Roger crowley constantinople6/20/2023 The Franks and the Italians of the time referred to its inhabitants simply as “the Greeks.” The inhabitants themselves, however, continued to refer to themselves as Romans, and saw their emperors as the literal successors to Augustus, Marcus Aurelius and Constantine.Ĭontaining impressive city walls, Constantinople was virtually impervious to attack, such as when an army of Goths approached the city after the battle of Adrianople in A.D. Historians refer to this medieval incarnation of the empire as Byzantine. Like Rome, Constantinople had seven hills divided into 14 districts.įor centuries, the city stood as the center of imperial power, even after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in A.D. Sitting on the Bosporus strait, which connects Europe and Asia, the new city was more easily defended than Rome, and it was a Christian city to reflect the emperor's religious preference. 330, the Roman Emperor Constantine founded the city of Constantinople on the Greek village of Byzantine to be the new imperial capital. The fall of this great city signaled the end of the Byzantine Empire, the medieval incarnation of the Roman Empire, and saw the armies of Islam spread into Europe from Asia for the first time. On 560 years ago this week - Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks.
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