The name of the capital of the Byzantine Empire is the subject of endless debate of several generations of historians. One of the most magnificent and largest cities in the world bore 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 did the name of one of the largest European cities transform over the centuries? Let's try to figure it out.
First residents
The first known stories by the inhabitants of Byzantium were megars. In 658 BC e. they founded a village in the narrowest place of the Bosphorus and named it Chalkedon. Almost simultaneously, the town of Byzantium grew on the other side of the strait. After several hundred years, both villages merged 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 of the Old World. The city was replaced by several owners - it was ruled by the Persians, Athenians, Macedonians, Spartans. In 74 BC e. power in Byzantium was seized by Rome. For the city, this meant the onset of peace and prosperity - under the protection of 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 Roman aristocrats for the right to be called emperor led to a fatal error. The Byzantines took the side of the Scriptures of Niger, which did not become emperor. In Rome, they crowned the crimson mantle of Septimus Severus, a stern warrior, an excellent military leader and hereditary aristocrat. Enraged by the murmurs of the Byzantines, the new ruler of the Roman Empire took Byzantium into a prolonged siege. After a long confrontation, the besieged Byzantines surrendered. Prolonged hostilities brought the city disaster and destruction. Perhaps the city would not have been reborn from the ashes, if not for Emperor Constantine.
New name
The new ambitious emperor of the Holy Roman Empire began his career with several military campaigns, which ended with the victory of the Roman army. Having become the lord of the vast territories of the Roman Empire, Constantine was faced with the fact that the eastern lands are controlled by Roman governors in a semi-autonomous mode. It was necessary to reduce the distance between the center and remote areas. And Constantine decided to lay in the eastern lands the second most important city of Rome. He settled on the dilapidated Byzantium and directed his efforts at turning 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 borders around the city. Later, the city walls of the new metropolis were installed along this line. Huge money and personal participation of the emperor made a miracle possible - in just six years the city has become worthy of the title of 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 settled by immigrants from other areas of the empire, acquired splendor and splendor, appropriate for the new capital. So the city received its new name - Constantinople, and became a worthy embodiment of everything that the Byzantine Empire represented. The capital of this state was not in vain called the second Rome - the eastern sister was not inferior in magnitude and splendor to her western brother.
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 named after 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. Representatives of other movements Byzantine Christians considered heretics. The emperor was the personification of the secular and religious life of the country, but there was no power of God, as was often the case with the eastern tyrants. Religious tradition was rather 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 consanguinity, nor personal ties guaranteed the Byzantine throne. In this country, everyone could become an emperor ... and almost a god. Both the lord and the city were full of power and grandeur, both secular and religious.
Hence a certain duality in the definition of Constantinople as a city in which the entire Byzantine empire was concentrated. The capital of a great country was a place of pilgrimage for many generations of Christians - magnificent cathedrals and temples were simply amazing.
Russia 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 richer neighbors. Rusichs regularly went camping, bringing rich gifts of distant lands to their homeland. Campaigns to Constantinople were as much as the imagination of our ancestors that the new, Russian name of the capital of the Byzantine empire soon spread. Our ancestors called the city Tsargrad, thereby emphasizing its wealth and power.
The collapse of the empire
Everything in the world has its end. The Byzantine Empire did not escape this fate. The capital of the once powerful 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 him Istanbul (Istanbul). Linguists argue that this name is a twisted tracing-paper of the ancient Greek name polis - city. It is under this name that the city is known at the present time.
As you can see, the question is, what is the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and what is it called, there is no single answer. It is necessary to indicate the interesting historical period of time.