The city later became constantinople, in honor of its roman founder. He decided to establish a capital, new rome, which would be christian in nature from the start. He chose the city of byzantium, where we get the word byzantine byzantine civilization. Jonathan harris new edition of the choice outstanding academic title, constantinople, provides an updated and extended introduction to the history of byzantium and its capital city. Renamed constantinople 330 ad and later istanbul 1930, constantinople was the capital of the byzantine and ottoman empires and reigned supreme as the most magnificent city in western. Constantinople en latin constantinopolis, en grec ancien. Constantinople appears as a city of wondrous majesty, beauty, remoteness, and nostalgia in william butler yeats 1928 poem sailing to byzantium. In the 7th century bce, the city of byzantium was built on the european side of the strait of bosporus in what is now modern turkey.
The byzantine empire, also referred to as the eastern roman empire, or byzantium, was the continuation of the roman empire in its eastern provinces during late antiquity and the middle ages, when its capital city was constantinople modern istanbul, formerly byzantium. The result is an accessible and engaging account of a colorful and vital time in human history, and a long overdue look at an aweinspiring city in. Capital of byzantine is the first history of this great empire to properly examine the intriguing interaction between the spiritual and the political, the mythical and the actual. Formerly byzantium, the capital of the byzantine empire as established by its first emperor, constantine the great. What were the advantages for constantine to build his. Constantinople, as seen under the byzantine emperor theodosius ii, makes several onscreen appearances in the 2001 tv miniseries attila as the capital of the eastern roman empire. The 1923 treaty of lausanne formally established the republic of turkey, which moved its capital to ankara. Created as a new rome in byzantium, formerly an ancient greek colony, the capital of the byzantine empire was constantinople.
Constantinople stood as the seat of the byzantine empire for the next. Hundreds of years later, the roman emperor constantine renamed it nova roma new rome. In the early middle ages, the greatest city in europe was not paris, london or berlin but constantinople, capital of byzantium. The cause of the siege was the construction of the fortress sarkel by byzantine engineers, restricting the rus trade route along the don river in favor of the khazars. New rome, former port city of byzantium, was build by constantine i the great as the capital city of the eastern roman empire which later was renamed as constantinople a name that survived until 1923. Constantine i decided to establish a new capital at byzantium called. Accessible and engaging, the book breaks new ground by exploring constantinople s mystical dimensions and examining the relationship between the spiritual and political in the city. Always one of the most stimulating and attractive introductions to. The siege of constantinople of 860 was the only major military expedition of the rus khaganate recorded in byzantine and western european sources. Constantinople capital of byzantium is an excellent introduction to byzantine history taken from the perspective of the history of the city of constantinople as it would have been in the year 1200.
In 324, the ancient city of byzantium became the new capital of the. The byzantine empire was a large and powerful empire that was established in 330 ad by emperor constantine i as an eastern expansion of the roman empire. Byzantium was an old greek colony, established in the 7th century b. Old constantinople, long known informally as istanbul, officially adopted the name in. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the western roman empire in the 5th century ad and continued to exist for an. For one, byzantine power was based on the indisputable virtue of the founding fathers, in particular, constantine.