Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CONSTANTINOPLE
Diocletian had decreed that after his retirement, the government of the Roman Empire
should be overseen by co-emperors Galerius in the east (Augusta Antonina) and Con-
stantine in the west (Rome). This resulted in a civil war, which was won by Constantine in
AD 324 when he defeated Licinius, Galerius' successor, at Chrysopolis (the present-day
suburb of Üsküdar).
With his victory, Constantine (r 324-37) became sole emperor of a reunited empire. He
also became the first Christian emperor, though he didn't formally convert until he was on
his deathbed. To solidify his power he summoned the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea
(İznik) in 325, which established the precedent of the emperor's supremacy in church af-
fairs.
Constantine also decided to move the capital of the empire to the shores of the Bosphor-
us, where he had forged his great victory and where the line between the Eastern and
Western divisions of the Empire had previously been drawn. He built a new, wider circle of
walls around the site of Byzantium and laid out a magnificent city within. The Hippodrome
was extended and a forum was built on the crest of the second hill, near today's Nuruos-
maniye Mosque. The city was dedicated on 11 May 330 as New Rome, but soon came to
be called Constantinople.
Constantine died in 337, just seven years after the dedication of his new capital. His em-
pire was divided up between his three sons: Constantius, Constantien and Constans. Con-
stantinople was part of Constantius' share. His power base was greatly increased in 353
when he overthrew both of his brothers and brought the empire under his sole control.
Constantius died in 361 and was succeeded by his cousin Julian. Emperor Jovian was
next, succeeded by Valens (of aqueduct fame).
The city continued to grow under the rule of the emperors. Theodosius I ('the Great'; r
378-95) had a forum built on the present site of Beyazıt Meydanı (Beyazıt Square) and
erected the Obelisk of Theodosius at the Hippodrome. His grandson Emperor Theodosius
II (r 408-50), threatened by the forces of Attila the Hun, ordered that an even wider, more
formidable circle of walls be built around the city. Encircling all seven hills of the city, the
walls were completed in 413, only to be brought down by a series of earthquakes in 447.
They were hastily rebuilt in a mere two months - the rapid approach of Attila and the Huns
acting as a powerful stimulus. The Theodosian walls successfully held out invaders for the
next 757 years and still stand today, though they are in an increasingly dilapidated state of
repair.
