Editing Byzantium

{{short description|Ancient Greek city, forerunner of Constantinople}}
{{About|the ancient city|the city in the late Roman period (330–1453)|Constantinople|the Ottoman and modern city (after 1453)|Istanbul|the empire|Byzantine Empire|other uses|Byzantium (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name           = Byzantium<br/><small>667 BC–330 AD</small>
| native_name    = Βυζάντιον
| alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome")
| image          = Locator map Byzantion.PNG
| alt            =
| caption        = Location of Byzantion, corresponding to the modern-day [[Fatih]] district of [[Istanbul]]
| map_type       =
| map_alt        =
| map_size       = 275
| coordinates    = {{coord|41|00|55|N|28|59|05|E|type:city_region:TR-34|display=inline,title}}
| location       = [[Fatih, Istanbul]], [[Turkey]]
| region         = [[Marmara Region]]
| type           = Ancient city
| part_of        = {{unbulleted list|[[Roman Empire]]|[[Byzantine Empire]]|[[Latin Empire]]}}
| length         =
| width          =
| area           = {{convert|6|km2|abbr=on}} enclosed within Constantinian Walls
{{convert|14|km2|abbr=on}} enclosed within Theodosian Walls
<!-- find good source for this claim and discuss in article's text -->
| height         =
| builder        = 
| material       =
| built          = 667 BC
| abandoned      =
| epochs         = 
| cultures       = {{unbulleted list|[[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]], [[Culture of ancient Rome|Roman]]}}
| depende =
| occupants      =
||notes=Replaced by [[Constantinople]] in the 330s.}}

'''Byzantium''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ᵻ|ˈ|z|æ|n|t|i|ə|m|,_|-|ʃ|ə|m}}<!-- =needing not the original Latin/Greek pronunciation, but the **Anglicized** pronunciation that Classics/Philosophy/History/etc. scholars use in English -->) or '''Byzantion''' ({{langx|grc|Βυζάντιον}}) was an [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] [[Polis|city]] in [[classical antiquity]] that became known as [[Constantinople]] in [[late antiquity]] and [[Istanbul]] today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its [[Romanization of Greek|Latinization]] ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a [[Names of Constantinople|name of Constantinople]] sporadically and to varying degrees during the thousand-year existence of the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]], which also became known by the former name of the city as the Byzantine Empire.<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Speake |editor-first=Jennifer |editor-link=Jennifer Speake |title=Literature of Travel and Exploration: A to F |date=2003 |isbn=9781579584252 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=on2ShbwVzp4C&q=Byzantion+term+remained+used+for+constantinople&pg=PA160 160]|publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kazhdan |first1=A. P. |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_qlU37xo9LeUC |title=Change in Byzantine Culture in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries |last2=Epstein |first2=Ann Wharton |date=February 1990 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520069626 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_qlU37xo9LeUC/page/n22 1] |quote=Byzantion term remained used for Constantinople.}}</ref> Byzantium was colonized by [[Greeks]] from [[Megara]] in the 7th century BC and remained primarily Greek-speaking until [[Fall of Constantinople|its conquest]] by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in AD 1453.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Rise of the Greeks |date=2012 |publisher=Orion Publishing Group |isbn=978-1780222752 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KynUBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT22 22]}}</ref>

