History of Constantinople

The history of Constantinople covers the period from the Consecration of the city in 330, when it became the new capital of the Roman Empire, to its conquest by the Ottomans in 1453.

Hagia Sophia Cathedral — a symbol of Byzantine Constantinople

Constantinople was rebuilt practically from scratch on the site of ancient Byzantium. Within half a century, thanks to the gigantic construction projects of the time, rapid population growth, the development of trade and crafts, its status as a capital city, and the efforts of the first Roman emperors, Constantinople became one of the largest cities in Europe and the Middle East. The rich and prosperous "megalopolis of the Middle Ages" was destined to become the largest political, cultural, and economic center of a vast empire, but it tended to decline. After the fall of Rome in the 5th century, Constantinople became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, which existed for about ten centuries and tried to maintain its adherence to Roman and Hellenistic traditions. The history of Constantinople in the Byzantine era was filled with tumultuous political events: popular uprisings and palace intrigues, assassinations of emperors and changes of ruling dynasties, months-long sieges and campaigns against powerful western and eastern neighbors. For many centuries (until the 8th century), Constantinople was the greatest center of brilliant culture and science in medieval Europe, far surpassing other world capitals in the level of education, activity of spiritual life and development of material culture.

One of the most characteristic features of political life in Constantinople was the constant struggle for power between different groups of the aristocracy, army, merchants, and clergy. The elite of the capital was an extremely unstable and diverse group, as access to the top of Byzantium was open to natives of all social classes. Many capital nobles were not only not ashamed of their commoner or provincial origins, but were actually proud of the fact that they had been able to work their way up from the bottom of society to the pinnacle of power. Moreover, even the imperial throne could be occupied by a native of the people as a result of a palace conspiracy, a love affair, a successful marriage, a rebellion of the army or the townspeople. Examples of this in Byzantine history was a lot, emperors by fate became even simple soldiers, who served up to the military leaders of medium rank, butcher or peasant, who was later engaged in horseback riding and fist fights. In Constantinople, the contrast between the poverty of the common people and the wealth of the aristocracy, the imperial court, and the clergy was particularly striking. The city was rightly called "the main center of luxury and poverty in the whole East and West".

The capture of Constantinople by the Turks in May 1453 marked the final collapse of Byzantium and the transformation of the Ottoman Empire into one of the most powerful states in the world. The fall of Constantinople made an enormous impression on contemporaries, causing shock throughout Christian Europe and jubilation at the courts of Cairo, Tunis, and Granada. In addition, the destruction of many of the Roman and Byzantine cultural treasures of the once-flourishing city caused irreparable damage to all of European culture. In Europe, the image of the Turks became synonymous with all that was cruel and alien to Christianity.

Constantine and his successors

The Column of Constantine, erected in 330 A.D.

The Roman Emperor Constantine I the Great appreciated the advantageous location of Byzantium on the seaside, at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Constantine's decision was also influenced by the turbulent situation in Rome itself: the discontent of the nobility and the constant struggle for the throne. The emperor wanted to crown his reforming activities with the creation of a new administrative center of great power. The foundation of the city took place in the fall of 324, and Constantine personally decided to mark its boundaries. The area he demarcated was surrounded by an earthen wall, within which a large building was constructed. By Constantine's order, famous architects, painters and sculptors, the best masons, plasterers and carpenters were brought to Byzantium and exempted from other state duties. Another of his laws, designed to speed up the construction of the capital, obliged all owners of real estate in the cities of Pontus Euxine to acquire at least one house in Byzantium (only when this condition was met could the owners bequeath their property to their heirs).

Constantine encouraged the settlement of the new city from various provinces of the Roman Empire in various ways, granting them special conditions and benefits, and many imperial dignitaries were forcibly transferred here. Constantine established the rule that all settlers who purchased property in the new capital were entitled to free grain, oil, wine, and firewood. This so-called "food bonus" lasted for about half a century and played a major role in the influx of artisans, sailors, and fishermen into Byzantium. In addition to attracting human resources, Constantine also provided for the decoration of the city, for which magnificent works of art were brought to Byzantium from all corners of the vast empire — from Rome and Athens, Corinth and Delphi, Ephesus and Antioch.

