History / Golden Horn / Emperors / Religion / Art "City of the world's desire," hub of the medieval universe, Constantinople bestrode a superbly defensible peninsula and sheltered harbor, the Golden Horn, at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Constantine saw that Rome, as well as being a centre of intrigues and feuds, was far to steeped in the older pagan beliefs to be suitable as the capital of a Christian empire. In 324, when he became undisputed master of the Roman world, its eastern and western halves now reunited, Constantine laid the foundation stone of a new city which was modelled on Rome but intended to be larger and richer than anything that had been built before. The site he chose was an old Greek trading town called Byzantium, founded 1000 years earlier by a Greek sailor named Byzas. In six years Constantine's architects, engineers and builders completed the new city and decorated it with art treasures from every corner of the Roman Empire. To attract citizens to the new capital, the emperor tempted the upper classes with houses modelled on those of Rome and other important cities, and the lower classes with bread and circuses on a lavish scale. Constantine was going to call his city New Rome , but it quickly came to be known as Constantinople, the 'City of Constantine'. Constantine chose his site well. His new capital stood on the Bosporus, between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, at the crossing point of trade routes between Eastern Europe and Asia. The Byzantines became the busiest traders of the times. They bought, sold and exchanged an unparalleled variety of goods. By charging 10% on all goods carried into and out of the city , the Byzantines earned money to pay for their buildings, their public services and their entertainments. Justinian rebuilds cities, monasteries, and 700 fortifications, including Constantinople and St. Sophia. Medieval visitors from the rural West, where Rome had shrunk to a cow town, were struck dumb by this resplendent metropolis, home to half a milion, its harbor crowded with vessels , its markets filled with silks, spices, furs, precious stones, perfumed woods, carved ivory, gold and silver and enameled jewelry. "One could not believe there was so rich a city in all the world," reported the crusader Villehardouin. Back to Learning Categories > History History / Golden Horn / Emperors / Religion / Art