source/Easter) until [Ascension](/source/Ascension_of_Jesus) lambs were sold at the ''[Forum Tauri](/source/Forum_Tauri)''.<ref name=ja96>Janin (1950) p. 96</ref>

Along or near the Strategion lay the churches of the [Theotokos](/source/Theotokos), built by the ''[strategos](/source/strategos)'' [Urbicius](/source/Urbicius_(eunuch)),<ref name=west11/> [Aghios Epiphanios](/source/Epiphanius_of_Salamis), [Aghios Philemon](/source/Philemon_(biblical_figure)), which contained chapels dedicated to [Aghios Anastasion of Persia](/source/Anastasius_of_Persia) and Aghios Sabas,  a [martyrion](/source/martyrion) dedicated to Aghios Photios and Aniketos, and Aghios Andreas.<ref name=west11/><ref name=ja48>Janin (1950) p. 48</ref> Also one of the most important baths of the city, the Baths of Achilles, lay in its immediate vicinity.<ref name=west11/> Near the Strategion lay also the city's first prison, predating Constantine's reign and abandoned because of its filthy conditions by [Phocas](/source/Phocas) ({{Reign|602|610}}) .<ref name=ja166>Janin (1950) p. 166</ref>

==Notes==
<references />

== Sources==
*{{cite book 
 | last=Janin
 | first= Raymond
 | authorlink=Raymond Janin
 | title=Constantinople Byzantine
 | publisher=Institut Français d'Etudes Byzantines
 | location=Paris
 | language=French
 | year=1950
}}
*{{cite book
 | last=Mamboury
 | first= Ernest
 | authorlink=Ernest Mamboury
 | title=The Tourists' Istanbul
 | publisher=Çituri Biraderler Basımevi
 | location=Istanbul
 | year=1953
}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Mango|first=Marlia Mundell|date=2000|title=The Commercial Map of Constantinople|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291839|journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers|volume=54|pages=189–207|doi=10.2307/1291839|jstor=1291839|via=|access-date=26 April 2024|url-access=subscription}}
*{{Cite journal|author=Nigel Westbrook|title=Notes towards the reconstruction of the Forum of the Strategion and its Related Roads in Early Byzantine Constantinople|issue=January 2013|journal=Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association|volume=9|year=2013|pages=9–46|doi=10.35253/JAEMA.2013.1.1|access-date=26 April 2024|institution=University of Western Australia|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271409886}}
{{Public spaces of Constantinople}}

Category:Byzantine secular architecture
Category:Fora of Constantinople

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Strategion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategion) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategion?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.