Founding of Constantinople
Constantine dedicated his new capital on the site of the Greek city of Byzantium — the “New Rome” that would be the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire for more than eleven centuries.
- Date
- 11 May 330exact dateDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Constantinopletoday: Istanbul, Turkey · Balkans and Anatolia
- Participants
- Constantine the Great, Roman Empire
- Threads
- Europe in the Roman age (1st–5th c.)
- Also known as
- Nova Roma; New Rome; Новый Рим; Dedication of Constantinople; Освящение Константинополя
Constantine chose Byzantium, on the Bosporus between Europe and Asia, after defeating Licinius in 324: the site was easy to defend and close to both the Danube and the eastern frontiers. The city was rebuilt on a grand scale in six years, with new walls, the Great Palace, an enlarged Hippodrome, a forum with a porphyry column bearing the emperor’s statue and a senate of its own; like Rome, it was divided into fourteen regions. The ceremonial dedication took place on 11 May 330.
Officially “New Rome”, the city soon took its founder’s name. It became the permanent residence of the eastern emperors and, after the fall of the West, the capital of the Roman state until its capture by the Ottomans in 1453.
Connections
Related events
- Council of Chalcedon8 October – 1 November 451 · Balkans and Anatoliacanon 28 raised the see of “New Rome” to equal rank with Rome
- Fall of Constantinople29 May 1453 · Balkans and Anatoliathe city founded by Constantine fell to the Ottomans in 1453
Same participants
- First Council of Nicaeabetween May and June 325 – between July and August 325 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Constantine the Great
- Battle of Adrianople9 August 378 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Roman Empire
Same place
- Corpus Juris Civilis7 April 529 – 16 November 534 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Construction of Hagia Sophia23 February 532 – 27 December 537 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Plague of Justinian541–549 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Jordanes and Procopius describe the Sclaveni and the Antesbetween 550 and 554 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Avar–Persian siege of Constantinople29 June – 7 August 626 · Balkans and Anatolia
- First Arab siege of Constantinople674–678 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Second Arab siege of Constantinoplebetween 15 July and 15 August 717 – 15 August 718 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Byzantine Iconoclasmbetween 726 and 730 – 11 March 843 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople907 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 9112 September 911 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Igor’s campaigns against Byzantium11 June 941 – 944 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 944between 944 and 945 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism9 September – 18 October 957 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Sack of Constantinople12–13 April 1204 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Reconquest of Constantinople25 July 1261 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Accession of Suleiman the Magnificent30 September 1520 · Balkans and Anatolia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Edict of MilanFebruary 313
- Battle of the Milvian Bridge28 October 312
Eastern Europe
- Chernyakhov culturebetween 200 and 250 – between 400 and 430
- Kyiv culturec. 200 – between 400 and 430
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Constantinople
- Wikipedia (English): Byzantium
- Wikipedia (Russian): Константинополь
- Wikipedia (Russian): Византий
- Dagron G. Naissance d’une capitale: Constantinople et ses institutions de 330 à 451. — Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1974.