Chapter 4 - Roman Civilization- Emperor Constantine, from Rome to Byzantium

Emperor Constantine, from Rome to Byzantium 


The roman civilization was the most powerful civilization of its time. At its peak in 180 C.E., the Roman Empire had one million seven hundred and fifty thousand square miles of land, populated by nearly fifty million people. Its capital, Rome was the cultural center of western world for decades. So why then did Emperor Constantine move the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium in 330 C.E.? In order to fully understand this question it is necessary to know what was going on in Rome leading up to the capital convert.
In the eighty four years leading up to 180 C.E., the Roman Empire had five great emperors that lead Rome to its height in 180 C.E. Under these rulers the Roman Empire had flourished and gone through massive expansion. However, after this period the empire started to fall apart when Emperor Commodus was murdered. This plunged the Roman Empire into a period of civil war and political instability. In this period of instability the empire had to deal with plague and foreign invaders. It was not until 284 C.E. that order was temporarily restored when Emperor Diocletian divided the empire into four portions. This system carried on until 324 C.E. when Emperor Constantine assumed control of the whole empire.

Although it is impossible to know exactly what emperor Constantine was thinking when he moved the capital, it is possible to look back and consider some important factors that directly influenced his opinion. First of all, the Roman Empire was in a steady decline when Constantine took power. Perhaps this made the decision a little bit easier, since the current system obviously was not working. Second, Byzantium had a very unique geographical location, which heavily promoted trade. There was also a lot of human traffic traveling through that area. My conclusion is that emperor Constantine was very interested in keeping the strategically important port of Byzantium part of the Roman Empire, so he made it the capital. I think that Constantine not only wanted the port to be the capital for its strategic importance, but for its economic importance as well. Emperor Constantine based his decision to move the capital on sound principles, I completely agree with his decision.