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‘This Fortunate City’: Constantinople Considered as Talisman, Part I

What remains of the colossal statue of Constantine from the Old Rome, now in the Palatine Museum, to whom thanks

This is a special podcast episode for SHWEP members only

Following on from the discussion of esoteric architecture in our Hagia Sophia episode, we survey some of the evidence for the lore about talismanic Constantinople as she was held to be by her own denizens. Constantine’s city was full of statues, both grand and humble; it was quickly understood, by Constantinopolitans, that these were in fact various talismans protecting the city from things like mosquitoes and rambunctious horses.It was also quickly understaood that thee wonders were set up by none other than the great authority on talismans, Apollonios of Tyana (who had been dead for centuries).

She was also founded as a purpose-built capital for the eastern empire; surely one would not undertake such a momentous foundation without consulting the best diviners available? We survey the evidence for belief in the katarchic horoscope of Constantinople, and its association with the great authority, Vettius Valens (who had also been dead for centuries).

Works Cited in this Episode:

Primary:

The Parastaseis: fifteen chapters discuss statues in relation to prophecies, portents, or astronomy/astrology: 27, 5a, 5d, 8, 16, 20, 21, 28, 40, 41, 54, 61, 64, 65, 69 (reference from Benjamin Anderson. Classified Knowledge: The Epistemology of Statuary in the Parastaseis Syntomoi Chronikai. Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 35:1–19, 2011., p. 6). The reference to Constantine’s visions having occurred at Constantinople is also from this article, p. 13.

Manuel Komnenos to Michæl Glykas on astrology: see Imperatoris Manuel Comneni et Michael Glycæ disputatio in Franz Cumont et al., editors. Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum, volume 12 vols. in 20 parts. Lamertin, Brussels, 1898–1953, V.1, 108–25 for Manuel’s letter, 125–40 for Glykas’ reply.

Secondary:

Albrecht Berger. Das apokalyptische Konstantinopel. Topographisches in apokalyptischen Schriften der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit. In Wolfram Brandes and Felicitas Schmieder, editors, Endzeiten. Eschatologie in den monotheistischen Weltreligionen, number 16 in Millennium-Studien, pages 135–55. De Gruyter, Berlin/New York, NY, 2008. We quote p. 148. The original German: ‘Apollonios von Tyana spielt in der Konstantinopler Lokalsage schon seit den sechsten Jahrhundert eine gewisse Rolle als angeblicher Urheber von Zauberstatuen, durch die allerlei Unheil von der Stadt ferngehalten werden konnte, und als solcher tritt er auch noch in den Patria auf. Apollonios lebte tatsächlich im ersten Jahrhundert nach Christus, wird aber von einigen Quellen kurzerhand in die Zeit Konstantins des Großen versetzt, um sein Wirken in Konstantinopel plausibler zu machen.’

Averil Cameron and Judith Herrin, editors. Constantinople in the Early Eighth Century: The Parastaseis Syntomoi Chronikai. Introduction, Translation and Commentary. Brill, Leiden, 1984; we quote pp. 36-7.

Gilbert Dagron. Constantinople imaginaire. Études sur le recueil des Patria. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1984; we quote pp. 107. On Apollonios’ many talismans, see pp. 107–14.

Dorian Greenbaum. The Origins of Questions in Astrology. In Luís Campos Ribeiro and Charles Burnett, editors, Astrologers at Work: Essays on the Practices and Techniques of Astrology in Memory of Helena Avelar, pages 1–58. Brill, Leiden/Boston, MA, 2026.

Stephan Heilen. Ancient Scholars on the Horoscope of Rome. Culture and Cosmos, 11:43–86, 2007.

Paul Magdalino. Occult Science and Imperial Power in Byzantine History and Historiography (9th-12th Centuries). In Paul Magdalino and Maria Mavroudi, editors, The Occult Sciences in Byzantium, pages 119–62. La Pomme d’Or, Geneva, 2006.

Comments

Travis Wade ZINN
January 12, 2026

This episode opens a line of inquiry I would be very interested to see pursued further. If Constantinople can be approached as a talismanic city, it raises the broader question of Christian capitals as architectures of metaphysical management, not merely symbolic or devotional environments.

What seems especially compelling is the possibility that such cities were designed as multipurpose spaces: capable of stabilizing power and containing inherited religious forces, while also preserving initiatic grammars legible only to a minority of readers. In this light, architecture and statuary do not simply instruct or commemorate; they regulate access—binding certain meanings while leaving others latent.

This perspective naturally invites comparison with Rome and the Vatican, where the continuity of form, reuse of pre-Christian material, and choreographed spatial sequences suggest a long memory of metaphysical technique rather than accidental survival. I would be very interested in your thoughts on whether the category of the “talismanic city” can be extended in this direction—and, if so, which sources you would recommend for studying esoteric architecture and initiation at the urban scale.

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