Scandza was described as a "great island" by Gothic-Byzantine historian Jordanes in his work Getica . The island was located in the Arctic regions of the sea that surrounded the world. The location is usually identified with Scandinavia .
127-630: Jordanes was a Roman citizen living in Constantinople but described himself as being of Gothic descent. His Getica , written in 551 AD, gives a history of the Goths , beginning in Scandza from where they later migrated to Gothiscandza , near the mouth of the Vistula River . The Swedish archaeologist Göran Burenhult describes this account as a unique glimpse into the tribes of Scandinavia in
254-491: A Herul, and the historian Herwig Wolfram has described this Scandinavian Rudolf as a Gaut . Due to the similarity of the circumstances, it has been suggested that the various accounts describe one individual, although this remains uncertain. Historians such as Andrew Merrill have pointed out that the similar elements in the accounts of Jordanes and Procopius may come from a common source, such as Cassiodorus , who worked for Theoderic. More speculatively, another debated issue
381-506: A band of warriors. In the Getica , it is said that Rodulf spurned and fled his own kingdom, in times which were still recent for Jordanes. The way that his text has come to us, Rodulf is described as king of the "Ranii" who are described as one of several peoples living near the Danes. Jordanes describes him as achieving what he desired from Theoderic. The passage, as translated by Christensen,
508-556: A call for aid from Alexius , the First Crusade assembled at Constantinople in 1096, but declining to put itself under Byzantine command set out for Jerusalem on its own account. John II built the monastery of the Pantocrator (Almighty) with a hospital for the poor of 50 beds. With the restoration of firm central government, the empire became fabulously wealthy. The population was rising (estimates for Constantinople in
635-643: A center of culture and education of the Mediterranean basin, Constantinople came to be known by prestigious titles such as Basileuousa (Queen of Cities) and Megalopolis (the Great City) and was, in colloquial speech, commonly referred to as just Polis ( ἡ Πόλις ) 'the City' by Constantinopolitans and provincial Byzantines alike. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently. The medieval Vikings, who had contacts with
762-509: A certain degree consisted of Norwegians. In his book In northern mists , Nansen suggested that Rodulf of the Ranii tribe could have migrated south with a band of warriors, and that on arriving at the Danube , pressed by other warlike tribes in the vicinity, he sought alliance with Theodoric. Nansen believed this could have happened before Theodoric's invasion of Italy in 489, at the same time that
889-634: A city-state until it was annexed by Darius I in 512 BC into the Persian Empire , who saw the site as the optimal location to construct a pontoon bridge crossing into Europe as Byzantium was situated at the narrowest point in the Bosphorus strait. Persian rule lasted until 478 BC when as part of the Greek counterattack to the Second Persian invasion of Greece , a Greek army led by
1016-641: A date is the remark of Procopius that implies he was ruling already in the early 490s. This was in the period after Theoderic the Great took over the Kingdom of Italy from Odoacer in 493. In Italy, Odoacer had himself been named as a Heruli king, and other Danubian peoples who had followed him there. After his murder in 493, the Herules still ruled a kingdom north of the Danube: When [...] Anastasius took over
1143-570: A double wall lying about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the west of the first wall and a moat with palisades in front. Constantinople's location between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara reduced the land area that needed defensive walls. The city was built intentionally to rival Rome , and it was claimed that several elevations within its walls matched Rome's 'seven hills'. The impenetrable defenses enclosed magnificent palaces, domes, and towers,
1270-838: A dwindling and depopulated city. In 1261, the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos liberated the city, and after the restoration under the Palaiologos dynasty, it enjoyed a partial recovery. With the advent of the Ottoman Empire in 1299, the Byzantine Empire began to lose territories, and the city began to lose population. By the early 15th century, the Byzantine Empire was reduced to just Constantinople and its environs, along with Morea in Greece, making it an enclave inside
1397-702: A flat and fertile region, due to which they were subject to the attacks of their neighbours. Other tribes were the Ahelmil (identified with the region of Halmstad ); the Finnaithae ( Finnhaith- ; i.e., Finnheden , the old name for Finnveden ); the Fervir (the inhabitants of Fjäre Hundred ); and the Gautigoths (the Geats of Västergötland ), a nation which was bold and quick to engage in war. There were also
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#17327721162861524-582: A great island shaped like a juniper leaf" (i.e. long and not round) "having bulging sides and which tapered down in the south at a long end". He also referred to Pomponius Mela 's description of Codanonia (called Scatinavia by Pliny the Elder ) which was located in the Codanian Gulf (probably Kattegat ). "This island was in front of the Vistula and that there was a great lake" "from which sprang
1651-612: A historical name, Scandia still occasionally continues in use today as a Latin name for Scandinavia . The Scandinavian Bishops Conference , an Episcopal Conference organized by the Catholic Church since 1923, is called Conferentia Episcopalis Scandiae . In the north, there was the nation of the Adogit (perhaps referring to the inhabitants of Hålogaland in Norway or the people of Andøya ) who lived in continual light during
1778-479: A most unruly manner, taunting him with certain other names besides. Procopius thus sees the conflict with the Langobards starting already in the 5th century, around 494. If however the un-named Herule king who was adopted by Theoderic was Rodulf, based on the idea that there was no Herule king after him who Theoderic would have allied to, then the letter announcing his adoption is estimated to be from 507-511, and
1905-646: A new bodyguard known as the Varangian Guard . They were known for their ferocity, honour, and loyalty. It is said that, in 1038, they were dispersed in winter quarters in the Thracesian Theme when one of their number attempted to violate a countrywoman, but in the struggle she seized his sword and killed him; instead of taking revenge, however, his comrades applauded her conduct, compensated her with all his possessions, and exposed his body without burial as if he had committed suicide. However, following