On May 11, 330, a grand ceremony was held to inaugurate the capital of the Roman Empire, called New Rome (the text of the imperial edict issued on the same day was carved on a marble column). The main celebrations took place in the Hippodrome and included performances by artists and sporting events, including the chariot races favored by the people. During these celebrations, the Christian clergy, as well as the still influential pagan priesthood among the representatives of the Greek colleges, became more prominent in Constantine the Great's retinue. Although Christianity was becoming the dominant religion, the emperor, and himself did not immediately break with the old traditions, did not hinder the activities of the priests (however, during his reign, many pagan temples of ancient Byzantium were converted into churches and public buildings). On the occasion of the consecration of the new capital, a coin was minted depicting Constantine in a battle helmet with a spear in his hand. In honor of the city's patroness, the Virgin Mary, a stele of red porphyry on a white marble base was erected. However, the name "New Rome" did not catch on, and soon the capital was called Constantinople — the city of Constantine.

During Constantine's reign, Saint Sophia, Saint Irene, Saint Acacius on the Golden Horn and Saint Mokius outside the city walls were built. Along with the first churches in Constantinople, the impressive Temple of Fortune was built, several sanctuaries were renovated, and the huge column brought from the Roman Temple of Apollo was erected, crowned with a statue of Constantine himself in the image of Apollo (or Helios) greeting the rising sun. From Delphi was brought a bronze "serpent column", which served as the foot of the famous golden tripod, and in Constantinople decorated the arena of the Hippodrome. From Rome came the famous monument to the goddess Athena Pallada, which the Romans had removed from Athens in due time (its column was turned into a pedestal for statues representing Constantine and then his successors). In the city, to which the emperor gave the municipal structure of Rome, was established the Senate, henceforth here was one of the consuls. An impressive flow of Egyptian grain, previously used for the needs of the population of Rome, was diverted to Constantinople.

By the end of Constantine's reign, the new capital was spread over seven hills on the shores of the Bosphorus like Rome, there were built about 30 palaces and temples, more than four thousand significant residential buildings for the nobility, a hippodrome, a circus and two theaters, more than 150 baths, more than a hundred bakeries, eight aqueducts, and thousands of houses for the common people. North of the central square Augusteon, on the site of the acropolis of ancient Byzantium, was the Capitol, where pagan temples and shrines to various gods were preserved until the end of the 4th century. Under Constantine and his successors, who actively promoted local sailors and traders, Constantinople's navy grew in size, and the city regained its ancient Byzantine commercial glory.

Serpent Column established at the racetrack

The process of destruction and decline of the Roman Empire intensified after the death of Constantine the Great in Nicomedia in 337.  A desperate struggle for power broke out between Constantine's successors, one of the most dramatic episodes of which was a mutiny of the troops stationed in the capital, organized by Constantius II. He took advantage of the discontent in the Byzantine army over the uncertainty that had arisen after Constantine had bequeathed great power to his three sons (Constantius II, Constantine II, and Constantius) and two nephews (Dalmatius the Younger and Hannibalian the Younger). A bloody massacre took place in Constantinople, during which many of the late emperor's relatives were killed, including his two favorite nephews (only Constantius Gallus and Julian, sons of also killed Flavius Julius Constantius, younger brother of Constantine the Great, could be saved). Constantius held power over the western part of the Roman Empire for more than a decade, but died in 350 in a battle with the usurper commander Magnus Magnentius.  It was not until Constantius II's victory over Magnentius that the empire was restored under one emperor. In 357, the relics of the Apostle Andrew were solemnly transferred from Patras to the newly built Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, where they were placed next to the relics of St. Luke, St. Timothy of Ephesus and the coffin of Constantine the Great (from the time of Constantine's burial until the 11th century, the Church of the Holy Apostles served as the tomb of Byzantine emperors). In 360 near the central square Augusteon was opened the temple, called by the people the Great, — the first predecessor of the modern cathedral of St. Sophia.

