ON May 11, A. D. 330, on the shores of the Bosphorus, Constantine solemnly dedicated his new capital, Constantinople.
Why did the Emperor, turning his back upon ancient Rome, remove to the East the seat of the monarchy? Not only had Constantine no personal liking for the turbulent pagan city of the Caesars, but he also, and not without good reason, considered it badly placed for meeting the new exigencies with which the Empire was confronted. The Gothic peril on the Danube, the Persian peril in Asia, were imminent; and though the powerful tribes of Illyricum offered admirable resources for defense, Rome was too far away to make use of them for that purpose. Diocletian had realized this, and he too had felt the attraction of the Orient. At all events, the Byzantine Empire came into being on the day when Constantine founded “New Rome.” By virtue of its geographical situation, where Europe joins Asia, and of the military and economic importance resulting therefrom, Constantinople was the natural center around which the Eastern world could most readily group itself. On the other hand, by virtue of the Grecian stamp which had been imprinted upon it from the very beginning, and especially by virtue of the character which Christianity imparted to it, the new capital differed fundamentally from the old, and symbolized accurately enough the aspirations and the new tendencies of the Eastern world...
