Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BYZANTIUM
Legend tells us that the city of Byzantium was founded around 667 BC by a group of col-
onists from Megara, northwest of Athens. It was named after their leader, Byzas.
The new colony quickly prospered, largely due to its ability to levy tolls and harbour
fees on ships passing through the Bosphorus, then as now an important waterway. A thriv-
ing marketplace was established and the inhabitants lived on traded goods and the abundant
fish stocks in the surrounding waters.
In 512 BC Darius, emperor of Persia, captured the city during his campaign against the
Scythians. Following the retreat of the Persians in 478 BC, the town came under the influ-
ence and protection of Athens and joined the Athenian League. Though a turbulent rela-
tionship, it stayed under Athenian rule until 355 BC, when it gained independence.
By the end of the Hellenistic period, Byzantium had formed an alliance with the Roman
Empire. It retained its status as a free state, and kept this even after being officially incor-
porated into the Roman Empire in AD 79 by Vespasian. Life was relatively uneventful until
the city's leaders made a big mistake: they picked the wrong side in a Roman war of suc-
cession following the death of the Emperor Pertinax in AD 193. When Septimius Severus
emerged victorious over his rival Pescennius Niger, he mounted a three-year siege of the
city, eventually massacring Byzantium's citizens, razing its walls and burning it to the
ground. Ancient Byzantium was no more.
The new emperor was aware of the city's important strategic position, and he soon set
about rebuilding it. He pardoned the remaining citizens and built a circuit of walls enclos-
ing a city twice the size of its predecessor. The Hippodrome was built by Severus, as was a
colonnaded way that followed the present path of Divan Yolu. Severus named his new city
Augusta Antonina and it was subsequently ruled by a succession of emperors, including the
great Diocletian (r 284-305).
The name İstanbul probably derives from
'eis ten polin'
(Greek for 'to the city'). Though
the Turks kept the name Constantinople after the Conquest, they also used other
names, including İstanbul and Dersaadet (City of Peace and/or Happiness). The
city's name was oicially changed to İstanbul by Atatürk in the early republican
years.