2032-667: A new city wall in his name, the Severan Wall. Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Having restored the unity of the Empire, and, being in the course of major governmental reforms as well as of sponsoring the consolidation of the Christian church , he was well aware that Rome was an unsatisfactory capital. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, and it offered an undesirable playground for disaffected politicians. Yet it had been
2159-510: A new kingdom under Roman controlled territory near present-day Belgrade. It is uncertain but possible that this Rodulf is the same king of that name who is described in the Getica of Jordanes , as the king of the Ranii on the "island" of Scandza (what Jordanes called Scandinavia), who left his kingdom near the Danes, and came to Italy, where he succeeded in gaining the "embrace" ( gremium ) of
2286-665: Is as follows: The Dani [...] drove from their homes the Heruli, who lay claim to preeminence among all the nations of Scandza for their tallness. Furthermore there are in the same neighbourhood the Grannii, Augandzi, Eunixi, Taetel, Rugi, Aprochi and Rani, over whom Roduulf was king not many years ago. But he despised his own kingdom and fled to the embrace of Theoderic, king of the Goths, finding there what he desired. Modern historians are uncertain whether Jordanes intended to say that Rodulf
2413-572: Is known about this initial settlement. The site, according to the founding myth of the city, was abandoned by the time Greek settlers from the city-state of Megara founded Byzantium ( Ancient Greek : Βυζάντιον , romanized : Byzántion ) in around 657 BC, across from the town of Chalcedon on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus. Hesychius of Miletus wrote that some "claim that people from Megara, who derived their descent from Nisos, sailed to this place under their leader Byzas, and invent
2540-481: Is of Thracian origin. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas . The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honor of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was more likely just a play on the word Byzantion . The city was briefly renamed Augusta Antonina in the early 3rd century AD by
2667-618: Is still used by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the title of one of their most important leaders, the Orthodox patriarch based in the city, referred to as "His Most Divine All-Holiness the Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch". In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpoli(s) ( Κωνσταντινούπολις/Κωνσταντινούπολη ) or simply just "the City" ( Η Πόλη ). Constantinople
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#17327721162862794-621: Is therefore considered unlikely to have occurred about 508. A later account of the battle with the Lombards by Paul the Deacon gives Rodulf a more legitimate casus belli against the Lombards. Rodulf purportedly declared war against the Lombards because his brother was murdered by Tato's daughter Rumetruda, after a falling-out between the two, during his brother's return home. In the Historia Langobardorum ("History of
2921-616: Is whether Rodulf could be the inspiration for certain aspects of later heroic poetry, possibly including the Norse saga character Hrólfr Kraki . The Herul kingdom was somewhere in the area of northern Lower Austria , north of the Upper Danube. The Danubian Heruli became escaped Hunnish domination in 454, after the Battle of Nedao . Rodulf is the first known king of this kingdom, and the first mention of him which can be associated with
3048-763: The Church of John the Baptist to house the skull of the saint (today preserved at the Topkapı Palace ), put up a memorial pillar to himself in the Forum of Taurus, and turned the ruined temple of Aphrodite into a coach house for the Praetorian Prefect ; Arcadius built a new forum named after himself on the Mese, near the walls of Constantine. After the shock of the Battle of Adrianople in 378, in which Valens and
3175-582: The Church of the Resurrection or the New Church. Chariot-racing had been important in Rome for centuries. In Constantinople, the hippodrome became over time increasingly a place of political significance. It was where (as a shadow of the popular elections of old Rome) the people by acclamation showed their approval of a new emperor, and also where they openly criticized the government, or clamoured for
3302-517: The Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbor. Already then, in Greek and early Roman times, Byzantium was famous for the strategic geographic position that made it difficult to besiege and capture, and its position at the crossroads of the Asiatic-European trade route over land and as the gateway between the Mediterranean and Black Seas made it too valuable a settlement to abandon, as Emperor Septimius Severus later realized when he razed
3429-545: The Heruls from their lands. Those tribes were the tallest of men. In the same area there were the Granni ( Grenland ), Augandzi ( Agder ), Eunixi , Taetel , Rugii ( Rogaland ), Arochi ( Hordaland ), and Ranii (possibly the people of Romsdalen ). The king Rodulf was of the Ranii but left his kingdom and joined Theodoric , king of the Goths. Constantinople Constantinople ( see other names ) became
3556-715: The Mixi , Evagreotingis (or the Evagres and the Otingis depending on the translator), who live like animals among the rocks (probably the numerous hillforts ; Evagreotingis is believed to have meant the "people of the island hill forts," which best fits the people of southern Bohuslän ). Beyond them, there were the Ostrogoths ( Östergötland ), Raumarici ( Romerike ), the Ragnaricii (probably Ranrike , an old name for
3683-569: The Ostrogothic King of Italy , Theodoric the Great . Notably, Jordanes mentions that the Heruli had a connection to this area. Some had lived in the region until they were driven out at some point in time by the Danes. However, Jordanes does not specifically connect Rodulf of the Rani to the Heruli. Procopius confirms that the Heruli had a connection to Scandinavia at least after the death of their king Rudolf, because he explains that some of
3810-600: The Pax Romana , for nearly three centuries until the late 2nd century AD. Byzantium was never a major influential city-state like that of Athens , Corinth or Sparta , but the city enjoyed relative peace and steady growth as a prosperous trading city lent by its remarkable position. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean , and had in
3937-794: The Theustes (the people of the Tjust region in Småland ); Vagoths (probably the Gutes of Gotland ); Bergio (either the people of Bjäre Hundred in Skåne , according to L Weibull, or the people of Kolmården according to others); Hallin (southern Halland ); and the Liothida (either the Luggude Hundred or Lödde in Skåne , though others connect them to Södermanland ), who lived in
