Hippodrome of Constantinople 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" ("Sultan Ahmet Square") in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with a few fragments of the original structure surviving. The word "hippodrome" comes from the Greek "hippos" (), horse, and "dromos" (δρόμος), path or way. For this reason, it is sometimes also called "Atmeydanı" ("Horse Square") in Turkish. Horse racing and chariot racing were popular pastimes in the ancient world and hippodromes were common features of Greek cities
The Meaning of the City The Meaning of the City The Meaning of the City is a theological essay by Jacques Ellul which recounts the story of the city in the Bible and seeks to explain the city's biblical significance. Ellul wrote the book in 1951; it was published in English translation in 1970, and then in French in 1975 as "Sans feu ni lieu : Signification biblique de la Grande Ville". Where is the city's foundation? All mythologies speak of an original garden, returning to which is man's only desire. The city is the world of man: his creation (made in his image) and