Roman Bronze Coin Commemorating Constantinople (about 1,685-1,695 years ago)

The history of Constantinople covers the period from the Consecration of the city in 330, when Constantinople became the new capital of the Roman Empire, to its conquest by the Ottomans in 1453.

Constantinople was rebuilt practically from scratch on the site of Byzantium. Within half a century, thanks to the gigantic construction projects of the time, rapid population growth, the development of trade and crafts, its status as a capital city, and the efforts of the 4th century Roman emperors, Constantinople became one of the largest cities in Europe and the Middle East. The rich and prosperous "megalopolis of the Middle Ages" became the largest political, cultural, and economic center of a vast empire, but it declined over time. After the fall of Rome in the 5th century, Constantinople became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, which persisted for nearly a millennium, preserving a degree of Roman and Hellenistic tradition.^{[Note 1]} The history of Constantinople in the Byzantine era was filled with tumultuous political events: popular uprisings and palace intrigues, assassinations of emperors and changes of ruling dynasties, months-long sieges and campaigns against powerful western and eastern neighbors. For many centuries (until the 8th century), Constantinople was the greatest center of brilliant culture and science in medieval Europe, far surpassing other world capitals in the level of education, activity of spiritual life and development of material culture.

One of the most characteristic features of political life in Constantinople was the constant struggle for power between different groups of the aristocracy, army, merchants, and clergy. The elite of the capital was an extremely unstable and diverse group, as access to the top of Byzantium was open to natives of all social classes. Many capital nobles were not only not ashamed of their commoner or provincial origins, but were actually proud of the fact that they had been able to work their way up from the bottom of society to the pinnacle of power. Moreover, even the imperial throne could be occupied by a native of the people as a result of a palace conspiracy, a love affair, a successful marriage, a rebellion of the army or the townspeople. Examples of this in Byzantine history was a lot, emperors by fate became even simple soldiers, who served up to the military leaders of medium rank, butcher or peasant, who was later engaged in horseback riding and fist fights. In Constantinople, the contrast between the poverty of the common people and the wealth of the aristocracy, the imperial court, and the clergy was particularly striking. The city was rightly called "the main center of luxury and poverty in the whole East and West".