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4064-608: The 12th century vary from some 100,000 to 500,000), and towns and cities across the realm flourished. Meanwhile, the volume of money in circulation dramatically increased. This was reflected in Constantinople by the construction of the Blachernae palace, the creation of brilliant new works of art, and general prosperity at this time: an increase in trade, made possible by the growth of the Italian city-states, may have helped
4191-423: The 12th century. Toward the end of Manuel I Komnenos 's reign, the number of foreigners in the city reached about 60,000–80,000 people out of a total population of about 400,000 people. In 1171, Constantinople also contained a small community of 2,500 Jews. In 1182, most Latin (Western European) inhabitants of Constantinople were massacred . In artistic terms, the 12th century was a very productive period. There
4318-522: The 13th and 11th centuries BC. The site, according to the founding myth of the city, was abandoned by the time Greek settlers from the city-state of Megara founded Byzantium ( Ancient Greek : Βυζάντιον , Byzántion ) in around 657 BC, across from the town of Chalcedon on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus. The origins of the name of Byzantion , more commonly known by the later Latin Byzantium , are not entirely clear, though some suggest it
4445-574: The 6th century. Early Greek and Roman geographers used the name Scandia for various uncharted islands in Northern Europe . The name originated in Greek sources, which used it for a long time for different islands in the Mediterranean region. In the Iliad the name denotes an ancient city in Kythira , Greece. The first attested written use of the name for a Northern European island appears in
4572-561: The Bosporus and plundered the monasteries and other properties on the suburban Princes' Islands . Oryphas , the admiral of the Byzantine fleet, alerted the emperor Michael, who promptly put the invaders to flight; but the suddenness and savagery of the onslaught made a deep impression on the citizens. In 980, the emperor Basil II received an unusual gift from Prince Vladimir of Kiev: 6,000 Varangian warriors, which Basil formed into
4699-681: The Caesar (Emperor)', from the Slavonic words tsar ('Caesar' or 'King') and grad ('city'). This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις ( Vasileos Polis ), 'the city of the emperor [king]'. In Persian the city was also called Asitane (the Threshold of the State), and in Armenian , it was called Gosdantnubolis (City of Constantine). The modern Turkish name for
4826-407: The Cimbrian peninsula. This is the region where Pliny had located "Scatinavia". When Scandinavian scholars became familiar with the Roman records in the Middle Ages , Scandiae was used as an alternative Latin name for Terra Scania . The early 13th-century Latin paraphrase of the Scanian Law bears the title Lex Scandiae provincialis . Jordanes referred to Ptolemy 's description of Scandia "as
4953-515: The Danube about this time and advanced into Thrace, but he was deserted by many of his followers, who joined with the Romans in driving their king back north of the river. Subsequent to this, new walls were built to defend the city and the fleet on the Danube improved. After the barbarians overran the Western Roman Empire, Constantinople became the indisputable capital city of the Roman Empire. Emperors were no longer peripatetic between various court capitals and palaces. They remained in their palace in
5080-434: The Doge and the leading Franks were installed in the Great Palace, and the city was given over to pillage for three days. Rodwulf Rodulf was king of the Heruli kingdom on the Middle Danube in the period around 500, and possibly of Scandinavian origin. He died in a battle in about 508, with the neighbouring Lombards , which led to the splitting up of the Heruli. He is probably the same Heruli king that Theoderic
5207-433: The Emperor Septimius Severus (193–211), who razed the city to the ground in 196 for supporting a rival contender in the civil war and had it rebuilt in honor of his son Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (who succeeded him as Emperor), popularly known as Caracalla . The name appears to have been quickly forgotten and abandoned, and the city reverted to Byzantium/Byzantion after either the assassination of Caracalla in 217 or, at
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5334-411: The Gate of the Droungarios ( Turkish : Odun Kapısı ) on the Golden Horn. Nevertheless, the destruction wrought by the 1197 fire paled in comparison with that brought by the Crusaders. In the course of a plot between Philip of Swabia , Boniface of Montferrat and the Doge of Venice , the Fourth Crusade was, despite papal excommunication, diverted in 1203 against Constantinople, ostensibly promoting
5461-507: The Germans. (Indeed, archaeological evidence has shown the Scandinavians of the time were tall, probably due to their diet). The listing represents several instances of the same people named twice, which was probably due to the gathering of information from diverse travellers and from Scandinavians arriving to join the Goths, such as Rodwulf from Bohuslän . Whereas linguists have been able to connect some names to regions in Scandinavia, there are others that may be based on misunderstandings. On
5588-401: The Great wrote to in two surviving letters which do not mention his name, in one of which Theoderic "adopted" him with a gift of arms. Less certainly, many scholars also equate him to the King Rodulf that Jordanes mentions as having come from Scandinavia to Italy, to join Theoderic. Rodulf was described by Procopius as the king of the Danubian Heruli already three years after the beginning of
5715-420: The Great City and sent generals to command their armies. The wealth of the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia flowed into Constantinople. The emperor Justinian I (527–565) was known for his successes in war, for his legal reforms and for his public works. It was from Constantinople that his expedition for the reconquest of the former Diocese of Africa set sail on or about 21 June 533. Before their departure,
5842-467: The Heruli were just north of the Danube, and were the nearest neighbours of the Goths. In short, although particularly scholars have long identified the unnamed Heruli king and the Rodulfs as the same person, including the Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde in an entry by Norwegian historian Claus Krag , others such as historian Walter Goffart and archaeologist Dagfinn Skre have questioned this identification. Historian A. H. Merrills, on
5969-429: The Heruli, and they are thought to have migrated from the Baltic Sea. Historian Axel Kristinsson has speculated that it could have been natural for Rodulf to seek out some of his kinsmen, namely the Danubian Rugians who had joined the Ostrogoths after their kingdom was destroyed in 487. The scientist-explorer Fridtjof Nansen proposed that "Heruli" at first perhaps was a common name for bands of northern warriors, who to
