The Column of Constantine: Pandemic and Prophecy in Constantinople

In 542 AD, as the Plague of Justinian ravaged Constantinople, something unusual happened at the Forum of Constantine. A mysterious inscription on the emperor's column supposedly began to foretell the city's fate, sparking rumors of a hidden talisman buried beneath its base. This episode follows the intertwining stories of the Plague of Justinian, the Column of Constantine, and the Byzantine obsession with prophecy and protection. We explore the column's construction in 330 AD, its role as the city's Palladium—a sacred relic that guaranteed imperial safety—and the legend of the Palladium of Troy supposedly hidden beneath it. Procopius and other chroniclers describe how the plague reshaped daily life, while the column survived earthquakes, fires, and the Latin conquest. We also discuss the later Ottoman interpretation of the column as a talisman and its eventual fate in the 18th century. Along the way, we touch on the Hippodrome's role in plague-era rituals, the Theodosian Walls as a barrier against both invaders and disease, and the eerie parallels between Byzantine responses to plague and modern ones.

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