==Etymology==

The etymology of ''Byzantium'' is unknown. It has been suggested that the name is of [[Thracian language|Thracian]] origin.<ref name="janin">{{Cite book|last=Janin|first=Raymond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uyGFAAAAIAAJ|title=Constantinople byzantine: dévelopment urbain et répertoire topographique|date=1964|publisher=Institut Français d'Études Byzantines|location=Paris|pages=10–11|isbn=9789042931015 |language=French|author-link=Raymond Janin}}</ref> It may be derived from the Thracian personal name Byzas which means "he-goat".<ref name="Georgacas1947">{{Cite journal |last=Georgacas, Demetrius John |date=1947 |title=The Names of Constantinople |journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |volume=78 |pages=347–67 |doi=10.2307/283503 |jstor=283503}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Georgacas|first=Demetrius John|date=1947|title=The Names of Constantinople|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/283503|journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association|volume=78|pages=347–367|doi=10.2307/283503|jstor=283503|issn=0065-9711}}</ref> Ancient Greek legend refers to the Greek king [[Byzas]], the leader of the Megarian colonists and founder of the city.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Room |first=Adrian |title=Placenames of the World: Origins and Meanings of the Names for 6,600 Countries, Cities, Territories, Natural Features, and Historic Sites |date=2006 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0-7864-2248-7 |edition=2nd |location=Jefferson, NC}}</ref> The name ''[[Lygos]]'' for the city, which likely corresponds to an earlier [[Thracian]] settlement,<ref name="janin" /> is mentioned by [[Pliny the Elder]] in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]''.<ref>[[:wikisource:Natural History (Rackham, Jones, & Eichholz)/Book 4|Pliny, IV]], xi</ref>

''Byzántios,'' plural ''Byzántioi'' ({{langx|grc|Βυζάντιος, Βυζάντιοι}}, {{langx|la|Byzantius}}; adjective the same) referred to Byzantion's inhabitants, also used as an [[ethnonym]] for the people of the city and as a family name.<ref name="Georgacas1947" /> In the [[Middle Ages]], ''Byzántion'' was also a [[synecdoche]] for the [[eastern Roman Empire]]. (An [[Ellipsis (linguistics)|ellipsis]] of {{Langx|grc-x-medieval|Βυζάντιον κράτος|translit=Byzántion krátos}}).<ref name="Georgacas1947" /> ''Byzantinós'' ({{Langx|grc-x-medieval|Βυζαντινός}}, {{langx|la|Byzantinus}}) denoted an inhabitant of the empire.<ref name="Georgacas1947" /> The [[Anglicisation of names|Anglicization]] of Latin ''Byzantinus'' yielded "Byzantine", with 15th and 16th century forms including ''Byzantin'', ''Bizantin(e)'', ''Bezantin(e)'', and ''Bysantin'' as well as ''Byzantian'' and ''Bizantian''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=OED Online |chapter=Byzantine, adj. and n.}}</ref>

The name ''Byzantius'' and ''Byzantinus'' were applied from the 9th century to gold [[Byzantine coinage]], reflected in the French ''besant'' (''d'or''), Italian ''bisante'', and English ''besant'', ''byzant'', or ''[[bezant]]''.<ref name="Georgacas1947" /> The English usage, derived from Old French ''besan'' (pl. ''besanz''), and relating to the coin, dates from the 12th century.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=OED Online |isbn=9780198611868 |chapter=bezant {{!}} byzant, n.|date=1991 }}</ref>

Later, the name ''Byzantium'' became common in the West to refer to the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], whose capital was Constantinople. As a term for the east Roman state as a whole, ''Byzantium'' was introduced by the historian [[Hieronymus Wolf]] only in 1555, a century after the last remnants of the empire, whose inhabitants continued to refer to their polity as the Roman Empire ({{Langx|grc-x-medieval|Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων|lit=empire of the Romans|translit=Basileía tōn Rhōmaíōn}}), had ceased to exist.<ref name="Kazhdan2005">{{cite book |last1=Kazhdan |first1=Alexander |editor1-last=Kazhdan |editor1-first=Alexander |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-504652-6 |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0863?rskey=Cth99c&result=863 |chapter=Byzantium}}</ref>

Other places were historically known as ''Byzántion'' (Βυζάντιον) – a city in [[Ancient Libya|Libya]] mentioned by [[Stephanus of Byzantium]] and another on the western coast of India referred to by the [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]; in both cases the names were probably adaptations of names in local languages.<ref name="Georgacas1947" /> [[Faustus of Byzantium]] was from a city of that name in [[Cilicia]].<ref name="Georgacas1947" />

