Isidore of Miletus
Encyclopedia
Isidore of Miletus was one of the two main Byzantine
architect
s (Anthemius of Tralles
was the other) that Emperor Justinian I
commissioned to design the church of Hagia Sophia
in Constantinople
from 532-537A.D.
and mathematician
before Emperor Justinian I hired him, “Isidorus taught stereometry and physics
at the universities, first of Alexandria
then of Constantinople, and wrote a commentary on an older treatise on vaulting.” Emperor Justinian I appointed his architects to rebuild the Hagia Sophia following his victory over protesters within the capital city of his Roman Empire
, Constantinople. The first basilica
was completed in 360A.D. and remodeled from 404A.D. to 415A.D., but had been damaged in 532A.D. in the course of the Nika Riot
, “The temple of Sophia, the baths of Zeuxippus
, and the imperial courtyard from the Propylaia all the way to the so-called House of Ares were burned up and destroyed, as were both of the great porticos that lead to the forum that is named after Constantine, houses of prosperous people, and a great deal of other properties.” The warring factions of Byzantine society, the Blues and the Greens, opposed each other in the chariot races
at the Hippodrome
and often resorted to violence. During the Nika Riot, more than thirty thousand people died. Emperor Justinian I ensured that his new structure would not be burned down, like its predecessors, by commissioning architects that would build the church mainly out of stone, rather than wood, “He compacted it of baked brick and mortar, and in many places bound it together with iron, but made no use of wood, so that the church should no longer prove combustible.”
Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles originally planned on a main hall of the Hagia Sophia that measured 230 feet by 250 feet, making it the largest church in Constantinople, but the original dome was nearly 20 feet lower than it was constructed, “Justinian suppressed these riots and took the opportunity of marking his victory by erecting in 532-7 the new Hagia Sophia, one of the largest, most lavish, and most expensive buildings of all time.” Although Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles were not formally educated in architecture
, they were scientists that could organize the logistics of drawing thousands of laborer
s and unprecedented loads of rare raw material
s from around the Roman Empire to create the Hagia Sophia for Emperor Justinian I. The finished product was built in admirable form for the Roman Emperor, “All of these elements marvelously fitted together in mid-air, suspended from one another and reposing only on the parts adjacent to them, produce a unified and most remarkable harmony in the work, and yet do not allow the spectators to rest their gaze upon any one of them for a length of time.”
s of the Marmara Region
, “However, in May 558, little more than 20 years after the Church’s dedication, following the earthquakes of August 553 and December 557
, parts of the central dome and its supporting structure system collapsed.” The Hagia Sophia was repeatedly cracked by earthquakes and was quickly repaired. Isidore of Miletus’ nephew, Isidore the Younger, introduced the new dome design that can be viewed in the Hagia Sophia in present day Istanbul
, Turkey
.
After a great earthquake in 989 ruined the dome of Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine officials summoned Trdat the Architect to Byzantium to organize repairs. The restored dome was completed by 994.[8]
Krautheimer, Richard. Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture. (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1965).
Mango, Cyril A. The Art of the Byzantine Empire, 312-1453: Sources and Documents. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972).
Prokopios, and Anthony Kaldellis. The Secret History: With Related Texts. (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2010).
Watkin, David. A History of Western Architecture. (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986).
Maranci, Christina. "The Architect Trdat: Building Practices and Cross-Cultural Exchange in Byzantium and Armenia." The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. Vol. 62, No. 3, Sep. 2003, pp. 294-305.
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
s (Anthemius of Tralles
Anthemius of Tralles
Anthemius of Tralles was a Greek professor of Geometry in Constantinople and architect, who collaborated with Isidore of Miletus to build the church of Hagia Sophia by the order of Justinian I. Anthemius came from an educated family, one of five sons of Stephanus of Tralles, a physician...
was the other) that Emperor Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
commissioned to design the church of Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
from 532-537A.D.
Summary
Isidore of Miletus was a renowned scientistScientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
and mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
before Emperor Justinian I hired him, “Isidorus taught stereometry and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
at the universities, first of Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
then of Constantinople, and wrote a commentary on an older treatise on vaulting.” Emperor Justinian I appointed his architects to rebuild the Hagia Sophia following his victory over protesters within the capital city of his Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, Constantinople. The first basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
was completed in 360A.D. and remodeled from 404A.D. to 415A.D., but had been damaged in 532A.D. in the course of the Nika Riot
Nika riots
The Nika riots , or Nika revolt, took place over the course of a week in Constantinople in AD 532. It was the most violent riot that Constantinople had ever seen to that point, with nearly half the city being burned or destroyed and tens of thousands of people killed.-Background:The ancient Roman...
