From Constantine to Constantine

Rome was very much the center of the Roman Empire. The city had mythical and deeply sincere religious importance for many who lived there, all the way back to the origin story of how Rome was founded.

Unfortunately, Rome had a hard time keeping its borders secure at the turn of the 4th century CE. Barbarian invaders, especially Germanic tribes like the Franks, Saxons, Vandals, and Goths, were pretty much constantly attacking at the Roman Empire, constantly invading and plundering hundreds of years.

By contrast, when the new Emperor Constantine looked to the east, he saw relative calm, prosperity, and—most importantly—security. Not only was the east thriving economically, but trade with east Asia (China for silk, India for spices) made the region well traveled and safe for business.

Constantine decided something incredible: Rome would no longer be the center of… Rome. It was almost unthinkable that another city would be the capitol, but that’s exactly what Constantine did.

But where to go?

This question was surprisingly easy to answer: Byzantium. Byzantium controlled the Bosporus Strait, a vital passageway between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Rome would directly control this valuable trade route, and the city was an incredibly important military hub.

Because it was on a peninsula, the city was surrounded by water on three sides. If the Romans focused on building the strongest walls they could on the one side facing land, they could make a city many times harder to capture than Rome itself.

There were already roads going in and out of the city, and it’s fair to say there was some existing infrastructure that could be built upon. It was an ancient Greek port city, designed for merchants to do business and for people to live in relative comfort.

Last but not least, Constantine was eager to break free from Romulus and Remus, at least to a degree. He was an agent of change. This new capitol would be much, much easier to mold into something the emperor wanted, free from much of the political and religious baggage Rome held.

People started calling the city “New Rome” or “Second Rome” right away, including Constantine. Over time, “Constantine’s city”, or Constantinople began to take over. This new name stuck for good.

Because of the shift to the old city of Byzantium as the capitol, historians began referring to the eastern half of Rome as “the Byzantine Empire.” If you see that in history books, that’s what it means. I’m not a tremendous fan of thinking of the eastern Roman empire as something other than the Roman empire, as I wrote about here, so I’ll usually refer to it as “the Roman Empire” or “the Eastern Roman Empire.” I think it gives a much more accurate picture of events.

I want you to do the same, at least for today.

Now, an awful lot happened with the eastern portion of the Roman Empire during this time. Vikings became elite Roman guards, Constantinople established itself as one of the most secure cities in the world, the Hagia Sophia—one of the world’s most stunningly beautiful religious structures—brought in visitors from all over the Christian world.

After more than a thousands years as the capitol of Rome and tremendous success, measured by both trade and security, the shocking end came relatively quickly. The rest of the empire hadn’t been so lucky, and it had shrunk steadily for centuries. Meanwhile, another rising power—the Ottoman Empire—gradually surrounded Constantinople, so that there was little else left of the old majestic Roman empire.

Mehmed II, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, was incredibly ambitious, very well educated, and eager to test his abilities out on the grandest prize of all: the capture of Constantinople, now a potent symbol of the Christian world. Capturing this city would mean not only an enormously symbolic win for Islam, but Mehmed saw clearly that this would be the crown jewel of his empire.

Now, I made a point about how both the first and last rules of the Western Roman Empire were named Romulus. Guess what the name was of the Emperor of the Eastern Roman empire at the time of Mehmed’s attack?

That’s right: Constantine. Constantine XI valiantly led the defense of his city, holding out for months, but the 7000 Romans soldiers were no match for the 100,000 or more Ottoman soldiers laying siege to the city.

After a very effective naval blockade weakened the city, cannon fire pounded away at those incredible walls that had stood for a thousand years. Cracks turned into missing chunks, and things moved very quickly once the walls were breached. Constantine XI is believed to have died in the fighting.

From Romulus to Romulus, and from Constantine to Constantine.

Rome, as an empire, lasted for two millennia, depending on how you measure it. The Ottoman empire lasted for several hundred years, only formally ending with the conclusion of World War I. If Rome connected the ancient and medieval worlds, the Ottomans effectively bridged the gap between the medieval and modern world.