City of Constantine - Assignment Example

Constantinople was d after the Roman Emperor Constantine which means of Constantine". It is formerly called Byzantium and became part ofthe Roman Empire in the early 100 B.C. "Constantine the Great" conquered emperor Licinius at Chrysopolis in 324 AD and made Byzantium the capital of Roman Empire in 330 A.D. In the 5th century, it survived the fall of Rome and became the core of the Greek Orthodox Christian world afterwards. During the reign of the Byzantine Empire, Emperor Justinian 1 was accounted for many imperial and administrative policies that improved revenues of the state and brought heights to Constantinople.

Through the presence of his empress wife Theodora and two generals, namely Belisarius and Narses, the Africa and Italy was recovered from Vandals and Ostrogoths respectively. Success was not on his side in struggle against Persians, and avoiding attacks of the Bulgars and Slavs. The greatest achievement of Justinian was the Corpus Juris Civilis, which refers to the codification of the Roman law. It was also during Justinian time that many public works took place, and one structure worth mentioning due to its enormous and meticulous construction is the Church of Hagia Sophia.

It was designed by the imperial architects of Justinian, Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, and was built from 532 to 537. It was constructed by Constantius II in 360, after the declaration of Byzantium as the capital of the Roman Empire. Hagia Sophia was burned in 404 and was reconstructed in 415 by Theodisius II, but was burned again in 532. It collapsed in 558 due to earthquake and was rebuilt again in 563. Constantinople was attacked by the Persians, Arabs, Russians and Bulgars from 6th to 13th century, and members of the fourth crusade in the succeeding years due to its strategic location in terms of transport and trade among continents.

It became a target of numerous Muslims Campaigns like the Muslim Arabs and the Muslim Turks, who set the primary goal for besiege. The first Istanbul siege by Muslims occurred in 668 until 669 under Muawiya's reign. But they were not able to conquer the city due to epidemic that resulted to death of many soldiers that eventually lead to their withdrawal. In 673, Muawiya sent another navy that took 7 years of siege and did not triumph due to various incidents like sickness, climate conditions and attacks from the Bulgarian Guerillas.

The last Arab siege happened on 781-782 by the army lead by Harun. In 1261, it returned under the rule of Byzantine. It was conquered in 1453 during the conquest of Turks lead by Sultan Mehmet II. From 1520 to 1566, Constantinople under the Ottoman rule was developed politically and socially but later weakens due to decline in leadership of sultans. Istanbul became part of numerous attacks, particularly the Janissaries Revolt in 1823. Following this is the influx of foreign visitors that lead to introduction of European ideologies and other Western development.

Allied forces gained triumph over the Ottoman Empire during the World War 1 from 1914 to 1918. Mustafa's Army expelled the Allied Troops after freedom was regained from the Turkish War from the period of 1919 to 1922. It was in 1923 when the Republic of Turkey was born and the capital was changed from Constantinople to Ankara. In 1930, the name Istanbul formally replaced Constantinople. REFERENCES History of Istanbul. Istanbul.gov.tr. Retrieved April 16, 2006, from http://english.istanbul.gov.

tr/Default.aspxpid=293 Istanbul. Answers.com. Retrieved April 16, 2006, from Answers.com Encyclopedia. http://www.answers.com/History%20of%20Istanbul Istanbul. (2006). Encyclopdia Britannica. Retrieved April 16, 2006, from Encyclopdia Britannica Premium Service. http://www.britannica.com/eb/articletocId=9368294 Istanbul. Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2005. Retrieved April 16, 2006, from Encyclopedia Article. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552870/stanbul.html