Byzantium (
Greek: Βυζάντιον /
Byzántion,
Latin: , ) was an
ancient Greek city, which was founded by
Greek colonists from
Megara in 667 BC and named after their king
Byzas or Byzantas (Βύζας or Βύζαντας in Greek). The name "Byzantium" is a
Latinization of the original name
Byzantion. The city is what later evolved to be the center of the
Byzantine Empire (the Greek-speaking
Roman Empire of
late Antiquity and the
Middle Ages) under the name of
Constantinople. Constantinople fell to the Turkish
Ottoman Empire in 1453. The name of the city was changed to
Istanbul in 1930 following the establishment of modern
Turkey.
History
The origins of Byzantium are shrouded in legend. The traditional legend has it that
Byzas from
Megara (a town near
Athens), founded Byzantium in 667 BC, when he sailed northeast across the
Aegean Sea. Byzas had consulted the
Oracle at Delphi to ask where to make his new city. The Oracle told him to found it "opposite the blind." At the time, he did not know what this meant. But when he came upon the
Bosporus he realized what it meant: on the east shore was a Greek city,
Chalcedon. However, according to legend, they had not noticed the land that lay a half-mile away. Byzas founded his city here on the European coast and named it Byzantion after himself. It was mainly a trading city due to its strategic location at the
Black Sea's only entrance. Byzantion later conquered Chalcedon, across the Bosporus on the Asiatic side.
After siding with
Pescennius Niger against the victorious
Septimius Severus, the city was besieged by
Roman forces and suffered extensive damage in 196 AD. Byzantium was rebuilt by Septimius Severus, now emperor, and quickly regained its previous prosperity. The location of Byzantium attracted
Roman Emperor Constantine I who, in 330 AD, refounded it as an imperial residence inspired by Rome itself. (See
Nova Roma.) After his death the city was called
Constantinople (Greek Κωνσταντινούπολις or Konstantinoupolis) ('city of Constantine'). It remained the capital of the
Eastern Roman Empire, which is called the
Byzantine Empire by modern historians.
This combination of
imperialism and location would affect Constantinople's role as the nexus point between two
continents:
Europe and
Asia. It was a
commercial,
cultural, and
diplomatic magnet. With its strategic position, Constantinople did control the route between Asia and Europe, as well as the passage from the
Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. On May 29, 1453, the city fell to the
Ottoman Turks, and again became the capital of a powerful state, the
Ottoman Empire. The Turks called the city
Istanbul (though not officially renamed until 1930) and it has remained
Turkey's largest and most populous city, although
Ankara is now the capital.
Emblem
Though associated with the Sassanid Persians and with
Mithradates VI Eupator (who for a time incorporated the city into his empire), by the late
Hellenistic or early
Roman period, the star and crescent motif had been associated to some degree with Byzantium. For example, some Byzantine coins of the 1st century BC and later show the head of
Artemis with bow and quiver, and feature a crescent with what appears to be a six-rayed star on the reverse. According to accounts which vary in some of the details, in 340 BC the Byzantines and their allies the
Athenians were under siege by the troops of
Philip of Macedon. On a particularly dark and wet night Philip attempted a surprise attack but was thwarted by the appearance of a bright light in the sky. This light is occasionally described by subsequent interpreters as a meteor, sometimes as the moon, and some accounts also mention the barking of dogs. However, the original accounts mention only a light in the sky, without specifying the moon. To commemorate the event the Byzantines erected a statue of Artemis (or
Hecate)
lampadephoros (light-bearer or bringer). This story survived in the works
Hesychius of Miletus, who in all probability lived in the time of
Justinian I. His works survive only in fragments preserved in
Photius and the tenth century lexicographer
Suidas. The tale is also related by
Stephanus of Byzantium, and
Eustathius.
Devotion to Hecate was especially favored by the Byzantines for her aid in having protected them from the incursions of Philip of Macedon. Her symbols were the crescent and star, and the walls of her city were her provenance.
It is unclear how the symbol of a particular goddess (one of many) would have been transferred to the city itself. If the Byzantines adopted the crescent and star as a symbol of their city after the events of the mid 4th Century BC, one is forced to wonder why they waited several hundred years before putting the symbol on only some of their coins.
Later, under the
Romans, cities in the empire often continued to issue their own coinage. "Of the many themes that were used on local coinage, celestial and astral symbols often appeared, mostly stars or crescent moons." The wide variety of these issues, and the varying explanations for the significance of the star and crescent on Roman coinage precludes their discussion here. It is, however, apparent that by the time of the Romans, coins featuring a star or crescent in some combination were not at all rare.
Notable people
- Homerus, tragedian, lived in the early 3rd century BC
- Philo, engineer, lived ca. 280 BC–ca. 220 BC
See also
- Istanbul details the history of the city from 1453 on, and describes the modern city.
- Sarayburnu is the geographic location of ancient Byzantium