6096-417: The Lombards"), Paul the Deacon mentions that Rodulf was among the dead in a battle against the Lombards under Tato , probably in 508. Theodoric did not manage to intervene in time, and the Heruls thus suffered a crushing defeat. The Heruls were split up as a result of the defeat in the battle. The Lombards took both Rodulf's standard ( vexillum ) and his helmet, and Paul the Deacon claimed that this broke
6223-435: The Ottoman Empire. The city was finally besieged and conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1453, remaining under its control until the early 20th century, after which it was renamed Istanbul under the Empire's successor state , Turkey. According to Pliny the Elder in his Natural History , the first known name of a settlement on the site of Constantinople was Lygos , a settlement likely of Thracian origin founded between
6350-399: The Roman empire [491], the Eruli, having no longer anyone in the world whom they could assail, laid down their arms and remained quiet, and they observed peace in this way for a space of three years. But the people themselves, being exceedingly vexed, began to abuse their leader Rodolphus without restraint, and going to him constantly they called him cowardly and effeminate, and railed at him in
6477-491: The Spartan general Pausanias captured the city which remained an independent, yet subordinate, city under the Athenians, and later to the Spartans after 411 BC. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c. 150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. This treaty would pay dividends retrospectively as Byzantium would maintain this independent status, and prosper under peace and stability in
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#17327721162866604-440: The Thracian shore at the mouth of the Pontos, where two pups drink of the gray sea, where fish and stag graze on the same pasture, set up their dwellings at the place where the rivers Kydaros and Barbyses have their estuaries, one flowing from the north, the other from the west, and merging with the sea at the altar of the nymph called Semestre" The city maintained independence as
6731-407: The Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script. After that, as part of the Turkification movement, Turkey started to urge other countries to use Turkish names for Turkish cities , instead of other transliterations to Latin script that had been used in Ottoman times and the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. The name Constantinople
6858-419: The Turkish capital then moved to Ankara . Officially renamed Istanbul in 1930, the city is today the largest city in Europe , straddling the Bosporus strait and lying in both Europe and Asia , and the financial center of Turkey . In 324,following the reunification of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, the ancient city of Byzantium was selected to serve as the new capital of the Roman Empire, and
6985-402: The accession of Theodosius I , emperors had been resident only in the years 337–338, 347–351, 358–361, 368–369. Its status as a capital was recognized by the appointment of the first known Urban Prefect of the City Honoratus, who held office from 11 December 359 until 361. The urban prefects had concurrent jurisdiction over three provinces each in the adjacent dioceses of Thrace (in which the city
7112-428: The blue and green factions, innocent and guilty. This came full circle on the relationship within the Hippodrome between the power and the people during the time of Justinian. Fires started by the Nika rioters consumed the Theodosian basilica of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), the city's cathedral, which lay to the north of the Augustaeum and had itself replaced the Constantinian basilica founded by Constantius II to replace
7239-406: The capital of the Roman Empire during the reign of Constantine the Great in 330. Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century, Constantinople remained the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (also known as the Byzantine Empire ; 330–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). Following the Turkish War of Independence ,
7366-455: The capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Nevertheless, Constantine identified the site of Byzantium as the right place: a place where an emperor could sit, readily defended, with easy access to the Danube or the Euphrates frontiers, his court supplied from the rich gardens and sophisticated workshops of Roman Asia, his treasuries filled by
7493-457: The cathedral of the Eastern Orthodox Church , which served as the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate ; the sacred Imperial Palace , where the emperors lived; the Hippodrome ; the Golden Gate of the Land Walls; and opulent aristocratic palaces. The University of Constantinople was founded in the 5th century and contained artistic and literary treasures before it was sacked in 1204 and 1453, including its vast Imperial Library which contained
7620-479: The city could no longer be supplied from Egypt as a result of the Persian wars: the population fell substantially as a result. While the city withstood a siege by the Sassanids and Avars in 626, Heraclius campaigned deep into Persian territory and briefly restored the status quo in 628, when the Persians surrendered all their conquests. However, further sieges followed the Arab conquests , first from 674 to 678 and then in 717 to 718 . The Theodosian Walls kept
7747-461: The city impenetrable from the land, while a newly discovered incendiary substance known as Greek fire allowed the Byzantine navy to destroy the Arab fleets and keep the city supplied. In the second siege, the second ruler of Bulgaria , Khan Tervel , rendered decisive help. He was called Saviour of Europe . In the 730s Leo III carried out extensive repairs of the Theodosian walls, which had been damaged by frequent and violent attacks; this work
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#17327721162867874-431: The city to the ground for supporting Pescennius Niger 's claimancy . It was a move greatly criticized by the contemporary consul and historian Cassius Dio who said that Severus had destroyed "a strong Roman outpost and a base of operations against the barbarians from Pontus and Asia". He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina , fortifying it with
8001-404: The city was also called 'Second Rome', 'Eastern Rome', and Roma Constantinopolitana ( Latin for 'Constantinopolitan Rome'). As the city became the sole remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew, the city also came to have a multitude of nicknames. As the largest and wealthiest city in Europe during the 4th–13th centuries and
