Isidore of MiletusMiletus was an ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
(Ισίδωρος ο Μιλήσιος,in
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
) was one of the two
GreekThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
architects (the other being
AnthemiusAnthemius 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...
of
TrallesAydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. It's population is 165,000 in 2007.Aydın is the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River down to the Aegean Sea, a region that has been known for its fertility and productivity since ancient times...
) who designed the church of
Hagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
in
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
(what is today
IstanbulIstanbul is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province...
in Turkey).
The Emperor
Justinian IFlavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus ; AD 483 – 13 or 14 November 565, known in English as Justinian I or Justinian the Great, was the second member of the Justinian Dynasty and Eastern Roman Emperor from 527 until his death...
decided to rebuild the 4th century
basilicaThe Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building , usually located in the forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC.Basilicas were also used for religious purposes...
in Constantinople which was destroyed during the
Nika riotsThe Nika riots , or Nika revolt, took place over the course of a week in Constantinople in 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...
of 532. He employed Isidore of Miletus along with
Anthemius of TrallesAnthemius 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...
.
Isidore of Miletus had earlier taught
physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
in Alexandria, Egypt and then later at
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
, and had written a commentary on earlier books on building.
Isidore of MiletusMiletus was an ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
(Ισίδωρος ο Μιλήσιος,in
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
) was one of the two
GreekThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
architects (the other being
AnthemiusAnthemius 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...
of
TrallesAydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. It's population is 165,000 in 2007.Aydın is the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River down to the Aegean Sea, a region that has been known for its fertility and productivity since ancient times...
) who designed the church of
Hagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
in
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
(what is today
IstanbulIstanbul is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province...
in Turkey).
The Emperor
Justinian IFlavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus ; AD 483 – 13 or 14 November 565, known in English as Justinian I or Justinian the Great, was the second member of the Justinian Dynasty and Eastern Roman Emperor from 527 until his death...
decided to rebuild the 4th century
basilicaThe Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building , usually located in the forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC.Basilicas were also used for religious purposes...
in Constantinople which was destroyed during the
Nika riotsThe Nika riots , or Nika revolt, took place over the course of a week in Constantinople in 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...
of 532. He employed Isidore of Miletus along with
Anthemius of TrallesAnthemius 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...
.
Isidore of Miletus had earlier taught
physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
in Alexandria, Egypt and then later at
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
, and had written a commentary on earlier books on building. He had also collected and publicized the writings of Eutocius, which were commentaries on the mathematics of
ArchimedesArchimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity...
and
ApolloniusApollonius may be:Historical people:* Apollonius Cronus , philosopher of the Megarian school* Apollonius of Rhodes , librarian and poet...
, and consequently helped to revive interest in their works. Through this act, these most important of writings have been preserved and passed on to future generations. Furthermore, he was also an able mathematician, to him we owe the T-square and string construction of a parabola and possibly also the apocryphal Book XV of
Euclid's ElementsEuclid's Elements is a mathematical and geometric treatise consisting of 13 books written by the Greek mathematician Euclid in Alexandria circa 300 BC. It comprises a collection of definitions, postulates , propositions , and mathematical proofs of the propositions...
.