The capital city of the Roman empire under Constantine and later the capital of the Eastern Roman empire.
Established on both sides of the Bosporus at its entrance into the Sea of Marmara, the name of the city was originally Byzantium, then Constantinople after 330 C.E., when Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman empire there and renamed the city, and then finally to Istanbul in 1930. After the division of the Roman empire between Honorius in the West and Arcadius in the East in 395, Constantinople became the capital of the Eastern Roman empire, which extended from the Balkans, down to Greece, and included all of present-day Turkey, as well as Egypt. Its unique position on both sides of the Bosporus meant that the city was located in both Europe and Asia Minor. Access to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea provided control for the rulers over products being shipped from the Crimea and the steppes of Russia to the Mediterranean world.
The position of the city at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa attracted merchants from all regions. The government controlled prices and required that merchants and traders obtain licenses at a fee to conduct business transactions. The bureaucracy regulated all trade closely. The fees were usually low, but the large volume of fees allowed the imperial family to maintain a lavish lifestyle that became the envy of all Europe. The money also helped pay for the cost of defense, something that merchants were concerned about since robbers would steal their goods if the defensive system became weakened. Although fees were collected, the tax rates remained low and there was a common currency used throughout the empire that helped to facilitate trade.
One of Constantinople’s main industries was the production of silk cloth in the state-run work-houses. The silk yarns from the cocoons of several different varieties of moths were used to produce silk cloth. In the sixth century, monks smuggled silk moth eggs into Constantinople and the silk industry became vital to the economy of the city. From the seventh through the tenth centuries, silk production was centered in Constantinople, but after the tenth century other Greek towns also developed the industry. All silk factories were either owned or controlled by the government. Guilds were formed for the different stages of production and sale of the silk that included one for the silk weaver, the silk clothier, the merchant of raw silk, the silk importer, and the raw silk dresser. Most of the silk produced was for the royal family and was used for ceremonial and ecclesiastical vestments or furnishings. The royal family also gave silk as a gift to foreign dignitaries. The purchase of silk by Jews or other merchants for sale outside of the empire was outlawed, except for a few Muslim merchants who could purchase a limited quantity of the cloth for sale in Arab lands. Venetians and citizens of other Italian city-states could sell silk in the city, but only if it was of a lesser quality.
Constantinople’s (modern-day Istanbul’s) location on the Bosporus, the strait connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean, made it a hub of international trade since its founding by the Roman emperor Constantine in the fourth century C.E. Shown here is the city’s Tophane Square in the late nineteenth century. (Library of Congress)
Items imported into the Byzantine capital included many spices such as Greek incense, frank-incense, mastic, saffron, musk, amber, aloe, cinnamon, and cassia. Pepper and ginger were the most highly prized of the spices. Most of the spices arrived in Constantinople from India or the Far East. Other long-distance trade included wool, metals, marble, timber, wine, and oil. During the fifth and sixth centuries, trade in silk, perfumes, spices, and jewels reached its peak.
By the seventh century, the empire had started to shrink. The loss of Egypt was significant because its wheat had been imported into Constantinople to feed the predominantly urban population. As the strength of the empire waned, trade decreased as travel by road became more perilous. More time was spent on agriculture in the empire after the loss of Egypt. By the eleventh century, the Eastern Roman empire was in dire need of money to maintain the Byzantine court. As more and more farmers abandoned the land for the city, the only group left to tax was the merchant class. Without sufficient revenues to control trade, the government privatized it. Merchants from Venice, Pisa, Genoa, and other west European countries soon came to dominate merchant activities. In 1204, Christian crusaders sacked the city on the way to the Holy Land. During the next 150 years, the empire struggled, but increased taxation resulted in many of the outlaying provinces accepting Ottoman rule over their own state. The Ottomans attacked and captured the city in 1453.
Cynthia Clark Northrup
See also: Crusades; Grain; Roman Empire; Silk Road.
Marston, Elsa. The Byzantine Empire. New York: Benchmark, 2003.
McNeese, Tim. Constantinople. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2003.
Miller, Dean A. Imperial Constantinople. New York: Wiley, 1969.