Editing Constantinople (section)

=== Names of Constantinople ===
{{Main|Names of Istanbul{{!}}Names of Constantinople}}

[[File:Column of Constantine.jpg|thumb|The [[Column of Constantine]], built by [[Constantine I]] in 330 to commemorate the establishment of Constantinople as the [[New Rome|new capital]] of the [[Roman Empire]]]]

Byzantium took on the name of Constantinople ({{langx|el|Κωνσταντινούπολις|translit=Kōnstantinoupolis|lit=city of Constantine}}) after its refoundation under [[Roman emperor]] Constantine I, who transferred the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium in 330 and designated his new capital officially as {{lang|la|[[New Rome|Nova Roma]]}} ({{lang|grc|Νέα Ῥώμη}}) 'New Rome'. During this time, the city was also called 'Second Rome', 'Eastern Rome', and {{lang|la|Roma Constantinopolitana}} ([[Latin]] for 'Constantinopolitan Rome').<ref name="johns"/> As the city became the sole remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew, the city also came to have a multitude of nicknames.

[[File:Keystone_Constantine_Forum_Istanbul.JPG|thumb|left|This huge [[Keystone (architecture)|keystone]] found in [[Çemberlitaş, Fatih]], might have belonged to a [[triumphal arch]] at the [[Forum of Constantine]] built by [[Constantine I]].]]
As the largest and wealthiest city in Europe during the 4th–13th centuries and a center of culture and education of the Mediterranean basin, Constantinople came to be known by prestigious titles such as ''Basileuousa'' (Queen of Cities) and ''Megalopolis'' (the Great City) and was, in colloquial speech, commonly referred to as just ''Polis'' ({{lang|grc|ἡ Πόλις}}) 'the City' by Constantinopolitans and provincial Byzantines alike.<ref>Harris, 2007, p. 5</ref>

In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently. The medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe ([[Varangians]]), used the Old Norse name ''Miklagarðr'' (from ''mikill'' 'big' and ''garðr'' 'city'), and later ''Miklagard'' and ''Miklagarth''.{{sfn|Harris|2017|page=1}} In Arabic, the city was sometimes called ''Rūmiyyat al-Kubra'' (Great City of the Romans) and in Persian as ''Takht-e Rum'' (Throne of the Romans).

In East and South Slavic languages, including in [[Kievan Rus']], Constantinople has been referred to as ''[[Tsargrad]]'' (''Царьград'') or ''Carigrad'', 'City of the Caesar (Emperor)', from the Slavonic words ''tsar'' ('Caesar' or 'King') and ''grad'' ('city'). This was presumably a [[calque]] on a Greek phrase such as {{lang|grc|Βασιλέως Πόλις}} (''Vasileos Polis''), 'the city of the emperor [king]'.

In [[Persian language|Persian]] the city was also called ''Asitane'' (the Threshold of the State), and in [[Armenian language|Armenian]], it was called ''Gosdantnubolis'' (City of Constantine).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Everett-Heath |first=John |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191882913.001.0001/acref-9780191882913;jsessionid=888EB32E38583EE8E0B91B8F5DDD5536 |title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Place Names |date=2019-10-24 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-188291-3 |language=en-US |doi=10.1093/acref/9780191882913.001.0001 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326031024/https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191882913.001.0001/acref-9780191882913;jsessionid=888EB32E38583EE8E0B91B8F5DDD5536 |url-status=live }}</ref>