Byzantine Empire: the capital. The capital of the Byzantine Empire

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 big cities in the world wore 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 understand.

First inhabitants

The first known stories of the inhabitants of Byzantium were the Megars. In the year 658 BC. E. They founded the village in the narrowest part of the Bosphorus and named it Chalcedon. Almost simultaneously on the other side of the strait the town of Byzantium grew up. After a few hundred years, both towns joined together and gave the name to the new city.

Steps to prosperity

The unique geographical location of the city made it possible to control the transportation of goods to the Black Sea - to the shores of the Caucasus, to Tavrida and Anatolia. Due to this the city quickly became rich and became one of the biggest shopping centers of the Old World. The city was replaced by several hosts - it was ruled by Persians, Athenians, Macedonians, Spartans. In the year 74 BC. E. Power in Byzantium captured Rome. For the city, this meant the arrival of a time of peace and prosperity - under the protection of Roman legionaries, 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 the emperor led to a fatal mistake. The Byzantines took the side of the Pisces of Niger, which the emperor never did. In Rome, crowned with the purple mantle of Septimus Severus - a stern warrior, an excellent military leader and hereditary aristocrat. Enraged by the murmuring of the Byzantines, the new ruler of the Roman Empire took Byzantium in a prolonged draft. After a long confrontation the besieged Byzantines surrendered. Long-lasting military actions brought disaster and destruction to the city. Perhaps, the city would not have been reborn from the ashes, had it not been for the Emperor Constantine.

New name

The new ambitious emperor of the sacred Roman Empire began his career with several military campaigns, which culminated in the victory of the Roman army. Becoming the lord of the vast territories of the Roman Empire, Constantine faced the fact that the eastern lands are governed by Roman governors in a semi-autonomous mode. It was necessary to shorten the distance between the center and remote areas. And Constantine decided to lay in the eastern lands of the second most important city of Rome. He stopped at the dilapidated Byzantium and directed his efforts to turn this provincial village into the brilliant capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The Transfiguration began in 324 AD. Emperor Constantine with his own spear outlined the boundaries around the city. Later, along this line, the city walls of the new metropolis were installed. The huge money and personal participation of the emperor made the miracle possible - literally in six years the city became worthy of the title of capital. The grand opening was held on May 11, 330. On this day, the city received a new impetus to development. Reborn, it was actively populated by settlers from other areas of the empire, acquired splendor and brilliance, appropriate to the new capital. So the city got 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 in grandeur and splendor was in no way inferior to its 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 formation of Orthodox Christianity.

The Byzantine church professed an orthodox Christianity. Representatives of other currents Byzantine Christians considered heretics. The emperor was the personification of both secular 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 rather diluted with secular ceremonies and rituals. The emperor was endowed with divine authority, but nevertheless he was elected among ordinary mortals. There was no institution of succession - neither blood kinship 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 greatness, both secular and religious.

Hence a kind of duality in the definition of Constantinople as the city in which the whole Byzantine Empire was concentrated. The capital of a great country was a place of pilgrimage for many generations of Christians - magnificent cathedrals and temples simply amazed imagination.

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 richer neighbors. Rusichi regularly went on hikes, bringing home rich gifts of distant lands. The trips to Constantinople were so amazing to the imagination of our ancestors that a 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 either. The capital of the once mighty state was captured and plundered by the soldiers of the Ottoman Empire. After the establishment of the Turkish rule, the city lost its name. New owners preferred to call it Stabbul (Istanbul). Linguists claim that this name is a twisted tracing of the ancient Greek name of the polis - city. It is under this name that the city is known at the present time.

Apparently, the question of which capital of the Byzantine Empire, and as it is called, there is no single answer. It is necessary to indicate the historical period of interest.