, “The temple of Sophia, the baths of Zeuxippus
Baths of Zeuxippus
The Baths of Zeuxippus were popular public baths in the city of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. They were built between 100 to 200, destroyed by the Nika revolt of 532 and then rebuilt several years later. They were so called because they were built upon the site where a Temple...
, and the imperial courtyard from the Propylaia all the way to the so-called House of Ares were burned up and destroyed, as were both of the great porticos that lead to the forum that is named after Constantine, houses of prosperous people, and a great deal of other properties.” The warring factions of Byzantine society, the Blues and the Greens, opposed each other in the chariot races
Chariot racing
Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine sports. Chariot racing was often dangerous to both driver and horse as they frequently suffered serious injury and even death, but generated strong spectator enthusiasm...
at the Hippodrome
Hippodrome of Constantinople
The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with only a few fragments of the original structure surviving...
and often resorted to violence. During the Nika Riot, more than thirty thousand people died. Emperor Justinian I ensured that his new structure would not be burned down, like its predecessors, by commissioning architects that would build the church mainly out of stone, rather than wood, “He compacted it of baked brick and mortar, and in many places bound it together with iron, but made no use of wood, so that the church should no longer prove combustible.”
Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles originally planned on a main hall of the Hagia Sophia that measured 230 feet by 250 feet, making it the largest church in Constantinople, but the original dome was nearly 20 feet lower than it was constructed, “Justinian suppressed these riots and took the opportunity of marking his victory by erecting in 532-7 the new Hagia Sophia, one of the largest, most lavish, and most expensive buildings of all time.” Although Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles were not formally educated in architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, they were scientists that could organize the logistics of drawing thousands of laborer
Laborer
A Laborer or labourer - see variation in english spelling - is one of the construction trades, traditionally considered unskilled manual labor, as opposed to skilled labor. In the division of labor, laborers have all blasting, hand tools, power tools, air tools, and small heavy equipment, and act...
s and unprecedented loads of rare raw material
Raw material
A raw material or feedstock is the basic material from which a product is manufactured or made, frequently used with an extended meaning. For example, the term is used to denote material that came from nature and is in an unprocessed or minimally processed state. Latex, iron ore, logs, and crude...
s from around the Roman Empire to create the Hagia Sophia for Emperor Justinian I. The finished product was built in admirable form for the Roman Emperor, “All of these elements marvelously fitted together in mid-air, suspended from one another and reposing only on the parts adjacent to them, produce a unified and most remarkable harmony in the work, and yet do not allow the spectators to rest their gaze upon any one of them for a length of time.”
Conclusion
The Hagia Sophia architects innovatively combined the longitudinal structure of a Roman basilica and the central plan of a drum-supported dome, in order to withstand the high magnitude earthquakeEarthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
s of the Marmara Region
Marmara Region
The Marmara Region , with a surface area of 67.000 km², is the smallest but most densely populated of the seven geographical regions of Turkey...
, “However, in May 558, little more than 20 years after the Church’s dedication, following the earthquakes of August 553 and December 557
557 Constantinople earthquake
The 557 Constantinople earthquake occurred at night on 14 December. This great earthquake caused much damage to Constantinople. The event is described by Agathias, John Malalas and Theophanes the Confessor. - Prior events :...
, parts of the central dome and its supporting structure system collapsed.” The Hagia Sophia was repeatedly cracked by earthquakes and was quickly repaired. Isidore of Miletus’ nephew, Isidore the Younger, introduced the new dome design that can be viewed in the Hagia Sophia in present day Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
After a great earthquake in 989 ruined the dome of Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine officials summoned Trdat the Architect to Byzantium to organize repairs. The restored dome was completed by 994.[8]
Sources
Cakmak, AS, RM Taylor, and E Durukal. "The Structural Configuration of the First Dome of Justinian's Hagia Sophia (AD 537-558): An Investigation Based on Structural and Literary Analysis." Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 29.4 (2009): 693-698.Krautheimer, Richard. Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture. (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1965).
Mango, Cyril A. The Art of the Byzantine Empire, 312-1453: Sources and Documents. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972).
Prokopios, and Anthony Kaldellis. The Secret History: With Related Texts. (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2010).
Watkin, David. A History of Western Architecture. (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986).
Maranci, Christina. "The Architect Trdat: Building Practices and Cross-Cultural Exchange in Byzantium and Armenia." The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. Vol. 62, No. 3, Sep. 2003, pp. 294-305.