The name of the capital of the Byzantine Empire is the subject of endless disputes of several generations of historians. One of the most magnificent and largest cities in the world has gone by several names. Sometimes they were used together, sometimes separately. The ancient name of the capital of the Byzantine Empire has nothing to do with the modern name of this city. How has the name of one of the largest European cities been transformed over the centuries? Let's try to figure it out.
First inhabitants
The first known inhabitants of Byzantium were Megars. In 658 B. C. e. they founded a settlement at the narrowest point of the Bosporus and named it Chalcedon. Almost simultaneously, on the other side of the strait, the town of Byzantium grew up. A few hundred years later, both villages united and gave the name to the new city.
Steps to Prosperity
The unique geographical location of the city made it possible to control the transport of goods to the Black Sea - to the shores of the Caucasus, to Tauris and Anatolia. Thanks to this, the city quickly became rich and became one of the largest shopping centers. Old World. The city changed several owners - it was ruled by the Persians, Athenians, Macedonians, Spartans. In 74 BC. e. Rome seized power in Byzantium. For the city, this meant the onset of a time of peace and prosperity - under the protection of the Roman legionnaires, the city began to develop at an accelerated pace.
Byzantium and Rome
At the beginning of the new millennium, Byzantium faced a real danger. The eternal rivalry of the Roman aristocrats for the right to be called emperor led to a fatal mistake. The Byzantines took the side of Piscenius Niger, who never became emperor. In Rome, they crowned Septimus Severus with a scarlet mantle - a stern warrior, an excellent military leader and a hereditary aristocrat. Enraged by the murmuring of the Byzantines, the new ruler of the Roman Empire took Byzantium into a long draft. After a long standoff, the besieged Byzantines surrendered. Prolonged hostilities brought disaster and destruction to the city. Perhaps the city would not have been reborn from the ashes if not for Emperor Constantine.
New name
The ambitious new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire began his career with several military campaigns that ended with the victory of the Roman army. Having become the ruler of the vast territories of the Roman Empire, Constantine was faced with the fact that the eastern lands were controlled by Roman governors in a semi-autonomous mode. It was necessary to reduce the distance between the center and outlying areas. And Constantine decided to lay the second most important city of Rome in the eastern lands. He stopped atdilapidated Byzantium and directed his efforts to transform this provincial village into the brilliant capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.
The transformation began in 324. Emperor Constantine with his own spear outlined the boundaries around the city. Later, the city walls of the new metropolis were erected along this line. Enormous money and the personal participation of the emperor made a miracle possible - in just six years the city became worthy of the title of the capital. The grand opening took place on May 11, 330. On this day, the city received a new impetus to development. Revived, it was actively populated by settlers from other regions of the empire, acquired splendor and splendor, befitting the new capital. So the city got its new name - Constantinople, and became a worthy embodiment of everything that the Byzantine Empire represented. It was not for nothing that the capital of this state was called the second Rome - the eastern sister was in no way inferior to its western brother in grandeur and splendor.
Constantinople and Christianity
After the split of the great Roman Empire, Constantinople became the center of a new state - the Eastern Roman Empire. Soon the country began to be called by the first name of its own capital, and in the history books it received the corresponding name - the Byzantine Empire. The capital of this state played a huge role in the development of Orthodox Christianity.
The Byzantine Church professed orthodox Christianity. Byzantine Christians considered representatives of other movements to be heretics. The Emperor was the personificationsecular and religious life of the country, but there was no power of God, as was often the case with Eastern tyrants. The religious tradition was quite diluted with secular ceremonies and rituals. The emperor was endowed with divine authority, but nevertheless he was elected among mere mortals. There was no institution of succession - neither blood relationship nor personal ties guaranteed the Byzantine throne. In this country, anyone could become an emperor… and almost a god. Both the ruler and the city were full of power and greatness, both secular and religious.
Hence there is some duality in the definition of Constantinople as the city in which the entire Byzantine Empire was concentrated. The capital of a great country has been a place of pilgrimage for many generations of Christians - magnificent cathedrals and temples were simply amazing.
Rus and Byzantium
In the middle of the first millennium, the state formations of the Eastern Slavs became so significant that they began to attract the attention of their we althier neighbors. Russians regularly went on campaigns, bringing home rich gifts from distant lands. Campaigns against Constantinople astonished the imagination of our ancestors, which soon spread the new, Russian name of the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Our ancestors called the city Tsargrad, thereby emphasizing its we alth and power.
The collapse of the empire
Everything in the world has its end. The Byzantine Empire did not escape this fate either. Capit althe once mighty state was captured and plundered by the soldiers of the Ottoman Empire. After the establishment of Turkish rule, the city lost its name. The new owners preferred to call it Stanbul (Istanbul). Linguists argue that this name is a twisted copy of the ancient Greek name polis - city. It is under this name that the city is known today.
As you can see, there is no single answer to the question, what is the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and what is its name. It is necessary to indicate the historical time period of interest.
