This essay will attempt to analyse and explain all the causes and factors that lead to the choice of Constantinople as eastern capital of the empire. From the very outset the reasons for such a catalytic “move”, which provided the impetus for the creation of a new era, will be examined as lucidly as possible. To conclude, having appraised the above, much light will be thrown on the choice of Constantinople, amongst other locations, as the eastern capital of the empire in terms of geographical position, religious and economical factors.
Numerous were the reasons that gradually led to the movement of the empire to the East. Initially, Rome was very far from the regions of the shores of the Bosphorus and the river Euphrates and thus unable to confront effectively the empire’s most significant enemies (the Goths and the Persians) that had made their appearance from the 3rd century. Additionally, Rome, a centre of paganism, with its memories of municipal traditions and “republican sentiment, with its aristocratic, educated and fiercely traditionalist senators ”, had begun to annoy the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (337-362). He, himself, was a vigorous supporter of Christianity and especially after the prolonged period of his successful confrontation with Licinius (314-323), he was convinced that the future belonged to the Christians and for that reason, he decided to turn decisively towards the East, which was the main source and origin of the new religion. Furthermore, from the 3rd century onwards, most of the emperors originated from provinces and did not share significant bonds with Rome. What Constantine visualised instead of sacrifices to pagan deities and four emperors with irregular courts and capitals, was an empire with one emperor and one established capital, along with a splendid innovative church devoted to the glory of the one true God . He therefore regarded the foundation of a new city as the most important symbol of his deeper aim, the renewal of the empire.
In 324, the old Greek trading city of Byzantium (modern Istanbul) was chosen by Constantine the Great as the ultimate spot for the new city that would form the headquarters of the empire in the East and was renamed after his own name, Constantinople (Constantinou-polis). It is a fact that among the fundamental criteria for choosing this specific location were its strategic geographical position between Europe and Asia, its strategic value for the command of the seas and of the main routes over-land from East to West and from North to South, as well as the right connection between the centre and the periphery of the Empire.
Even though the current city is under the church its beginnings were not at all related to Christianity. The old legend tells the reader that two brothers, Romulus and Remus, found the city. In reality group of people settled in the seven hills and the population grew and the Roman population came about (Trauman). From there on the city went under various ruling strategies such as being senatorial republic to finally being under the emperor (Cowling). Then onwards it became the capital of the Roman Empire. Even though the Roman outskirts land was very organized like a grid pattern, this was not the case at the capital. The capital never followed a structure (Kostof 1991). Being built near river Tiber is the only strategy it f...
While Rome was being ramp sacked from Germanic and other barbaric groups, the imperial power shifted to the eastern part of the Roman Empire, where the center city was Byzantium (Craig/Graham/Kagan/Ozment /Turner, 354, 2009). Between 324 and 330 BCE, Constantine the Great became emperor and rebuilt the city and renamed it after himself (Craig/Graham/Kagan/Ozment /Turner, 354, 2009). After Constantine died, power shifted to Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora in 527 BCE (Craig/Graham/Kagan/Ozment /Turner, 354, 2009).
Roman Emperor Constantine I founded the Byzantine Empire in 330 CE as a continuation of the Roman Empire in the east. The characteristics of the empire led to the modern definition of “Byzantine,” which means “strangely complicated.” This was true, as in the Byzantine Empire was very chaotic, complex, and strange at times, but it was very massive and influential worldwide. The empire heavily influenced modern religion, laws, and engineering, making it worthwhile learning about the empire. Our ideas about laws and philosophy are borrowed from those of Justinian’s code, which was the main set of laws of the empire.
Emperor Justinian is identified as one of the greatest Caesars to ever rule in Europe during his reign from 527-565, during this he succeeded in reviving Roman Authority throughout his growing Byzantium Empire . As Emperor of the Byzantium Empire in the sixth and seventh century he conquered many parts of Europe restoring the control of the Roman Authority once again if only for a while . This essay will point out the extent in which Justinian succeeded Roman Authority. Although many depictions that can be argued, closer examination can be shown that through huge military successes, Architectural activities that changed the Empires value and enhanced Constantinople as the centre of the Christian World, and the legal work of the ‘Code of Justinian’ helped Justinian to revive Roman Authority. In the seventh century saw the collapse of the Byzantium Empire, which was defeated and taken over by the Ottoman-Turk Empire from the East of Constantinople. This Essay will access the reasons for decline of such a powerful empire, hit with the ‘Justinian Plague’ and eventually deteriorating after Justinian death . This saw the end to any last element of any Roman Authority in Europe.
Constantine’s departure from Rome took with him the political seat of power. With the removal of the political head a power vacuum was created. The body that remained in Rome was that of the Christian church, feeble though it may have been. Rome’s identity was so deeply rooted in the pagan tradition that despite his best efforts Constantine was unable to convert it entirely. The former capital was still home to a powerful group of aristocrats which held on firmly to the roots of paganism. Gradually, with the support of the imperial court and the city’s urban masses, the church was able to gain a foothold in the fifth century (Krautheimer 33).
