171 



B Y Z A N T 1 IT M. 



Byzantium, ropes. A very extraordinary stratagem, is said to 

 have been employed by them for taking some of the 

 ships of the enemy. Divers, says Dion Cassias, swim- 

 ming under water, cut the cabb of an enemy's ship 

 and drove into her bottom a strong nail fastened to a 

 rope ; the other end of the rope being in one of their 

 own ships, they could thus haul off the vessel of the 

 enemy. When their supply of darts and common 

 stones failed, they demolished the walls of their 

 theatres, and hurled the stones of them against the 

 foe. 



Famine became so urgent, that they were at length 

 reduced to the necessity of using the most loathsome 

 substances for food, and even human flesh itself. At 

 last, while in this miserable situation, some of the 

 most daring and vigorous took advantage of a storm 

 that arose, to embark on board their ships and bring 

 a supply of food for their fellow citizens, or perish 

 in the attempt. They were, however, attacked by 

 the besiegers on their return, and so completely de- 

 stroyed that not a single ship escaped. Deprived of 

 their last hope, the Byzantines were compelled to 

 surrender; and the mind contemplates with horror and 

 disgust a people, after a defence so brave and pro- 

 tracted, deprived of their estates and sold for slaves, 

 their magistrates, commanders, and soldiers, indis- 

 criminately massacred, and the walls of their city 

 levelled with the ground ; yet such was the treat- 

 ment they received from their ungenerous conquerors. 

 Dion Cassius says, he saw their city after its capture 

 " in such a state of ruin, that it might have been 

 thought to have been taken by the barbarians, rather 

 than the Romans." Not long, however, after this 

 terrible catastrophe, Sevcrus himself caused a part of 

 the city to be rebuilt, and changed its name to An- 

 tonina, in compliment to his son Garacalla, whose 

 proper name was Antoninus. But he did not restore 

 the privileges of a free city, nor reverse the decree 

 by which it had been subjected by him to the domi- 

 nion of its neighbours, the Perinthians. 



In 262, for reasons which have not been very well 

 ascertained, the tyrant Gallienus had determined to 

 wreak his fury on the Byzantines. Despairing of 

 being able to take so strong a place by force, he 

 made the most solemn assurances to the inhabitants, 

 that if they would admit him into their city, all 

 persons and their property should be sacredly respect- 

 ed. But he violated these assurances, and was no 

 sooner admitted than he ordered a general massacre, 

 not only of the garrison^ but of the inhabitants at 

 large ; and, according to Trebellius Pollio, not an 

 ancient family of Byzantium was left in existence, 

 except a very few, whose members happened at the 

 time to be abroad in the armies or on business. 



In the wars betwixt the two emperors Maximin 

 and Licinius, the first besieged and took Byzantium, 

 but was in a short time after compelled to give it up 

 to his rival; who, in his turn, was under the necessity 

 of abandoning it to Constantine the Great, to whom 

 it opened its gates in S21> 



Constantine was so strongly impressed with the 

 superior advantages of Byzantium as a place of resi- 

 dence, that he resolved to make it for the future the 

 capital of his empire. Accordingly he began next 

 year to repair, enlarge, and beautify it. Anxious 

 that his successors should follow his example, in 

 naaking this new city the place of their ordinary re- 

 sidence, he spared neither cost nor pains to render it 

 worthy of their preference. Magnificence, conveni- 

 ence, and beauty, were studied in all its public and 

 private edifices, and in a short time Byzantium was 

 seen almost to rival the ancient capital of the empire. 

 " He urged the progress of the work," says Gibbon, 

 " with the impatience of a lover ; the walls, the por- 

 ticoes, and the principal edifices, were completed in a 

 few years." The encouragement given to settlers in 

 the new city, and particularly an edict published by 

 the emperor, declaring that such as had lands in 

 Thrace, Pontus, or Asia, should not be at liberty to 

 dispose of these, or even leave them to their proper 

 heirs at their death, unless they had a house in the 

 city of Byzantium, soon rendered it one of the 

 most populous and flourishing of the empire. An 

 amphitheatre, a circus maximus, several forums, 

 porticoes, and public baths, with whatever else could 

 contribute to the dignity of a great capital, and to 

 the benefit or pleasure of its numerous inhabitants, 

 were soon found in Byzantium. The city was divided 

 into 14 regions, and privileges and immunities grant- 

 ed to the inhabitants, equal to those that were enjoy- 

 ed in Rome. The common people, even from that 

 ancient capital, as well as from all other parts of the 

 empire, were invited, by the emperor's donations of 

 corn, wine, and oil, to come and settle at Byzantium. 

 Christians, however, had a manifest preference shewn 

 them. The statues of the heathen deities were every 

 where demolished, and their temples converted into 

 churches, and consecrated to the worship of the true 

 God. Crosses were erected in all the squares and 

 public places. 



In the 25th year of his reign, (May llth, 330,) 

 - Constantine, if we believe Cedrenus, caused the city 

 to be solemnly dedicated to the Virgin Mary ; but 

 Eusebius says, it was consecrated to the God of 

 Martyrs. On this occasion it was dignified with the 

 new name of Constantinopolisy the city of Constantine, 

 its great benefactor ; and, what was still more flatter- 

 ing, with the name also of Second or New Rome, be- 

 ing declared to be the metropolis of the East, as Old 

 Rome was of the West. The emperor established 

 a senate and other magistrates, at Constantinople, 

 equal in power and authority to those of Rome, nor 

 did he ever after return to that ancient capital. The 

 removal of the imperial seat to Byzantium, is com- 

 moi:ly stated to have taken place in the 25th year of 

 the reign of Constantine, A. D. 330, and A. U. C. 

 1128. See Stephan. in voce Bt/|<*v. Velleius Pater. 

 Euseb. Chron. Anc. Un. Hist. vol. xiii. and xiv. 

 Barthelemy Voyage de jeune Anachar. Gibbon's 

 Rom. Empire, vol. iii. () 



