Gyllius mentions Tekfour Serai under the name of the Palace of Constantine. He also recognizes that there was a Palace of the Magnaura located at the Hebdomon. However, he does not identify these two palaces as the same building. Nor does he use Tekfour Serai as clear evidence for determining the exact site of the Hebdomon. In this respect, Gyllius remains cautious and avoids drawing strong conclusions from the presence of imperial buildings alone.
Du Cange, on the other hand, placed much greater importance on Tekfour Serai. For him, the palace was not just an architectural monument but a key geographical clue. By linking Tekfour Serai with the Palace of the Magnaura, he believed he had found strong support for locating the Hebdomon closer to the city walls than to the actual seventh milestone Du Cange and the Meaning of the Hebdomon.
Why Du Cange Expanded the Meaning of “Hebdomon”
What mainly led Du Cange to apply the term “Hebdomon” to the whole territory stretching from the seventh mile eastward to the city walls was his belief that certain historical statements could only be understood in this broader sense. In his view, if “Hebdomon” meant only a distant milestone, many ancient descriptions of events connected with the suburb would appear unreasonable or even impossible.
Thus, Du Cange argued that the name must have been used not only for a precise point on the road but also for a wider suburban district lying between that point and the city.
The Plain “Adjacent” to the City
One of the main arguments used by Du Cange concerns the description of the plain at the Hebdomon as being “adjacent” to the city. He refers to the Greek word used by ancient writers, which implies closeness or direct proximity. From this, Du Cange concluded that the Campus of the Hebdomon must have touched, or nearly touched, the city itself Sofia Sightseeing Tour.
In his Latin explanation, he stresses that the wording clearly suggests that the plain lay immediately beside the city. If the Hebdomon were truly seven miles away, he argues, such language would be misleading and inaccurate.
The Avar Encampment Near the City
Du Cange strengthens his argument by referring to the account of the Avars during one of their approaches to Constantinople. The sources state that the Avars encamped “at what of the city is named the Hebdomon.” Du Cange asks how an enemy army could lay siege to a city without positioning itself close to the walls.
From this perspective, he reasons that the Hebdomon must have been close enough to the city to allow a besieging army to operate effectively. A site seven miles away, he believes, would not meet the practical requirements of a siege.
Religious Processions and the Problem of Distance
The most powerful argument for Du Cange, however, was not military but religious. Ancient writers describe how, during a severe earthquake, large religious processions walked on foot from the city to the Campus of the Hebdomon to pray for divine mercy.
Du Cange found it very difficult to believe that crowds of clergy and citizens would walk a full seven miles for such a purpose. Given the urgency of the crisis and the physical strain involved, he thought it far more reasonable that the destination lay much closer to the city.
In summary, Du Cange expanded the meaning of “Hebdomon” because he felt that a narrow definition created more problems than it solved. By treating the Hebdomon as a wide suburban zone rather than a single milestone, he believed he could explain descriptions of plains, military camps, and religious processions in a more realistic way. While his reasoning is thoughtful and carefully argued, it also shows how strongly interpretation can be shaped by what a historian considers plausible or implausible.