When he won the throne, similar to Emperor Han Wudi’s conversion to Confucianism in Han Dynasty China, converted to Christianity. Because of this conversion, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Christian way became very involved in government in the Roman Empire. Even though Christianity’s message is a sense of universal love, because of it intolerance of other religions, there was persecutions of pagans that lead to death. It was not until 450 CE. that a small majority of the Roman Empire was Christian. There ultimately was a split in the empire between the east and the west. The Western Empire struggled on its survival unlike the eastern Empire. The Eastern Empire strived because it stayed involved in Roman politics, administration, and armies. Because the east stayed involved within the government, they were able to last longer. The east was able to spread Christianity more effectively than that of the
As the greatest empire in the western world began to crumble one city at a time, the leader of the Roman Empire, Constantine, under pressure from external and internal sources moved the capital of Rome to Constantinople around 330 AD. The movement of the capital was after his conversion to Christianity in 312 AD, a growing religion throughout the empire despite being officially illegal. Constantine was not the devote saint that the church may speak of today, “from 312-320 Constantine was tolerant of paganism, keeping pagan gods on coins and retaining his pagan high priest title "Pontifex Maximus" in order to maintain popularity with his subjects, possibly indicating that he never understood the theology of Christianity” (Ferguson & Grupp, 1998). The first Christian Emperor claimed to have converted after a victorious battle with his brother and there are many that corroborate this story it appears highly suspicious to only promote Christian ideals and worship. Constantine was not even the Emperor that made Christianity the religion of the Roman people, but simply permitted religiou...
attacking the Genovese Cathedral City and trading ports of Caffa on the black sea for a
Architecture is one important aspect of Byzantine culture. One of the most famous Byzantine architectural achievements is the Hagia Sophia, which is located in modern-day Istanbul. The basic design of the cathedral has a dome over a square base, which required a new innovation. At the time, it was kn...
The Roman Empire is known as one of the most powerful and influential empires the world has ever seen. At it’s height, this Empire had peace, economic prosperity and was expanding. Roman cities contributed to a fair amount of this success because they contributed to many advances during Pax Romana and united the empire. After the fall of the Empire, Christianity survived because although the empire separated into many kingdoms they were still being influenced by the religion.
Constantine went far beyond the Edict of Milan, which extended indulgence of Christians during the persecution. By 313 A.D., Constantine had donated the property of Lateran, where a new cathedral, the Basilica Constantiniana was soon built, to the bishop of Rome. Constantine had an arch erected in his honour at Rome after the defeat of Maxentius ascribed the victory to the “inspiration of the Divinity”. After his victory over Licinius in 324, Constantine wrote that he had come from the farthest shores of Britain as God’s chosen instrument for the suppression of impiety. Later, in a letter he proclaimed that he had come to bring peace and prosperity to all lands, with the help of God. He gave vast amounts of money from his own personal treasury to the churches of God, to help enlarge the sacred buildings and to decorate the sanctuaries. Throughout his life, Constantine ascribed his success to his conversion to Christianity and the support of the Christian
One of the main contributors in the decline of the Byzantine Empire were the two civil wars that occurred in Macedonia and Constantinople. In 1321, the first civil war, often called the War of the Two Andronikoi, occurred between Byzantine’s emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and his grandson Andronikos III Palaiologos over control of the empire. Andronikos III had many supporters including John Kantakouzenos, who had a governorship in the nearby land of Thrace. Shortly after the war began, a peace treaty was reached in which Andronikos III Palaiologos was named co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. The peace treaty did not last long and after seven more years of battle, the war ended leaving Andronikos III in charge of the army and John Kantakouzenos named as the leader. The second civil war of 1341, sometimes referred to as the Second Palaiogan Civil War, happened after disagreement broke out after Andronikos III Palaiologos’s death over the guardiansh...
Politically, the fall of the Roman Empire as from 410 C.E is regarded as one of the largest and pivotal events in the history of the world. As from the time Edward Gibbon finished his works in 1788 on the Decline and Fall of the Roman empire, there has been large debates on the cause of the of the fall of the roman empire. However, it should be noted that despite the roman empire might have fallen politically, their culture and heritage still persisted in the west through the mid ages and in altered methods the culture still exist in the modern periods. However, a large number of causes attributed to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. This paper will look into the major causes of the decline of the Roman Empire and the periods in which the Roman Empire came to decline and completely fall politically.
Constantine the Great, first Christian Emperor, originator of Constantinople, creator of the Byzantine Empire, military conqueror, and honored saint, has been labeled by many the most instrumental emperor of the Roman Empire. Constantine played a crucial role in the development of Europe during the Middle Ages, and founded Christianity as the formal religion of the Roman Empire. His dynamic yet effective predominance laid the infrastructure of European development. From his humble beginnings, to his command of the Roman Empire, to his final days, Constantine’s impact on world history and Christianity has left behind an unforgettable legacy. He was described by Eusebius as “such an emperor as all history records not.” Ware compared him to, “a watershed in the history of the Church.” Additionally, Meyendorff states, “No single human being in history has contributed to the conversion of so many to the Christian faith.” Norwich declared that “No ruler in all of history has ever more fully merited his title of ‘the Great’…Constantine has serious claim to be considered the most influential man in all of history.” Some of Constantine’s notable acts in the history of Christianity was his calling of the first Ecumenical Council at Nicaea, his institution of freedom for Christianity with the Edict of Milan, and the relocation of the capital of empire from Rome to Constantinople.
The city of Istanbul was originally known as Constantinople back in the time of the Byzantine Empire Days. Then, in 1453, Constantinople became part of Ottoman Empire and over the years, the name of the city was changed to Istanbul. Since both empires occupied Istanbul at one point, its leaders brought over many rich and diverse cultures, ideas, and many architectural designs. This beautiful city is separated by the Bosphorus Strait which is the main waterway connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, that separates Europe from Asia.