Byzantium/ Constantinople/ Istanbul (jan 1, 657 – 22h 6min, jun 5, 2026 y)

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Today, Istanbul is the largest city and principal seaport in modern day Turkey. It stands on a triangular peninsula acting as both a bridge and barrier between Europe and Asia. In the past, Istanbul was the capital city of both the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire. During the time of the Byzantines, Istanbul was called Byzantium, which derived from Byzas who was a leader of the Greeks and who had captured the peninsula from pastoral Thracian tribes in around 657 BCE. Then, it was briefly called Augusta Antonina after the son of emperor Septimius Severus razed the town for opposing him during a civil war. In 330 CE, Constantine the Great dedicated the city as his capital and called it New Rome, which was soon changed to Constantinople. People began to refer to their trips to Constantinople as eis ten polin, meaning “into the city”. By the 13th century, this phrase had become a name for the city: Istinpolin. Naturally over the next few centuries through a series of speech permutations, the city’s name became Istanbul. However, no matter the name of the city, its extremely significant because its located on a land bridge that connects Europe with Asia, allowing it to have the best trade links in the world for centuries.

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