Editing Byzantium (section)

== Emblem ==
{{Main|Star and crescent}}
By the late [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic]] or early Roman period (1st century BC), the [[star and crescent]] motif was associated to some degree with Byzantium; even though it became more widely used as the royal emblem of [[Mithradates VI Eupator]] (who for a time incorporated the city into [[Kingdom of Pontus|his empire]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Traver |first=Andrew G. |title=From Polis to Empire, the Ancient World, C. 800 B.C.-A.D. 500: A Biographical Dictionary |date=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=9780313309427 |page=257 |orig-date=2001}}</ref>

Some Byzantine coins of the 1st century BC and later show the head of [[Artemis]] with bow and quiver, and feature a crescent with what appears to be an eight-rayed star on the reverse. 
According to accounts which vary in some of the details, in 340 BC the Byzantines and their allies the [[Classical Athens|Athenians]] were under siege by the troops of [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip of Macedon]]. On a particularly dark and wet night Philip attempted a surprise attack but was thwarted by the appearance of a bright light in the sky. This light is occasionally described by subsequent interpreters as a [[meteor]], sometimes as the moon, and some accounts also mention the barking of dogs. However, the original accounts mention only a bright light in the sky, without specifying the moon.{{Efn|"In 340 BC, however, the Byzantines, with the aid of the Athenians, withstood a siege successfully, an occurrence the more remarkable as they were attacked by the greatest general of the age, Philip of Macedon. In the course of this beleaguerment, it is related, on a certain wet and moonless night the enemy attempted a surprise, but were foiled by reason of a bright light which, appearing suddenly in the heavens, startled all the dogs in the town and thus roused the garrison to a sense of their danger. To commemorate this timely phenomenon, which was attributed to [[Hecate]], they erected a public statue to that goddess [...]"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Holmes |first=William Gordon |title=The Age of Justinian and Theodora |date=2003 |pages=5–6}}</ref>}}{{Efn|"If any goddess had a connection with the walls in Constantinople, it was [[Hecate]]. [[Hecate]] had a cult in Byzantium from the time of its founding. Like Byzas in one legend, she had her origins in Thrace. Since Hecate was the guardian of "liminal places," in Byzantium small temples in her honor were placed close to the gates of the city. [[Hecate]]'s importance to Byzantium was above all as deity of protection. When Philip of Macedon was about to attack the city, according to the legend she alerted the townspeople with her ever-present torches, and with her pack of dogs, which served as her constant companions. Her mythic qualities thenceforth forever entered the fabric of Byzantine history. A statue known as the 'Lampadephoros' was erected on the hill above the Bosphorous to commemorate [[Hecate]]'s defensive aid."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Limberis |first=Vasiliki |title=Divine Heiress |date=1994 |publisher=Routledge |pages=126–127}}</ref>}} To commemorate the event the Byzantines erected a statue of [[Hecate]] ''lampadephoros'' (light-bearer or bringer). This story survived in the works of [[Hesychius of Miletus]], who in all probability lived in the time of [[Justinian I]]. His works survive only in fragments preserved in [[Photius]] and the tenth century lexicographer [[Suda|Suidas]]. The tale is also related by [[Stephanus of Byzantium]], and [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]].

Devotion to [[Hecate]] was especially favored by the Byzantines for her aid in having protected them from the incursions of Philip of Macedon. Her symbols were the crescent and star, and the walls of her city were her provenance.{{Sfn|Limberis|1994|pages=15}} This contradicts claims that only the symbol of the crescent was meant to symbolize Hecate, whereas the star was only added later in order to symbolize the Virgin Mary, as Constantine I is said to have rededicated the city to her in the year 330.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rodrigues |first=António |date=June 2008 |title=Islam and Symbolism |url=https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20080630_art017.pdf |access-date=5 August 2023 |website=Army University Press |page=110}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Narbaez |first=Rafael |date=1997 |title=THE STAR AND THE CRESCENT |url=https://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/crescent1.htm |access-date=5 August 2023 |website=Cyberistan}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mictorrani |date=2021 |title=The Star-And-Crescent - A Symbol for Islam? |url=https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/the-star-and-crescent-a-symbol-for-islam-699fad0d |access-date=5 August 2023 |website=read.cash}}</ref>

It is unclear precisely how the symbol Hecate/Artemis, one of many goddesses{{efn|"In 324 Byzantium had a number of operative cults to traditional gods and goddesses tied to its very foundation eight hundred years before. Rhea, called "the mother of the gods" by Zosimus, had a well-ensconced cult in Byzantium from its very foundation. [...] Devotion to [[Hecate]] was especially favored by the Byzantines [...] Constantine would also have found Artemis-Selene and Aphrodite along with the banished Apollo Zeuxippus on the Acropolis in the old Greek section of the city. Other gods mentioned in the sources are Athena, Hera, Zeus, Hermes, and Demeter and Kore. Even evidence of Isis and Serapis appears from the Roman era on coins during the reign of Caracalla and from inscriptions."{{Sfn|Limberis|1994|page=16}}}} would have been transferred to the city itself, but it seems likely to have been an effect of being credited with the intervention against Philip and the subsequent honors. This was a common process in ancient Greece, as in ''Athens'' where the city was named after ''Athena'' in honor of such an intervention in time of war.

Cities in the [[Roman Empire]] often continued to issue their own coinage. "Of the many themes that were used on local coinage, celestial and astral symbols often appeared, mostly stars or crescent moons."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Molnar |first=Michael R. |title=The Star of Bethlehem |date=1999 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |page=48}}</ref> The wide variety of these issues, and the varying explanations for the significance of the star and crescent on Roman coinage precludes their discussion here. It is, however, apparent that by the time of the Romans, coins featuring a star or crescent in some combination were not at all rare.