Constantine: Did you mean...?

Built in the seventh century BCE, the ancient city of Byzantium proved to be a valuable city for both the Greeks and Romans. Because it lay on the European side of the Strait of Bosporus, the Emperor Constantine understood its strategic importance...

Empress Irene was the wife of Leo IV and, on her husband's death, she reigned as regent for her son Constantine VI from 780 to 790 CE. From 797 to 802 CE she ruled as emperor in her own right, the first woman to do so in Byzantine history...

Saint Helena of Constantinople (248/250-328 CE) was the mother of Roman emperor Constantine I (r. 306-337 CE). She famously made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem where tradition claims found Christ's true cross and built the Basilica of the Holy...

The state created by Diocletian and Constantine used to be described as despotic and oppressive, extracting higher taxes and threatening its subjects with punishments for non-compliance. Recent research, however, paints a different picture...

Romanos IV Diogenes ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1068 to 1071 CE. He was a military emperor, and his policies and campaigns served to shore up Byzantine defenses against the Seljuk Turks. However, in the aftermath of the Byzantine defeat...

Romanos I Lekapenos (“the Ignorant”) was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 920 to 944 CE. Of Armenian descent, he was a military commander who usurped the throne to rule as co-emperor with the rightful heir, but still minor, Constantine...

The Roman Empire, at its height (c. 117), was the most extensive political and social structure in western civilization. Building upon the foundation laid by the Roman Republic, the empire became the largest and most powerful political and...

The Julio-Claudian Dynasty Augustus 16 Jan 27 BCE - 19 Aug 14 CE Tiberius 18 Sep 14 CE - 16 Mar 37 CE Caligula 18 Mar 37 CE - 24 Jan 41 CE Claudius 25 Jan 41 CE - 13 Oct 54 CE Nero 13 Oct 54 CE - 11 Jun 68...

Zoe Porphyrogenita was empress of the Byzantine Empire from 1028 CE until her death in 1050 CE. In an eventful career, she reigned alongside three husbands, had a hand in the succession of her adopted son, and, in 1042 CE, she was co-ruler...

Constantinople at first had much in common with the temporary capitals of the 2nd and 3rd century CE and the tetrarchic capitals. It was an existing city of medium size, well located on the road network, and unlike most of them, it was also...