isidore of miletus () was one of the two main byzantine greek architects (anthemius of tralles was the other) that emperor justinian i commissioned to design the church of hagia sophia in constantinople from 532-537 a.d. ==summary== isidore of miletus was a renowned scientist and mathematician before emperor justinian i hired him, âisidorus taught stereometry and physics at the universities, first of alexandria then of constantinople, and wrote a commentary on an older treatise on vaulting.âkrautheimer,page 215 isidore is also renowned for producing the first comprehensive compilation of archimedes work. 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 360 a.d. and remodelled from 404 a.d. to 415 a.d., but had been damaged in 532 a.d. in the course of the nika riot, âthe 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 porticoes that lead to the forum that is named after constantine, houses of prosperous people, and a great deal of other properties.âprokopios, page 138 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.prokopios, page 144 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, âhe 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.âmango, page 78 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, âjustinian 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.âwatkin, page 76 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 labourers and unprecedented loads of rare raw materials from around the roman empire to create the hagia sophia for emperor justinian i. the finished pr
6th-century_Byzantine_people Byzantine_architects