Constantinople1 (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις) was the earlier name of the modern city of İstanbul in Turkey in its role over more than a millennium as capital, first of the Eastern Roman Empire, subsequently of the Byzantine Empire. The last imperial designation reveals the city's even more ancient Greek name: Byzantium. Constantinople was located strategically between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe met Asia, and was highly ...

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• Constantinople - Names
• Constantinople - Byzantium
• Constantinople - Constantine's Foundation
• Constantinople - Public buildings
• Constantinople - Constantinople in the Divided Empire
• Constantinople - The City under Justinian
• Constantinople - The City after Justinian
• Constantinople - Importance of the City in its prime
• Constantinople - The Isaurians
• Constantinople - The Comneni and Palaeologi
• Constantinople - The Ottomans
• Constantinople - Constantinople in popular culture
• Constantinople - Notes

Read more here: » Constantinople: Encyclopedia - Constantinople

Constantinople was historically important for a number of reasons. Constantinople was one of the larger and richer urban centers in the Eastern Mediterranean during the late Roman Empire, mostly due to its strategic position commanding the trade routes between the Aegean and the Black Sea. During the Fourth Century AD the Emperor Constantine relocated his eastern capital to Byzantium, hence the name Constantinople (Constantine's City), in an attempt to reinvigorate the Empire. It would remain the capital of the eastern, Greek speaking ...

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Constantinople, Constantinople - Names, Constantinople - Byzantium, Constantinople - Constantine's Foundation, Constantinople - Public buildings, Constantinople - Constantinople in the Divided Empire, Constantinople - The City under Justinian, Constantinople - The City after Justinian, Constantinople - Importance of the City in its prime, Constantinople - The Isaurians, Constantinople - The Comneni and Palaeologi, Constantinople - The Ottomans, Constantinople - Constantinople in popular culture, Constantinople - Notes

Read more here: » Constantinople: Encyclopedia II - Constantinople - Importance of the City in its prime

The emperor Justinian (527-565) was known for his successes in war, for his legal reforms and for his public works. It was from Constantinople that his expedition for the reconquest of Africa set sail on or about 21 June 533. Before their departure the ship of the commander, Belisarius, anchored in front of the Imperial palace, and the Patriarch offered prayers for the success of the enterprise. Chariot-racing had been important in Rome for centuries. In Constantinople, the hippodrome became over time increasingly a place of political ...

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Constantinople, Constantinople - Names, Constantinople - Byzantium, Constantinople - Constantine's Foundation, Constantinople - Public buildings, Constantinople - Constantinople in the Divided Empire, Constantinople - The City under Justinian, Constantinople - The City after Justinian, Constantinople - Importance of the City in its prime, Constantinople - The Isaurians, Constantinople - The Comneni and Palaeologi, Constantinople - The Ottomans, Constantinople - Constantinople in popular culture, Constantinople - Notes

Read more here: » Constantinople: Encyclopedia II - Constantinople - The City under Justinian

The first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople was Honoratus, who took office on 11 December 359 and held it until 361. The emperor Valens built the Palace of Hebdomon on the shore of the Propontis near the Golden Gate, probably for use when reviewing troops. All the emperors, up to Zeno and Basiliscus, who were elevated at Constantinople, were crowned and acclaimed at the Hebdomon. Theodosius I founded the church of John the Baptist to house a relic of the saint, put up a memorial pillar to himself in the Forum of Taurus, and turned ...

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Constantinople, Constantinople - Names, Constantinople - Byzantium, Constantinople - Constantine's Foundation, Constantinople - Public buildings, Constantinople - Constantinople in the Divided Empire, Constantinople - The City under Justinian, Constantinople - The City after Justinian, Constantinople - Importance of the City in its prime, Constantinople - The Isaurians, Constantinople - The Comneni and Palaeologi, Constantinople - The Ottomans, Constantinople - Constantinople in popular culture, Constantinople - Notes

Read more here: » Constantinople: Encyclopedia II - Constantinople - Constantinople in the Divided Empire

Constantine had altogether more ambitious plans. Having restored the unity of the empire, now overseeing the progress of major governmental reforms and sponsoring the consolidation of the Christian church, Constantine was well aware that Rome had become an unsatisfactory capital for several reasons. Located in central Italy, Rome lay too far from the eastern imperial frontiers, and hence also from the legions and the Imperial courts.Moreover, Rome offered an undesirable playground for disaffected politicians; it also suffered regularly from ...

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Constantinople, Constantinople - Names, Constantinople - Byzantium, Constantinople - Constantine's Foundation, Constantinople - Public buildings, Constantinople - Constantinople in the Divided Empire, Constantinople - The City under Justinian, Constantinople - The City after Justinian, Constantinople - Importance of the City in its prime, Constantinople - The Isaurians, Constantinople - The Comneni and Palaeologi, Constantinople - The Ottomans, Constantinople - Constantinople in popular culture, Constantinople - Notes

Read more here: » Constantinople: Encyclopedia II - Constantinople - Constantine's Foundation

Constantinople was a Christian city, lying in the most Christianised part of the Empire. Justinian made the temples of Byzantium into ruins, and erected the splendid Church of the Holy Wisdom, Sancta Sophia (also known as Hagia Sophia in Greek), as the centrepiece of his Christian capital. He oversaw also the building of the Church of the Holy Apostles, and that of St Irene. Constantine laid out anew the square at the centre of old Byzantium, naming it the Augusteum in honour of his mother, Helena. Sancta Sophia lay on the north side ...

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Constantinople, Constantinople - Names, Constantinople - Byzantium, Constantinople - Constantine's Foundation, Constantinople - Public buildings, Constantinople - Constantinople in the Divided Empire, Constantinople - The City under Justinian, Constantinople - The City after Justinian, Constantinople - Importance of the City in its prime, Constantinople - The Isaurians, Constantinople - The Comneni and Palaeologi, Constantinople - The Ottomans, Constantinople - Constantinople in popular culture, Constantinople - Notes

Read more here: » Constantinople: Encyclopedia II - Constantinople - Public buildings

The name of Constantinople is an honorific eponym referencing its founder, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Constantine established the Greek city of Byzantium as the second capital of the Roman Empire on May 11, AD 330, naming the city Nova Roma (New Rome). That particular name, however, enjoyed little common use, and it was as the 'City of Constantine' (Constantinopolis) that it ...

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Constantinople, Constantinople - Names, Constantinople - Byzantium, Constantinople - Constantine's Foundation, Constantinople - Public buildings, Constantinople - Constantinople in the Divided Empire, Constantinople - The City under Justinian, Constantinople - The City after Justinian, Constantinople - Importance of the City in its prime, Constantinople - The Isaurians, Constantinople - The Comneni and Palaeologi, Constantinople - The Ottomans, Constantinople - Constantinople in popular culture, Constantinople - Notes

Read more here: » Constantinople: Encyclopedia II - Constantinople - Names