==History==
{{Coin image box 1 double
| header =
| image = File:Lysimachos.jpg
| caption_left = '''[[Obverse and reverse|O:]]''' Head of [[Alexander the Great]] with [[Horns of Ammon|Amun's horns]]
| caption_right = '''[[Obverse and reverse|R:]]''' Seated [[Athena]] holding [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]] with [[wreath]], [[Basileus|ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ]] / [[Lysimachus|ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ]]; monogram (ΠΩΛΥΒ) to left; ΒΥ below [[throne]]; [[trident]] in [[exergue]]
| width = 400
| footer = [[Silver]] [[Dram (unit)|tetradrachm]] struck in Byzantion {{Circa|150}}–100 BC. Byzantion struck coins in the name of [[Lysimachus]] nearly 200 years after his death.
| position = right
| margin = 4
}}
The origins of Byzantium are shrouded in legend. Tradition says that [[Byzas]] of [[Megara]] (a city-state near [[Athens]]) founded the city when he sailed northeast across the [[Aegean Sea]]. The date is usually given as 667 BC on the authority of [[Herodotus]], who states the city was founded 17 years after [[Chalcedon]]. [[Eusebius]], who wrote almost 800 years later, dates the founding of Chalcedon to 685/4 BC, but he also dates the founding of Byzantium to 656 BC (or a few years earlier depending on the edition). Herodotus' dating was later favored by [[Constantine the Great]], who celebrated Byzantium's 1,000th anniversary between the years 333 and 334.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ramsköld|first=Lars|date=2018|title=The silver emissions of Constantine I from Constantinopolis, and the celebration of the millennium of Byzantion in 333/334 CE|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335973546|journal=Jahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte|volume=68|pages=145–198}}</ref>

Byzantium was mainly a trading city due to its location at the [[Black Sea]]'s only entrance. Byzantium later conquered Chalcedon, across the Bosphorus on the Asiatic side.

The city was taken by the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]] at the time of the [[European Scythian campaign of Darius I|Scythian campaign]] (513 BC) of Emperor [[Darius I]] (r. 522–486 BC), and was added to the administrative province of [[Skudra]].{{sfn|Balcer|1990|pages=599–600}} Though [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] control of the city was never as stable as compared to other cities in [[Thrace]], it was considered, alongside [[Sestos]], to be one of the foremost Achaemenid ports on the European coast of the Bosphorus and the [[Hellespont]].{{sfn|Balcer|1990|pages=599–600}}

Byzantium was besieged by Greek forces during the [[Peloponnesian War]]. As part of [[Sparta]]'s strategy for cutting off grain supplies to Athens during their siege of Athens, Sparta took control of the city in 411 BC, to bring the Athenians into submission. The [[Athenian military]] later retook the city in 408 BC, when the Spartans had withdrawn following their settlement.<ref>{{Citation |title=Egypt, Greece, and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean |date=2004 |page=302 |edition=2nd |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

After siding with [[Pescennius Niger]] against the victorious [[Septimius Severus]], the city was besieged by Roman forces and suffered extensive damage in AD 196.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k1thG1smoSMC&pg=PA8|title=Daily Life in Ancient and Modern Istanbul|first=Robert|last=Bator|date=January 1, 2000|publisher=Lerner Publications|isbn=9780822532170 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Byzantium was rebuilt by Septimius Severus, now emperor, and quickly regained its previous prosperity. It was bound to [[Perinthus]] during the period of Septimius Severus.<ref>[[Cassius Dio]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/75*.html Roman History], LXXIV.14.3</ref> After the war, Byzantium lost its city status and free city privileges, but [[Caracalla]] persuaded Severus to restore these rights. In appreciation, the Byzantines named Caracalla an archon of their city.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Bertolazzi |first=Riccardo |title=The Eastern Roman Empire under the Severans: Old Connections, new Beginnings? |publisher=[[Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht]] |year=2024 |isbn=978-3-647-30251-5 |editor-last=Hoffmann-Salz |editor-first=Julia |pages=242–243 |chapter=The Severan Augustae as Mistresses of the World |editor-last2=Heil |editor-first2=Matthäus |editor-last3=Wienholz |editor-first3=Holger}}</ref> The strategic and highly defensible (due to being surrounded by water on almost all sides) location of Byzantium attracted [[Roman emperor|Roman Emperor]] [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine I]] who, in AD 330, refounded it as an imperial residence inspired by Rome itself, known as [[New Rome|Nova Roma]]. Later the city was called [[Constantinople]] (Greek Κωνσταντινούπολις, ''Konstantinoupolis'', "city of Constantine").

