He had used them to secure his throne but was so scared of them that he wished them eliminated.
He had needed them to secure his throne but was so afraid of them that he really wished them dead.
A second, deeply eroded stone obelisk is known as the Column of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, as an inscription on its base records that the emperor of that name (a.d.913 959) had it restored and sheathed in gilded bronze plates.