The Hippodrome of Constantinople, Part 3: The Serpent Column

Hello everyone, I'm Robin Pearson and I'm here to show you what remains of the Hippodrome of Constantinople. In today's video we look at the oldest and most storied monument from the Spina, the Serpent Column. If you haven't yet, check out part one of this series where I introduce the Hippodrome and explain the significance of the Spina. Entering Sultanahmet Square from the north, the first monument you come to is the Obelisk of Theodosius. Just beyond that lies the Serpent Column, or at least what's left of it. It may not look like much but this is an amazing survival. I'm sure you're familiar with the famous war between the Greeks and Persians that took place in the 5th century BC. Yes, that one. Well, after the Greek confederation had driven the Persian army away, they wanted to mark their victory and collectively thank the gods for their support. One of the votive offerings they came up with was a special golden tripod, a sort of cauldron to be dedicated to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Tripods like this were often donated in association with athletic and dramatic competitions. We believe that this special tripod was held up by what we now call the Serpent Column. It was a bronze statue of three intertwined snakes, their bodies wrapping around the structure all the way to its base. Standing about 18 feet high, it would have been an imposing and impressive monument. We're not certain why snakes were chosen but Apollo was associated with them and it may be a reference to his victory over the serpent Python which in mythology ushered in an era of peace, one which the Greeks perhaps hoped to emulate. When the emperor Constantine began his search for suitable images of victory to decorate his new hippodrome, he naturally turned to Delphi, one of the major pagan shrines of the Roman world. There is some debate about whether the snakes were established on the Spina immediately or at a later date but we know that this is a column from Delphi and that it was a fixture in the hippodrome for centuries. The most important evidence for this connection are the inscriptions which line the lower spirals of the column. The names of the 31 Greek city-states who defeated the Persians have been carved onto 11 of the spirals. Above them is the phrase, those who fought the war. At the top are the Spartans, Athenians and Corinthians and then it descends in importance from there. The ravages of time mean it's quite hard today to make out these words but if you look carefully on the sixth coil up, you can see the first few letters of Eretria. It's not just time which makes the inscriptions hard to read. Many historians are convinced that they were not part of the original design. The names of those who fought are unevenly distributed across the coils and the inscriptions are of a poor quality. They're also written in the Phocaean script which was the local dialect of the people of Delphi. All of this suggests that at some later date someone had the idea of inscribing the names into the bronze. At some point during its time in the Hippodrome, the Byzantines decided to turn this hollow sculpture into a fountain with water spurting out of the snake's heads. This was all uncovered in the excavation during the 1850s. Water conduits were found running underground which attached both to the serpent column and the nearby masonry obelisk. You can see a large hole at the base which facilitated this and smaller holes higher up. Apparently someone had the idea of installing water features to various monuments on the spina to add even more spectacle to their grandeur. So what happened to the snake heads? We know that by the year 1700 they had fallen off and thankfully one of the upper jaws was discovered near the and can be seen in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. This gives us some idea of what the heads looked like. Various legends have been left to us about who knocked the heads off but the two most likely explanations are that it was an accident or that time just took its toll. We know that horse riding and ball games continued around the monuments during Ottoman times and witnesses record acrobats scaling the nearby masonry obelisk. The heads could easily have been knocked off by a collision with a careless athlete or perhaps it was just old age. We believe that the coils were all put together in one casting but the heads were added separately. After holding them aloft for over two millennia the bronze welds may simply have given way. Another question is why wasn't this bronze sculpture melted down by the crusaders? When western troops sacked the city in 1204 they carried off various statues and melted others to make coins. Again various theories have been put forward. One suggestion is that its function as a water fountain was deemed too useful to destroy while others look toward the supernatural powers which the Byzantines believed the serpents possessed. The residents of Constantinople had long speculated that various bronze statues were talisman capable of exerting influence over nature. Some accounts say that the serpent column kept poisonous snakes out of the city while others say touching it could cure snake bites. Perhaps the crusaders were persuaded not to tamper with its power. So this is what we're left with. 29 coils standing just over five and a half meters. It doesn't impress visually like its neighbours but it has an amazing story to tell. In our next video we take a look at the neighbouring masonry obelisk and explore other parts of the hippodrome that can still be seen. If you'd like more detailed information on the monuments of the hippodrome then visit thebyzantinelegacy.com. It's a fantastic website providing breakdowns of the Byzantine buildings that can still be seen today and there you'll find most of the still images and sketches used in these videos. If you'd like more information about the chariot races themselves or the famous Nica riots then check out these episodes of the History of Byzantium podcast.