The forests that overshadowed the shores of the Euxine, and
the celebrated quarries of white marble in the little
island of Proconnesus, supplied an inexhaustible stock of
materials ready to be conveyed by the convenience of a short
water carriage to the harbour of Byzantium. A multitude of
labourers and artificers urged the conclusion of the work
with incessant toil, but the impatience of Constantine soon
discovered that in the decline of the arts the skill as well
as the number of his architects bore a very unequal
proportion to the greatness of his design.... The buildings
of the new city were executed by such artificers as the age
of Constantine could afford, but they were decorated by the
hands of the most celebrated masters of the age of Pericles
and Alexander.... By Constantine's command the cities of
Greece and Asia were despoiled of their most valuable
ornaments. The trophies of memorable wars, the objects of
religious veneration, the most finished statues of the gods
and heroes, of the sages and poets of ancient times,
contributed to the splendid triumph of Constantinople.
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