Constantine had come to know and admire Empress Prisca during his stay in Nicomedia. Her daughter, Valeria, wife of the Caesar of the East, he had not seen before, since Galerius held court for the most part at Sirmium near the Danube frontier. When he was called a few days later to escort the Empress and her daughter to the games and then into the city, he took a small contingent of men to the palace courtyard where two chairs waited, borne by husky Nubian slaves Diocletian had imported from Egypt.
Constantine found little excitement
After the carnage he had witnessed along the path of retreat by Galerius’ army, Constantine found little excitement in the gladiatorial games of Antioch. The circular arena in the center of the stadium was surrounded by a metal fence, in order to protect the spectators from the animals during the venatio, or wild beast hunt, a frequent part of such spectacles. Above the arena rose tiers of seats, the first fifteen rows, called the cavea, enclosed by walls and reached by special corridors, or vomitoria, so the nobility, members of the Equestrian Order and highlyplaced civil and military officials occupying them need not mix with the masses in reaching their places.
Directly above the arena were several thronelike seats, reserved for the Emperor and his party when he attended the games. The royal visitors were ushered to their seats by the editor, who financed and staged the performances. A murmur of interest and some applause rose from the crowd when they saw the Empress and the wife of Caesar Galerius, but it was drowned out quickly by the cries of hawkers selling sweetened beverages, pastries, sweetmeats, small skins of wine and cushions for the hard stone seats.
It was midafternoon before the games were over, but Empress Prisca and her daughter were not yet ready to return to the palace. Instead, the chairs and their guards proceeded to the older section of the city, some distance from the insula with its magnificent public structures. Before a building located on a shabby street not far from the river, the chairs stopped at the order of the Empress and were lowered to the ground.
“There are no shops in this area, Domina,” Constantine protested, when both Prisca and Lady Valeria stepped down to the stone paved street.
“The Bishop of Antioch dwells here and his congregation uses the building for a meeting place,” Prisca explained.
“Christians!”
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