8128-469: The city was renamed Nova Roma, or 'New Rome', by Emperor Constantine the Great . On 11 May 330, it was renamed Constantinople and dedicated to Constantine. Constantinople is generally considered to be the center and the "cradle of Orthodox Christian civilization ". From the mid-5th century to the early 13th century, Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe. The city became famous for its architectural masterpieces, such as Hagia Sophia ,
8255-417: The city, İstanbul , derives from the Greek phrase eis tin Polin ( εἰς τὴν πόλιν ), meaning '(in)to the city'. This name was used in colloquial speech in Turkish alongside Kostantiniyye , the more formal adaptation of the original Constantinople , during the period of Ottoman rule, while western languages mostly continued to refer to the city as Constantinople until the early 20th century. In 1928,
8382-453: The city. Constantine laid out a new square at the centre of old Byzantium, naming it the Augustaeum . The new senate-house (or Curia) was housed in a basilica on the east side. On the south side of the great square was erected the Great Palace of the Emperor with its imposing entrance, the Chalke , and its ceremonial suite known as the Palace of Daphne . Nearby was the vast Hippodrome for chariot-races, seating over 80,000 spectators, and
8509-421: The claims of Alexios IV Angelos brother-in-law of Philip, son of the deposed emperor Isaac II Angelos . The reigning emperor Alexios III Angelos had made no preparation. The Crusaders occupied Galata , broke the defensive chain protecting the Golden Horn , and entered the harbour, where on 27 July they breached the sea walls: Alexios III fled. But the new Alexios IV Angelos found the Treasury inadequate, and
8636-430: The construction of the Theodosian Walls in the early 5th century, it was extended to the new Golden Gate , reaching a total length of seven Roman miles . After the construction of the Theodosian Walls, Constantinople consisted of an area approximately the size of Old Rome within the Aurelian walls, or some 1,400 ha. The importance of Constantinople increased, but it was gradual. From the death of Constantine in 337 to
8763-450: The courage of the Heruli such that they never had a king again. However Procopius, who was much closer to the events, notes that the Heruli divided and moved, but still had kings. King Rodulf ( Roduulf rex ) of the Ranii is only mentioned once, in the Getica ( De origine actibusque Getarum ; "The Origin and Deeds of the Goths") which was written by the Roman historian Jordanes . Although he wrote some generations later, one of his sources
8890-430: The death of an Emperor, they became known also for plunder in the Imperial palaces. Later in the 11th century the Varangian Guard became dominated by Anglo-Saxons who preferred this way of life to subjugation by the new Norman kings of England . The Book of the Eparch , which dates to the 10th century, gives a detailed picture of the city's commercial life and its organization at that time. The corporations in which
9017-487: The empire through their expansion in eastern Europe ( Varangians ), used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr (from mikill 'big' and garðr 'city'), and later Miklagard and Miklagarth . In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-Kubra (Great City of the Romans) and in Persian as Takht-e Rum (Throne of the Romans). In East and South Slavic languages, including in Kievan Rus' , Constantinople has been referred to as Tsargrad ( Царьград ) or Carigrad , 'City of
9144-585: The empress Irene restored the veneration of images through the agency of the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. The iconoclast controversy returned in the early 9th century, only to be resolved once more in 843 during the regency of Empress Theodora , who restored the icons. These controversies contributed to the deterioration of relations between the Western and the Eastern Churches. In
9271-403: The envoys, stated that the king would "hold the first rank among the peoples". After becoming ruler of Italy, Theodoric wanted to repacify the previous homeland of the Goths near Sirmium , and according to historian Herwig Wolfram , he therefore wanted to establish an alliance with the Heruli king Rodulf. As a result, according to Wolfram, Rodulf "probably included in his sphere of influence
9398-439: The extreme cold there were no swarms of honey-making bees." In the 16th century, Olaus Magnus , a Swedish cartographer familiar with Pliny's writings, created a map where he placed the name "Scandia" in the middle of today's Sweden. In Olaus Magnus' map, the name denotes an area including "Svecia" ( Svealand ), " Gothia " and "Norvegia" (Norway), where he places various tribes described by the ancient geographers. Although mainly
9525-528: The fable that his name was attached to the city". Some versions of the founding myth say Byzas was the son of a local nymph , while others say he was conceived by one of Zeus' daughters and Poseidon . Hesychius also gives alternate versions of the city's founding legend, which he attributed to old poets and writers: It is said that the first Argives, after having received this prophecy from Pythia, Blessed are those who will inhabit that holy city, a narrow strip of
9652-813: The famed Baths of Zeuxippus . At the western entrance to the Augustaeum was the Milion , a vaulted monument from which distances were measured across the Eastern Roman Empire. From the Augustaeum led a great street, the Mese , lined with colonnades. As it descended the First Hill of the city and climbed the Second Hill, it passed on the left the Praetorium or law-court. Then it passed through
9779-401: The first Byzantine cathedral, Hagia Irene (Holy Peace). Justinian commissioned Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus to replace it with a new and incomparable Hagia Sophia . This was the great cathedral of the city, whose dome was said to be held aloft by God alone, and which was directly connected to the palace so that the imperial family could attend services without passing through
9906-569: The flower of the Roman armies were destroyed by the Visigoths within a few days' march, the city looked to its defences, and in 413–414 Theodosius II built the 18-metre (60-foot)-tall triple-wall fortifications , which were not to be breached until the coming of gunpowder. Theodosius also founded a University near the Forum of Taurus, on 27 February 425. Uldin , a prince of the Huns , appeared on
10033-497: The front and grown long at the back, and wide-sleeved tunics tight at the wrist; and to form gangs to engage in night-time muggings and street violence. At last these disorders took the form of a major rebellion of 532, known as the "Nika" riots (from the battle-cry of "Conquer!" of those involved). The Nika Riots began in the Hippodrome and finished there with the onslaught of over 30,000 people according to Procopius, those in
