Forum of Arcadius

Remains of a late-antique imperial forum with the base of the Column of Arcadius in Istanbul

The Forum of Arcadius was one of the great imperial forums of late-antique Constantinople, built under Emperor Arcadius who ruled from 395 to 408. Located in what is today the Cerrahpaşa district of Istanbul, it followed the model of the Roman imperial forums. Its centrepiece was a monumental victory column with spiral reliefs similar to Trajan's Column in Rome. Almost nothing survives of the forum today; only the base of the column still stands, tucked in a small courtyard, as a quiet reminder of Byzantine urban planning.