Constantine's City: The Founding of Constantinople

In 324 AD, Constantine the Great chose the ancient Greek city of Byzantion to become his new imperial capital, a city that would bear his name for over a millennium. This episode explores the strategic, political, and religious motivations behind that choice. We walk the original Constantinian walls, visit the Forum of Constantine with its porphyry column, and examine how the emperor deliberately shaped a Christian city while incorporating pagan monuments. We discuss the role of the Mese, the Augustaion, and the Hippodrome — not as separate episodes but as elements of Constantine's urban vision. We also touch on the contested story of the city's foundation oracles and the emperor's own involvement in the planning. By the time Constantinople was officially dedicated on May 11, 330, it was already a statement: a New Rome that would outlast the old.

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