10160-494: The greatest works of Greek and Roman art were soon to be seen in its squares and streets. The emperor stimulated private building by promising householders gifts of land from the imperial estates in Asiana and Pontica and on 18 May 332 he announced that, as in Rome, free distributions of food would be made to the citizens. At the time, the amount is said to have been 80,000 rations a day, doled out from 117 distribution points around
10287-635: The growth of the economy. It is certain that the Venetians and others were active traders in Constantinople, making a living out of shipping goods between the Crusader Kingdoms of Outremer and the West, while also trading extensively with Byzantium and Egypt . The Venetians had factories on the north side of the Golden Horn, and large numbers of westerners were present in the city throughout
10414-550: The inhabitants of "Grenland, Halogaland, Telelmark, Ryfylkem, Hordaland, and Ranrike or Romsdal". The vast geographic distances between the tribes, scattered throughout the Norwegian coast, and the unlikeliness of a unified kingdom of such a magnitude at this early point has been cited as an argument against such a possibility. The name of the Rugii , on the other hand, matches another Middle Danubian people, who were neighbours of
10541-698: The invaders poured in. Alexios V fled. The Senate met in Hagia Sophia and offered the crown to Theodore Lascaris , who had married into the Angelos dynasty , but it was too late. He came out with the Patriarch to the Golden Milestone before the Great Palace and addressed the Varangian Guard . Then the two of them slipped away with many of the nobility and embarked for Asia. By the next day
10668-669: The island there were the Screrefennae (i.e., Sami peoples ), who lived as hunter-gatherers , subsisting on birds's eggs and a variety of swamp game. There were also the Suehans ( Swedes ), who had splendid horses like the Thuringians . ( Snorri Sturluson wrote that the 6th-century Swedish king Adils had the best horses of his time). They were the suppliers of black fox skins for the Roman market, and they were richly dressed, even though they lived in poverty. There were also
10795-518: The late 11th century catastrophe struck with the unexpected and calamitous defeat of the imperial armies at the Battle of Manzikert in Armenia in 1071. The Emperor Romanus Diogenes was captured. The peace terms demanded by Alp Arslan , sultan of the Seljuk Turks, were not excessive, and Romanus accepted them. On his release, however, Romanus found that enemies had placed their own candidate on
10922-504: The late Roman and early Byzantine periods, Christianity was resolving fundamental questions of identity, and the dispute between the orthodox and the monophysites became the cause of serious disorder, expressed through allegiance to the chariot-racing parties of the Blues and the Greens. The partisans of the Blues and the Greens were said to affect untrimmed facial hair, head hair shaved at
11049-535: The latest, the fall of the Severan dynasty in 235. Byzantium took on the name of Constantinople ( Greek : Κωνσταντινούπολις, romanized : Kōnstantinoupolis; "city of Constantine") after its refoundation under Roman emperor Constantine I , who transferred the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium in 330 and designated his new capital officially as Nova Roma ( Νέα Ῥώμη ) 'New Rome'. During this time,
11176-444: The list of seven peoples (Granii ... Rani), but most of these can not be identified with any confidence. Since Mommsen's edition of Jordanes, with index notes by Karl Müllenhof , there have been proposals connecting them to Norway. Some modern historians, mostly Norwegian, have continued to make such proposals and imply that Rodulf was a king of all seven of these peoples there. For example, the list has been interpreted as referring to
11303-536: The midsummer (for forty days and nights) and in continual darkness (for as long) during the midwinter. Due to this alternation they go from joy to suffering (the first description of the Scandinavian winter depression ). The sun moreover seemed to pass along the horizon rather than rise from below. Jordanes names a multitude of tribes living in Scandza, which he described as a "womb of nations" (loosely translated), and says they were taller and more ferocious than
11430-424: The nobles who did not wish to come under Roman domination subsequently migrated there - leading some scholars to propose that these immigrants were the Heruli who the Danes expelled. Another possible record of Rodulf of the Rani, and possibly of the Herules, is thus one of the surviving state papers of Theoderic which shows that he adopted a Herule king (who is not named in that passage) as a "son in arms". The letter
11557-566: The northern part of Bohuslän) and the most gentle Finns (probably the second mention of the Sami peoples mixed for no reason). The Vinoviloth (possibly remaining Lombards , vinili ) were similar. He also named the Suetidi , a second mention of the Swedes , although it is also possible that the term "Suetidi" could be equated with the term "Svitjod". The Dani were of the same stock and drove
11684-471: The other hand, has proposed the possibility that associating Rodulf with the scandinavian tribes could have been politically motivated: "The Getica may, of course, be correct in its association of Roduulf with the far north, but the possibility that it merely reflects an ideological distortion should not be overlooked." In the early 6th century, the Lombard king Wacho took Silinga as his third wife, who
11811-731: The oval Forum of Constantine where there was a second Senate-house and a high column with a statue of Constantine himself in the guise of Helios , crowned with a halo of seven rays and looking toward the rising sun. From there, the Mese passed on and through the Forum Tauri and then the Forum Bovis , and finally up the Seventh Hill (or Xerolophus) and through to the Golden Gate in the Constantinian Wall . After
11938-472: The people rose again: Alexios IV was imprisoned and executed, and Murzuphlos took the purple as Alexios V Doukas . He made some attempt to repair the walls and organise the citizenry, but there had been no opportunity to bring in troops from the provinces and the guards were demoralised by the revolution. An attack by the Crusaders on 6 April failed, but a second from the Golden Horn on 12 April succeeded, and
12065-513: The region north of Lake Balaton ." In another letter from the collection of Cassiodorus, probably from between 507 and 514, Theodoric asks for the assistance of the kings of the Heruli, Thuringi and Varni for a counter-attack against the pressure from the Franks , who were in conflict with the Visigoths. Procopius implied that the battle which led to Rodulf's death took place around 494, it