After the death of Constantius, who died in a campaign against the Persians, Julian entered Constantinople in December 361 and cruelly massacred the cronies of his predecessor.  He began the restoration of paganism (for which he received the nickname Apostate), carried out a reform of school education, founded in the capital library, which for centuries became the most important center of Byzantine culture. But the reign of Julian was short-lived, he died in the summer of 363 during the Persian campaign, after which the troops proclaimed the new emperor Jovian. During the reign of the Constantinian dynasty in Constantinople lived and worked the physician Oribasius, the rhetorician Libanius, theologians and church hierarchs Alexander of Constantinople, Paul the Confessor, Eusebius of Nicomedia, Macedonius I, Eudoxius of Antioch, in the city visited Athanasius the Great, Basil the Great and the famous heresiarch Arius (died here in 336).

Valentinian, Theodosius and their successors

Obelisk of Theodosius, installed in 390 at the hippodrome

In 364, Roman troops proclaimed Valentinian I as the new emperor, who made his younger brother Valent II his co-emperor in the eastern part of the empire. During his reign, a two-tier aqueduct was completed that carried water between the hills and became part of a huge system that supplied Constantinople with water from Thrace. In 378, in the battle of Adrianople, the Romans suffered a terrible defeat by the Transdanian Goths, on the battlefield remained 40 thousand Roman soldiers, including the emperor Valentus. Gratian appointed as the emperor of the eastern part of the Roman Empire the experienced commander Theodosius, who had expelled the Goths from Constantinople, having closed the world with them. Theodosius with the help of bribes, luxurious receptions in the imperial palace and appointments to high posts in the army managed to win over even some Gothic leaders and commanders. It was then that military settlements of Goths, who served in the city guard, arose in Constantinople.

In 381 the First Council of Constantinople condemned Arianism and established the status of the Bishop of Constantinople, who became second in status to the Bishop of Rome (previously, since the suppression of the Emperor Septimius Severus, the capital had been under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan of Heraclea). In 390 an Egyptian granite obelisk, taken from Heliopolis, was erected on the hippodrome of Constantinople. In 394 Theodosius, who executed the usurper Eugenius, briefly united both parts of the Roman Empire under his authority, but after his death in 395 the united state was divided among Theodosius' sons: Flavius Arcadius received the East and his brother Honorius the West. In the same year 395 Visigoths under the command of Alaric I have again raised revolt and together with joined to them Alemanni, Sarmatians, colonists and slaves have invaded Thrace (separate detachments of rebels reached walls of Constantinople, but then all mass of rebels has gone to Greece). By the end of the IV century in Constantinople lived more than 100 thousand people, new settlers did not have enough space within the fortress walls built by Emperor Constantine, and the city began to spread beyond them (in the coastal part of the houses were even built on stilts).

Constantinople's walls (in the middle)

In the second half of the 4th century in Constantinople worked great philosophers Themistius and Synesius of Cyrene, theologians Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom and Nilus the Lenten. In 404 there were riots in the city, caused by the removal from the post of Constantinople archbishop popular among the people John Chrysostom, who conflicted with the wife of the emperor Eudoxia (during the riots and the fires that swept the capital burned even the Basilica of St. Sophia). In the beginning of 5th century (especially since 410) in connection with the threat of invasion of barbarians the stream of settlers-aristocrats from Rome to Constantinople has intensified. An earthquake in 412 largely destroyed the walls of the time of Constantine the Great, and there was an urgent need for a new ring of fortifications that would cover the sprawling neighborhoods of the city. The new walls, begun under Emperor Arcadius, were completed during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II by the prefect Anthemius. The wall of Theodosius had nine main gates, divided into civil and military, and many smaller passages (the most important gates, through which the busy trade routes passed, were the Golden Gate, the Resios Gate, the Gate of St. Romanus, and the Charisian Gate). Bridges over the moat led to the civil gates, which were walled up during sieges. The military gates were protected by the highest and most powerful towers, their double iron gates were locked in peacetime, and during sieges they were used for sorties against the enemy.

