CONSTANTINOPLE. 
Hippodrome, the public cisterns, the sarcophagi, &c. 
we may form a tolerable estimate of the taste 
of the Turks in this respect. It will appear 
afterwards, that the regalia, the imperial ar- 
moury, and many other works of magnificence 
and of utility, were likewise preserved. In 
the sacking of a city, when all things are 
left to promiscuous pillage, a scene of ruin 
and desolation must necessarily ensue ; and, 
under similar circumstances of previous pro- 
vocation and of subsequent opportunity, it 
is not to be believed that the Greeks would 
have been more scrupulous than their con- 
querors. The first employment of Mohammed, 
when those disorders had subsided, was not 
merely the preservation, but the actual improve- 
ment of the city : of this a striking example is 
related by Gijllius, who, speaking of the Forum 
of Taurus, says, that owing to its being grown 
over with wood, and affording a shelter for 
thieves, Mohammed granted the spot to those 
who were willing to build upon it^ The same 
author also mentions, that, among other instances 
of Mohammed's munificence, the largest baths in 
the city were by him erected ; one for the use 
of men, and the other for women'': neither is it 
(S) Gyllius de Topog. Constant, lib. in. o. fi. 
(4) Ibid. lib. iv. c. 2. 