12192-626: The reign of Emperor Anastasius (reigned 491-518). Paul the Deacon gave the same name for the Herul king who died when they were defeated by the Lombards , which is normally dated by historians to about 508. After this defeat Procopius reported that while some crossed the Danube into the Roman empire, another part of the Heruli nobility migrated north to the island of Thule (the name Procopius gave to Scandinavia ), while others were allowed to settle in
12319-642: The religious processions of the clergy. He removed Theodora from the Great Palace to the Carian Palace and later to the monastery of Gastria , but, after the death of Bardas, she was released to live in the palace of St Mamas; she also had a rural residence at the Anthemian Palace, where Michael was assassinated in 867. In 860, an attack was made on the city by a new principality set up a few years earlier at Kiev by Askold and Dir , two Varangian chiefs: Two hundred small vessels passed through
12446-663: The remnants of the Library of Alexandria and had 100,000 volumes. The city was the home of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and guardian of Christendom 's holiest relics, such as the Crown of Thorns and the True Cross . Constantinople was famous for its massive and complex fortifications, which ranked among the most sophisticated defensive architectures of antiquity . The Theodosian Walls consisted of
12573-401: The removal of unpopular ministers. It played a crucial role during the riots and in times of political unrest. The Hippodrome provided a space for a crowd to be responded to positively or where the acclamations of a crowd were subverted, resorting to the riots that would ensue in coming years. In the time of Justinian, public order in Constantinople became a critical political issue. Throughout
12700-583: The result of prosperity Constantinople achieved as the gateway between two continents ( Europe and Asia ) and two seas (the Mediterranean and the Black Sea). Although besieged on numerous occasions by various armies, the defenses of Constantinople proved impenetrable for nearly nine hundred years. In 1204, however, the armies of the Fourth Crusade took and devastated the city, and for several decades, its inhabitants resided under Latin occupation in
12827-520: The river Vagus ". "On the western and northern side it was surrounded by an enormous sea", "but in the east there was a land bridge which cut off the sea in the east forming the Germanic Sea ". "There were also many small islands" (the Swedish and Finnish archipelagos) "where wolves could pass when the sea was frozen. In winter the country was not only cruel to people but also to wild beasts. Due to
12954-741: The ship of the commander Belisarius was anchored in front of the Imperial palace, and the Patriarch offered prayers for the success of the enterprise. After the victory, in 534, the Temple treasure of Jerusalem , looted by the Romans in AD ;70 and taken to Carthage by the Vandals after their sack of Rome in 455, was brought to Constantinople and deposited for a time, perhaps in the Church of St Polyeuctus , before being returned to Jerusalem in either
13081-466: The streets. "The architectural form of the building was meant to reflect Justinian programmatic harmony: the circular dome (a symbol of secular authority in classical Roman architecture) would be harmoniously combined with the rectangular form (typical for Christian and pre-Christian temples)." The dedication took place on 26 December 537 in the presence of the emperor, who was later reported to have exclaimed, "O Solomon , I have outdone thee!" Hagia Sophia
13208-465: The throne in his absence; he surrendered to them and suffered death by torture, and the new ruler, Michael VII Ducas, refused to honour the treaty. In response, the Turks began to move into Anatolia in 1073. The collapse of the old defensive system meant that they met no opposition, and the empire's resources were distracted and squandered in a series of civil wars. Thousands of Turkoman tribesmen crossed
13335-419: The title clarus , not clarissimus , like those of Rome. It also lacked the panoply of other administrative offices regulating the food supply, police, statues, temples, sewers, aqueducts, or other public works. The new programme of building was carried out in great haste: columns, marbles, doors, and tiles were taken wholesale from the temples of the empire and moved to the new city. In similar fashion, many of
13462-532: The tradesmen of Constantinople were organised were supervised by the Eparch, who regulated such matters as production, prices, import, and export. Each guild had its own monopoly, and tradesmen might not belong to more than one. It is an impressive testament to the strength of tradition how little these arrangements had changed since the office, then known by the Latin version of its title, had been set up in 330 to mirror
13589-523: The unguarded frontier and moved into Anatolia. By 1080, a huge area had been lost to the Empire, and the Turks were within striking distance of Constantinople. Under the Komnenian dynasty (1081–1185), Byzantium staged a remarkable recovery. In 1090–91, the nomadic Pechenegs reached the walls of Constantinople, where Emperor Alexius I with the aid of the Kipchaks annihilated their army. In response to
13716-454: The urban prefecture of Rome. In the 9th and 10th centuries, Constantinople had a population of between 500,000 and 800,000. In the 8th and 9th centuries, the iconoclast movement caused serious political unrest throughout the Empire. The emperor Leo III issued a decree in 726 against images, and ordered the destruction of a statue of Christ over one of the doors of the Chalke, an act that
13843-625: The view. During Justinian I's reign, the city's population reached about 500,000 people. However, the social fabric of Constantinople was also damaged by the onset of the Plague of Justinian between 541 and 542 AD. It killed perhaps 40% of the city's inhabitants. In the early 7th century, the Avars and later the Bulgars overwhelmed much of the Balkans , threatening Constantinople with attack from
13970-621: The war between the Lombards and the Heruli (as reported by Paul the Deacon) concerns related issues. Some have furthermore argued that Rodulf could be the background for the character Hrólfr Kraki who appears in the later sagas . Evidence for this includes the significant similarities between the traditions of, on the one side, the Scyldings of the Skjöldunga saga and the Scylfings of
14097-485: The war can not have been earlier than that. The correspondence of Theoderic collected in the Variae of Cassiodorus also mentions an unnamed king of the Heruli, who has been identified with Rodulf by some historians. He mentioned that Theodoric adopted a king of the Heruli as his "son in arms," by giving him a horse, sword and shield, probably around 507. The letter to the king, which was to be translated and explained by
