This chapter explains why Justinian’s equestrian monument survived the devastating pillaging of Constantinople in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade. While numerous other statues perished or were shipped off as spolia from Latin-occupied Constantinople (1204–61), this imperial monument remained virtually unmolested and its stature and prominence further increased. Why was it that this great monument was singled out by the Latins for preservation? The short answer is simple – it became useful to Crusading ideology. Crusaders transformed the rider’s identity and remade him into the emperor Heraclius, who had become the great hero of the Crusading movement. By beholding in the bronze horseman their hallowed forefather, the occupiers were able to invest in the statue’s preservation. The process of reattribution unfolded between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. Three texts highlight key moments in the monument’s reorientation: an eleventh-century Latin narrative dedicated to the mirabilia of Constantinople by the Anonymous of Tarragona, the twelfth-century romance Eracleof Gautier d’Arras, and the narrative of the Fourth Crusade penned by Robert de Clari.