This combination of imperialism and location would affect Constantinople's role as the nexus between the continents of Europe and Asia. It was a commercial, cultural, and diplomatic centre and for centuries formed the capital of the [[Byzantine Empire]], which decorated the city with numerous monuments, some still standing today. With its strategic position, Constantinople controlled the major trade routes between Asia and Europe, as well as the passage from the [[Mediterranean Sea]] to the [[Black Sea]]. On May 29, 1453, the city was conquered by the [[Ottoman Turks]], and again became the capital of a powerful state, the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The Turks called the city "Istanbul" (although it was not officially renamed until 1930); the name derives from the Greek phrase "στην πόλη", which means "to the city". To this day it remains the largest and most populous city in [[Turkey]], although [[Ankara]] is now the national capital.

== 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.

==People==
*[[Homerus of Byzantium|Homerus]], tragedian, lived in the early 3rd century BC
*[[Philo of Byzantium|Philo]], engineer, lived {{circa|280 BC|220 BC}}
*[[Epigenes of Byzantium]], astrologer, lived in the 3rd–2nd century BC
*[[Aristophanes of Byzantium]], a scholar who flourished in [[Alexandria]], 3rd–2nd century BC
*[[Moero|Myro]], a [[Hellenistic]] female poet

==See also==
* [[Sarayburnu]], which is the geographic location of ancient Byzantium
* [[Timeline of Istanbul history]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Encyclopaedia Iranica | article = BYZANTIUM | last = Balcer | first = Jack Martin | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/byzantium-byzantion-contact-with-the-achaemenids-ca | volume = 4 | fascicle = 6 | pages = 599–600 }}
* Harris, Jonathan, ''Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium'' (Hambledon/Continuum, London, 2007). {{ISBN|978-1-84725-179-4}}
*Jeffreys, Elizabeth and Michael, and Moffatt, Ann, ''Byzantine Papers: Proceedings of the First Australian Byzantine Studies Conference, Canberra, 17–19 May 1978'' (Australian National University, Canberra, 1979).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041205132031/http://www.istanbulinfolink.com/the_city/istanbul/history_1.htm Istanbul Historical Information – Istanbul Informative Guide To The City].  Retrieved January 6, 2005.
* [http://www.guideistanbul.net/tablo1a.htm The Useful Information about Istanbul] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070315021941/http://www.guideistanbul.net/tablo1a.htm |date=2007-03-15 }}. Retrieved January 6, 2005.
* ''The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (Oxford University Press, 1991) {{ISBN|0-19-504652-8}}
*Yeats, William Butler, "Sailing to Byzantium",
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.byzantinemuseum.gr/en/ Byzantine & Christian Museum] at byzantinemuseum.gr
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170213055326/http://www.wegm.com/coins/byindex.htm Coins of the Byzantine empire] at wegm.com
* [http://www.galmarley.com/framesets/fs_monetary_history_faqs.htm History of money FAQs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516071932/http://www.galmarley.com/framesets/fs_monetary_history_faqs.htm |date=2011-05-16 }} at galmarley.com – description of Byzantine monetary system, fifth century BC
* [http://www.byzantium.ac.uk Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies] at www.byzantium.ac.uk 
* [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/vasilief/default.asp Vasilief, A History of the Byzantine Empire], at ellopos.net – hyperlinked with notes and more resources, at Elpenor

{{Former settlements in Turkey|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Megarian colonies in Thrace]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey]]
[[Category:660s BC]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 7th century BC]]
[[Category:Ancient Byzantium| ]]
[[Category:Members of the Delian League]]
[[Category:Achaemenid ports]]
[[Category:Greek city-states]]