Strategion
forum and market in Constantinople
The Strategion (Greek: τὸ Στρατήγιον) was a public square and market located in Constantinople. The square was the equivalent of 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, or from the victorious generals (Greek: στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί, pr. strategos) who received military honors in this place.
Location
The square was located in the fifth region of Constantinople, in the valley separating the first hill from the second. Based on an account by Pierre Gilles, a French traveler of the 16th century, who claimed to have seen a granite Theban obelisk near the glassmakers' house that stood at the north end of the Topkapı Palace, the Strategion was thought to be located on the north side of sultan's palace. More recent research, based on the surveying of the region by Ernest Mamboury, has set its location at the bottom of the north slope of the first hill of the city, near the Neorion and Prosphorion Harbours along the Golden Horn.
History
The Strategion possibly predated the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, and had an Hellenistic origin. According to one tradition, the square was created by Alexander the Great (r. 336 BC – 323 BC), and was restored by Septimius Severus (r. 193–211) after the destruction of Byzantium. The square was possibly included inside the walled city of Byzantion, and was the first agora of the city.
“Strategion” enters the record as forum and market in Constantinople. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Strategion, forum and market can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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