14224-487: The wealthiest provinces of the Empire. Constantinople was built over six years, and consecrated on 11 May 330. Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis. Yet, at first, Constantine's new Rome did not have all the dignities of old Rome. It possessed a proconsul , rather than an urban prefect . It had no praetors , tribunes , or quaestors . Although it did have senators, they held
14351-665: The west. Simultaneously, the Persian Sassanids overwhelmed the Prefecture of the East and penetrated deep into Anatolia . Heraclius , son of the exarch of Africa, set sail for the city and assumed the throne. He found the military situation so dire that he is said to have contemplated withdrawing the imperial capital to Carthage, but relented after the people of Constantinople begged him to stay. The citizens lost their right to free grain in 618 when Heraclius realized that
14478-478: The work of Roman Pliny the Elder , Naturalis Historia of c. AD 77. Pliny described "Scandia" as an island located north of Britannia . This island does not appear to be the same as the island Pliny calls " Scatinavia ", located near Cimbri . In Claudius Ptolemy 's Geographia , written in the 2nd century AD, Scandia is described as the most easterly of the Scandiae islands, a group of islands located east of
14605-462: Was a revival in the mosaic art, for example: Mosaics became more realistic and vivid, with an increased emphasis on depicting three-dimensional forms. There was an increased demand for art, with more people having access to the necessary wealth to commission and pay for such work. On 25 July 1197, Constantinople was struck by a severe fire which burned the Latin Quarter and the area around
14732-480: Was fiercely resisted by the citizens. Constantine V convoked a church council in 754 , which condemned the worship of images, after which many treasures were broken, burned, or painted over with depictions of trees, birds or animals: One source refers to the church of the Holy Virgin at Blachernae as having been transformed into a "fruit store and aviary". Following the death of her husband Leo IV in 780,
14859-470: Was financed by a special tax on all the subjects of the Empire. Theodora, widow of the Emperor Theophilus (died 842), acted as regent during the minority of her son Michael III , who was said to have been introduced to dissolute habits by her brother Bardas. When Michael assumed power in 856, he became known for excessive drunkenness, appeared in the hippodrome as a charioteer and burlesqued
14986-512: Was founded by the Roman emperor Constantine I (272–337) in 324 on the site of an already-existing city, Byzantium , which was settled in the early days of Greek colonial expansion , in around 657 BC, by colonists of the city-state of Megara . This is the first major settlement that would develop on the site of later Constantinople, but the first known settlements was that of Lygos , referred to in Pliny's Natural Histories. Apart from this, little
15113-486: Was in Moesia . Some modern historians have speculated that it could have been this Rodulf or a similar traveler who provided Cassiodorus or Jordanes with the information for their extensive lists and details of Scandinavian peoples and tribes. In any case, Rodulf was not the only Nordic warlord who visited the Goths and potentially could have provided knowledge about Scandinavian tribes. He probably traveled together with
15240-464: Was king of the Ranii tribe alone, or if he ruled all, or any other of the tribes described in the same context. Historian Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen , who accepted Mommsen's identification, thought Rodulf should actually be read as king of the Heruli, with the short list of neighbouring tribes inserted confusingly, namely the "Granii, Augandzi, Eunixi, Taetel, Rugii, Arochi, Ranii." In contrast, other historians have proposed that Rodulf had been kings of
15367-655: Was located), Pontus and Asia comparable to the 100-mile extraordinary jurisdiction of the prefect of Rome. The emperor Valens , who hated the city and spent only one year there, nevertheless built the Palace of Hebdomon on the shore of the Propontis near the Golden Gate , probably for use when reviewing troops. All the emperors up to Zeno and Basiliscus were crowned and acclaimed at the Hebdomon. Theodosius I founded
15494-494: Was made during the time of Cassiodorus's public service in the early 6th century, and is dated to 507-511. Apart from the name Rudolf, the special allegiance to Theoderic is notable. The Scandza passage of Jordanes is subject to many different interpretations, and some historians have proposed that Jordanes made errors. For example, Theodor Mommsen believed Jordanes should have described the Scandinavian Rudolf as
15621-454: Was said to be the daughter of the last king of the Heruls. This has led some scholars to believe that Silinga was probably a daughter of Rodulf. They had the son Walthari . The marriage between Wacho and Silinga functioned to legitimize the Lombards as the successors to the kingdom of the Heruls. It has been debated whether Rodulf may have influenced later heroic poetry, since the causes of
15748-501: Was served by 600 people including 80 priests, and cost 20,000 pounds of gold to build. Justinian also had Anthemius and Isidore demolish and replace the original Church of the Holy Apostles and Hagia Irene built by Constantine with new churches under the same dedication. The Justinianic Church of the Holy Apostles was designed in the form of an equal-armed cross with five domes, and ornamented with beautiful mosaics. This church
15875-544: Was the now lost Historia Gothorum ("History of the Goths") of Cassiodorus , who had written his account at the request of Theodoric the Great , King of the Ostrogoths and ruler of Italy . In the 19th century, the German classicist Theodor Mommsen argued that the Rodulf of the Ranii tribe and the Rodulf of the Heruli tribe constituted the same person. He proposed that Rodulf could have arrived to Theodoric in 489, when he
16002-484: Was to remain the burial place of the emperors from Constantine himself until the 11th century. When the city fell to the Turks in 1453, the church was demolished to make room for the tomb of Mehmet II the Conqueror. Justinian was also concerned with other aspects of the city's built environment, legislating against the abuse of laws prohibiting building within 100 ft (30 m) of the sea front, in order to protect
16129-434: Was unable to make good the rewards he had promised to his western allies. Tension between the citizens and the Latin soldiers increased. In January 1204, the protovestiarius Alexios Murzuphlos provoked a riot, it is presumed, to intimidate Alexios IV, but whose only result was the destruction of the great statue of Athena Promachos , the work of Phidias , which stood in the principal forum facing west. In February 1204,
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