Читать книгу Byzantine Constantinople, the walls of the city and adjoining historical sites онлайн
67 страница из 107
Notwithstanding the comparative inferiority of the Outer Wall, it was an important line of defence, for it sheltered the troops which engaged the enemy at close quarters. Both in the siege of 1422,[200] and in that of 1453,[201] the most desperate fighting occurred here.
The Outer Terrace.
Τὸ ἔξω παρατείχιον.[202]
ssss1
The embankment or terrace between the Outer Wall and the Moat is some 61 feet broad. While affording room for the action of troops under cover of the battlement upon the scarp of the Moat,[203] its chief function was to widen the distance between the besiegers and the besieged.
The Moat.
Τάφρος: σοῦδα.[204]
ssss1
The Moat is over 61 feet wide. Its original depth, which doubtless varied with the character of the ground it traversed, cannot be determined until excavations are allowed, for the market-gardens and débris which now occupy it have raised the level of the bed. In front of the Golden Gate, where it was probably always deepest, on account of the importance of that entrance, its depth is still 22 feet. The masonry of the scarp and counterscarp is 5 feet thick, and was supported by buttresses to withstand the pressure of the elevated ground on either side of the Moat. The battlement upon the scarp formed a breastwork about 6-½ feet high.