Constantinople: The City of Constantine
Last Updated    12/1/2007     11/30/2007

Constantine I was dissatisfied with Rome as his capital.  He rebuilt Istanbul and renamed it Constaniople.  Rome, Latin speaking, and pagan began its slow decline.  Constaniople, Greek, and Christianity became the leader.  It remained a leader for a 1000 years.

Location For Trade
Byzantium was on the waterway between the Black and Aegean Sea.
It was at the crossroads of the trading routes between Europe and Asia.
Harbor was safe for fishing boats, merchant ships, and warships.
It controlled the sea trade between Kievan Rus and Mediterranean.
A major east-west trade route passed through Constantinople.

New Capital
It took four years to rebuild Constantinople.
Streets were narrow.
Apartment houses were crowded.
Columns, marbles, doors and tiles were taken from the temples of Rome and moved to Constantinople.
The greatest works of Greek and Roman art were erected in the squares and streets.
Government buildings and palaces were designed in the Roman style.
It had an oval arena fir for races called the Hippodrome.
Constantine erected a high column with a statue of himself at the top.

Defense of the City.
     
The sea protected the city on three sides.
A huge wall protected the fourth.
A chain was stretched across the north harbor for even more protection.

Government
The political life was a copy of Rome.
The city operated under Roman laws and rules.
Officials took charge of building roads, bridges, wells, and caravan shelters.
Army followed Roman military customs.
The poor received free bread.
Circuses and chariot races were put on by the government.

Family
Family was the center of social life.
Wealthy people moved to Constantinople because Constantine offered to build them palaces.

Jobs
Most people were farmers, herders, or laborers.

Churches
Constantinople was a Christian city dedicated to God.
Church leaders were consulted about important events.
Church leaders exerted great influence over the people.
Church buildings were the most magnificent in the city.
Church relics were gathered from all over the Christian world.
They were displayed in monuments, palaces, and churches.
The bodies of saints rested in beautiful shrines.
Thousands prayed at these shrines to cure their ills.
Created illuminated manuscripts and stained-glass windows.

Christian Values
Byzantines believed that Christians should take care of each other.
The poor, the old, and the blind were taken care of.

Population
Greeks, Turks, Italians, Slavs, Persians, Armenians, and Jews lived in Constantinople.
people were well-educated.
People spoke Greek.
Latin was the official language for government business.
Most people became Christians.
All called themselves Romans.
330 AD, population was 30,000.
             Increased to 600,000
1200s, population 100,000-500,000.
1204, population 100,000.
1261, 35,000
1453, 50,000

Trade and Industry
Trade and industry were controlled by the government.
The city had shops, factories, and banking houses.
Main industry was textiles.
550, silkworms smuggled out of china.
Beautiful fabrics and clothes were made of raw silk.

Bibliography
"Constantine I." Encyclopędia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopędia Britannica Online. 30 Nov. 2007  http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109633.

"Constantinople." Wikkipedia. 27 Nov. 2007   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople.

Greenblatt, Miriam, and Lemmo, Peter. Human Heritage A World History. Columbus, Ohio: McGraw-Hill, 2001.