Constantine had decided in 324 to move…

Constantine had decided in 324 to move the seat of the government from Rome to Byzantium, which he had renamed Nova Roma (New Rome).

This name failed to impress and the city had soon become known as Constantinople, the City of Constantine.

Constantine has greatly enlarged the city, and one of his major undertakings has been the renovation of the Hippodrome.

It is estimated that the Hippodrome of Constantine was about four hundred and fifty meters long and one hundred and thirty meters wide; its stands capable of holding one hundred thousand spectators.

To raise the image of his new capital, Constantine has brought works of art from all over the empire to adorn it, as will his successors.

Among these is the Tripod of Plataea, now known as the Serpent Column, cast to celebrate the victory of the Greeks over the Persians during the Persian Wars in the fifth century BCE.

Constantine orders the Tripod to be moved from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, and set in middle of the Hippodrome.

The top is adorned with a golden bowl supported by three serpent heads.

(The bowl will be destroyed or stolen during the Fourth Crusade.

The serpent heads will be destroyed as late as the end of the seventeenth century, as many Ottoman miniatures show they were intact in the early centuries following the Turkish conquest of the city.

Parts of the heads were recovered and are displayed at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.

All that remains of the Delphi Tripod today is the base, known as the "Serpentine Column".)