The total length of the walls of Constantinople was 16 kilometers, and there were about four hundred towers along its perimeter. Theodosius' walls, which crossed the Bosphorus cape from the Sea of Marmara to the Golden Horn Bay, reached a length of 5.5 kilometers and were the most powerful. These walls were built in three rows (taking into account the fortifications completed later, after the devastating earthquake of 447). The first row of walls, 5 m high, protected a deep and wide moat with water (it was 20 m wide and in some places up to 10 m deep). The second row, 2-3 m wide and 10 m high, was reinforced by 15 m high towers. The third row, the most massive, was 6-7 meters thick and protected by towers 20 to 40 meters high. The towers were equipped with devices for throwing stones and pouring hot tar or oil on the enemy. Along the wall there were guardhouses for the guards and small stores of provisions and ammunition. The bases of the walls of Theodosius went 10-20 meters underground, which practically excluded the possibility of undermining. There were no fixed stone bridges across the moat, only light wooden ones, which were removed at night and quickly destroyed by the city's defenders during the siege.

The line of Theodosius' walls defined for centuries the boundaries within which Constantinople developed (the western suburbs of Eudom, Pigi, Philopateon, Blachernae and Kosmidion remained outside the walls). Further growth of the city already went at the expense of the creation of suburbs on the northern coast of the Golden Horn (around Galata) and on the Asian coast of the Bosphorus, opposite the Bosphorus cape (around Chalcedon and Chrysopolis). In October 415 Theodosius II has finished the delayed restoration of the Cathedral of St. Sophia, in 421 has erected near the walls of Constantine in the center of the square the column with the statue of the predecessor — emperor Arcadius, after that the square began to be named Forum Arcadius. In 425, the emperor opened a public school on the Capitol, which laid the foundation for the University of Constantinople (where the best rhetors, grammarians, sophists and professors of the time taught young people Latin and Greek diction, medicine, philosophy, rhetoric and law), then not far from the Hippodrome built an underground cistern Theodosius. Sister Theodosius II founded the Convent of St. Andrew, which later became the Monastery of St. Andrew of Crete. Under the strong influence of the clergy, Theodosius II forbade Jews to build new synagogues, to hold positions in the state apparatus, and to keep Christians as servants in their homes, which greatly reduced the Jewish community of Constantinople. A quarter of a century after the walls of Theodosius were built, a wall was built along the seashore, also reinforced with towers (it was known as the Wall of Propontis, or the Marmara Sea Wall). Theodosius' wall, the fortified old wall of Constantine, and the newest wall protecting the city from the sea formed a powerful defensive belt that was difficult to overcome even with the most advanced siege equipment.

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  Seaside walls section
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  Theodosius Walls
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  Theodosius Walls
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  Second military gate
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  Seaside walls section

Around 425 Constantinople, like Rome, was divided into 14 neighborhoods (regions), each headed by a curator (regarch). At their disposal were the guardians of order and the night watch. Since the time of Constantine the Great, the eparch (in ancient Greek ὁ ἔπαρχος τῆς πόλεως) was the head of the entire city, responsible for the city's economy, beautification, administrative apparatus, maintenance of internal order, and security of the capital. Under Constantius II, the functions and rights of the Eparch of Constantinople were almost identical to those of the Prefect of Rome, and he had the power that made him the second person in the state after the Emperor. He presided over the meetings of the Senate and distributed grain, had the right to arrest, imprison, or expel from the city any person who in his opinion posed a danger to the well-being of Constantinople (and could also limit a citizen's right of residence to a certain place). The eparch was subordinate to numerous collegia and state institutions, such as the city police, the prison (located in the basement of the Praetorium, in front of the Forum of Constantine), and the judicial institutions of all 14 quarters; he supervised the investigation of all criminal offenses committed in the city.

The Aqueduct of Valens was an important part of the public utilities of Constantinople

On the will of the Eparch of Constantinople depended the life and destiny of every citizen, so his office was constantly besieged by numerous petitioners and complainants, who begged for pardon for loved ones, tried to obtain orders from the authorities for the construction or repair of city facilities, demanded the settlement of disputes between artisan corporations. The eparch's office was also responsible for organizing theatrical performances, preparing the city for religious festivals, parades of imperial processions, ceremonial meetings of noble guests and foreign ambassadors. The eparch was one of the key figures of various celebrations and ceremonies at the imperial court, and the rite of his appointment always took place in the palace in the presence of all the courtiers and the city's nobility. Then the new eparch delivered a speech to the representatives of all the city estates and associations, from the palace he went to the Church of St. Sophia, and from there to his department. The citizens were not indifferent to the emperor's choice, and if the choice fell on an unpopular nobleman, the ceremony of the eparch's appointment often ended in mass riots among the demos. The most popular eparch of a period of formation of Constantinople was Cyrus, who has done much for development and improvement of a city, but his popularity frightened the emperor Theodosius Great, who has removed Cyrus from a post and has ordered to be tonsured in monks.

The handicraft production reached a great development. There were many imperial workshops (ergastiria) in Constantinople, which fulfilled the orders of the court, the army and the city authorities. Artisans were bound to these workshops for life, and this duty was hereditary. In addition, a significant portion of the workshop workers were slaves. There were also many private, municipal or church workshops, as well as workshops owned by nobles, monasteries and almshouses (the last three categories of owners preferred not to manage the enterprises directly, but to rent them out). These workshops employed free artisans who were organized into companies whose activities were strictly regulated by special statutes (they were obliged to pay taxes and, if necessary, to serve the state). Throughout the Middle Ages, Constantinople was a kind of "workshop of splendor" for the countries of Europe and the East. In many cities and at almost all courts, silk and wool fabrics, expensive clothes, leather, ceramics and glassware, jewelry and church ornaments, cold weapons and military ammunition (especially belonging to the category of luxury goods) were widely known. Merchants were also organized into corporations, and their activities were supervised by the state (private international trade was dominated by Syrian and Egyptian merchants). Many branches of trade were imperial monopolies, and it was common for the authorities to outsource them. The Eparchy regulated the number and duties of the members of the companies, their internal organization, but especially strict officials controlled the trading companies that supplied Constantinople with food.

The Column of Marcian, erected in the middle of the 5th century

A very large segment of the Constantinople population was the urban plebs, which included not only hired workers and petty servants, but also the poor, interrupted by casual earnings, as well as various declassed elements: beggars, prostitutes, cripples, and fools. Many of them had no shelter, were often hungry, and after earning a little money — got drunk in numerous cheap taverns. The government regularly rewarded the plebs with gifts — on the occasion of celebrations in the name of the emperor the poor were given money, bread and wine, the bishop of Constantinople distributed alms, sometimes the plebs had the opportunity to see performances of magicians, trainers and acrobats at the hippodrome. However, in spite of such "care", the plebs were extremely volatile and easily succumbed to calls for rebellion. The slightest spark was enough: an increase in the price of bread, sympathy for a disgraced nobleman, a fiery speech by another pretender to the imperial throne.

In January 447, as a result of a strong earthquake in Constantinople, many buildings were destroyed and the fortress walls were seriously damaged. About 16 thousand people spent two months not only restoring the old fortifications, but also building an outer wall with a number of towers and an embankment, as well as deepening the protective moat lined with bricks. As a result, the city was covered from the land by a tiered defense system reinforced by 192 towers. In the spring of the same year, Attila's troops approached the city from Thrace, which caused panic and mass flight of the citizens, but the Huns did not dare to storm the city and went to Greece. From the middle of the 5th century, the archbishops of Constantinople began to bear the title of patriarch. In 451, under the supervision of imperial officials, the Fourth Ecumenical Council was held at Chalcedon, on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus, which condemned Monophysitism and laid the foundations of the doctrine of Eastern Orthodoxy. In 453 the Church of the Virgin Mary was built in the suburb of Blachernae outside the walls of Theodosius (it was founded by Pulcheria, the wife of Emperor Marcian). In some years, at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Leo I, two Byzantine patricians during the pilgrimage to Palestine have stolen a robe of the Virgin, which has been placed in the church of Blachernae. Later here were transferred also clothes and a part of a belt from the opened tomb of the Mother of God. Above the tablet of Markian also commemorates the column of his name, erected by the governor of Constantinople in the middle of the 5th century (earlier the column was crowned by the statue of the emperor, and the pedestal was richly decorated with bas-reliefs).

Throughout the early Middle Ages, Constantinople was a major cultural center, surpassing all the capitals of Western Europe. The flourishing trade and crafts, the highly educated state apparatus with its numerous bureaucracies allowed elements of high ancient culture to be preserved. The extensive foreign relations of Byzantine merchants and diplomats led to the development of geography, astronomy, mathematics, rhetoric and linguistics in Constantinople. The impressive trade and monetary turnover of the capital, frequent conflicts over transactions and inheritance led to the development of civil law and legal education. The presence in Constantinople of the imperial court, numerous secular and ecclesiastical nobles, and other wealthy patrons and supporters of the arts contributed to the development of medicine, architecture, construction and closely related mechanics, as well as literature (especially poetry and hagiography), music, theater, arts and crafts (pottery, mosaics, and enamels), and the production of dyes (for painting and dyeing fabrics). A cadre of Byzantine historians (e.g., Priscus, Sozomenes, and Socrates Scholasticus) emerged from the court bureaucracy and high priests of the time. Despite the growing influence of the clergy on culture, Constantinople preserved secular education, based on its traditions from antiquity (in contrast to the countries of Western Europe, where the Church actually monopolized the remnants of education). The Church's struggle with various heretical currents, remnants of "paganism" and ancient traditions (especially in philosophy and theology) had a great influence on the science of the time.

The lion and his successors

After the death of Marcian, Leo I Macella was placed on the imperial throne with the active support of the influential Gothic generals Aspar and Ardavur. The new emperor has built in a wood behind the city walls, near a healing source in area Piga church (later emperor Justinian I, cured by waters of a source, has built here more magnificent temple and male monastery of a life-bearing source, and his successors repeatedly expanded and decorated highly esteemed monastery)[comment. 18]. In 463, near the shores of the Sea of Marmara, a church was built by the patrician Stoudios, which became the foundation of the Studian Monastery, one of the first monasteries of the city, which laid the foundation for the numerous and influential monasticism of Constantinople. Soon the monastery was settled by the Akimite ("awake" or "alert") monks, followers of Alexander of Constantinople, whose order played a decisive role in the confrontation with Monophysitism. In 471, by order of Leo I, who wanted to get rid of foreign influence, his former patrons —Aspar and his son Ardavur— were brutally killed in the imperial palace (in retaliation, one of Aspar's commanders attacked the palace, but the attack was repulsed by troops loyal to the emperor).

Sfendon — preserved part of the hippodrome (fragment of the southern wall surrounding the stands)

In 476, the barbarian commander Odoacer deprived the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire Romulus Augustulus of power and sent the signs of the imperial dignity to Constantinople. By the end of 5th century the population of the capital and the nearest suburbs has reached 700 thousand people (according to other data, at the beginning of VI century it was about 500 thousand people). According to the historian Zosima, who lived in that period, Constantinople was a crowded and cramped city. Foreign merchants and numerous pilgrims who came to the city noted in their notes and memoirs wide central streets with covered galleries, spacious squares decorated with columns and statues, majestic imperial palace and residences of rich nobles, Christian temples, triumphal arches and a large hippodrome. The main street —Mesa ("Middle")— stretched from west to east, from the Golden Gate through the forums of Arcadia, Voloviy, Theodosius (Bull) and Constantine to the Augusteon square, in the center of which stood the statue of Helena Equal to the Apostles or Augusta. The Mesa and the large squares it crossed were the real center of the capital's commerce. Rows of shops stretched from the Augusta Square to the Forum of Constantine, where there was a brisk trade in expensive fabrics, clothing, jewelry, and incense. In other squares, cattle, meat, fish, grain, bread, wine, oil, dried fruits, raw silk, soap, and wax were traded.

A pillar preserved from the tetrapylon Milius

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