Episode 1 (6 mentions)
Constantinople is the central place of Byzantine history as Brownworth frames it: founded by Constantine the Great on the site of old Byzantium, it served as the Christian imperial capital meant to rival or surpass Rome. The city's founding in 324–330 is one of the three candidate start-dates Brownworth considers for Byzantine history, and it is the city where the last emperor Constantine Palaiologos died fighting the Turks in 1453.
“Constantine when he refounds the city of Bezos or Byzantium and it's renamed Constantinople in his”
“dying in the streets of Constantinople, fighting the Turks. Now, here we run into our first problem.”
“Constantinople. You have a city which is distinct, that is something other than Roman, because it is”
Episode 2 (1 mention)
Mentioned as the city from which the porphyry tetrarch sculpture was looted during the Fourth Crusade and brought to Venice. Brownworth frames Diocletian's policy of relocating imperial authority away from Rome as a first step toward the eventual founding of a new capital.
“It was stolen from Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, and incorporated into the”
Episode 4 (3 mentions)
Constantine's new capital, dedicated on May 11, 330, and officially named Nova Roma though the citizens called it Constantinople. Built on the ancient site of Byzantium, it was designed to be more than six times the size of its predecessor, serving as the new center of the Roman world and protected by walls so thick that only modern artillery eventually breached them.
“christened it Constantinople.”
“Constantinople.”
“The walls of Constantinople forced the armies of the prophet to take the long route through”
Episode 5 (2 mentions)
Julian rushed here after Constantius's death, ordered the city into deep mourning, and personally supervised the funeral of his father's murderer before accepting the mantle of emperor. He later spent months here enacting reforms before departing for Antioch.
“rushing to Constantinople, Julian ordered the city into deep mourning.”
“After a few months spent at Constantinople to enact more reforms, he went to Antioch”
Episode 6 (6 mentions)
The capital of the Eastern Empire and the central stage for most of the episode's political drama — coronations, usurpations, riots, a devastating fire, and Zeno's repeated flights and returns all happen here.
“of Constantinople, in action so offensive that it touched off massive riots and nearly”
“Given the choice between ruling through a puppet emperor in Ravenna, or one in Constantinople,”
“The letter so infuriated both sides, the pope excommunicated the patriarch of Constantinople,”
Episode 7 (2 mentions)
The Byzantine capital and the central stage for all events in this episode. It is the city Justin I arrived in with nothing and eventually ruled; where Justinian grew up and exercised power; and where the Nika Revolt erupted, burning much of the city — an event Justinian then turned into an opportunity to rebuild on a grander scale.
“He came to Constantinople with no more than the clothes on his back, trying to escape”
“Though she had changed her ways, an actress in 6th century Constantinople was the equivalent”
Episode 8 (7 mentions)
Constantinople is referred to as the 'Queen of Cities' and capital of the Byzantine Empire. It is the seat of Justinian's court, site of the Nika Riots that preceded this episode, and the destination for returning conquerors and their spoils. The plague raged here for four months at 10,000 dead per day.
“Constantinople before sailing west. An invasion of Italy, however long anticipated, turned out to be”
“It raged in Constantinople for four months, with the horrifying casualty rate of 10,000 per day.”
“Constantinople, Justinian remarkably had begun to recover, and when she heard the news, feeling much”
Episode 9 (5 mentions)
The imperial capital that Justinian remade on a grand scale, most visibly through the Hagia Sophia. It is the city to which Antonina sailed seeking help, where Theodora died, and to which Belisarius was recalled; the Kutrigur Huns came within thirty miles of it in 559 before being turned back.
“Ignoring the upper classes of Roman society, whose loyalty lay with Constantinople, he”
“leverage in yet another peace embassy to Constantinople, he knocked down huge gaps on its walls and”
“By the end of his reign, Justinian had not only rebuilt Constantinople, but numerous”
Episode 10 (14 mentions)
The imperial capital, which faced multiple existential threats during this episode: Persians garrisoned Chalcedon just across the water, and an Avar-Persian force of 80,000 besieged its walls in 626. Its massive walls held, defended by only 12,000 cavalry aided by all the citizens, while the Patriarch processed daily with an icon of the Virgin Mary. Heraclius later developed a terror of the water and had to be coaxed across the Bosphorus on a pontoon bridge to re-enter it.
“On the other hand, if he stayed, then Constantinople might fall due to lack of defenders.”
“at the gates of Constantinople in the east, and within 150 miles of Paris in the west.”
“to slip into Jerusalem to remove the True Cross, and started on the long road to Constantinople.”
Episode 11 (10 mentions)
The Byzantine imperial capital on the Bosphorus, besieged by Arab forces twice — first in a five-year siege beginning in 672, repelled by Greek fire, and again in 717-718 by 80,000 men and 1,800 ships, repelled by Leo III. It was also the seat of the iconoclast controversy and the venue for Irene's deposition.
“By 672 they were at the gates of Constantinople, and a five year siege began.”
“back beneath the walls of Constantinople, this time with 80,000 men and 1800 ships.”
“Italy received no help from Constantinople as the Lombards slowly overwhelmed the peninsula.”
Episode 12 (9 mentions)
The capital of the Byzantine Empire and the central stage for this episode's court intrigues, murders, and building programs. Basil had ambitious plans to turn it into a vast treasure house through massive construction, including repairs to the Hagia Sophia, a rebuilt Church of the Holy Apostles, new public baths, a treasury, and his crowning achievement the Nea Ekklesia.
“Boris I of Bulgaria had sent an ambassador to Constantinople”
“who called themselves the Rus had besieged Constantinople,”
“to which sea did it belong, Rome or Constantinople?”
Episode 13 (13 mentions)
The imperial capital, frequently referenced throughout the episode as the center of power that various rebels sought to seize and Basil sought to hold. Nikephoros Phokas returned to a pelting mob here; Bardas Skleros besieged it from across the Golden Horn; Bardas Phokas camped inside the city walls before his death; and Basil departed from and returned to it repeatedly throughout his Bulgarian campaigns.
“The Bulgarian Empire had long been a thorn in Constantinople's side, constantly raiding”
“Deeply humiliated, Basil limped back to Constantinople, where, in what must have seemed like a hollow”
“in check by demonstrating his strength in yearly raids, and then left for Constantinople.”
Episode 14 (16 mentions)
The imperial capital, described as glittering in unrivaled splendor and renowned as far away as Scandinavia where people called it simply 'the city.' Its imposing walls had never been taken by force — a fact Alexios exploited by bribing defenders to open the gates. The city was the stage for coronations, the arrival of crusading armies kept outside the walls, and the throne-room diplomacy through which Alexios managed the crusader leaders.
Episode 15 (19 mentions)
The capital of the Byzantine Empire and the central stage of this episode. Brownworth describes it as the 'Queen of Cities,' a treasure trove of sumptuous palaces, lavish basilicas, and the art and learning of the ancient Greco-Roman world. It was sacked by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 in one of history's great catastrophes, from which it never truly recovered.
“But such concerns must have seemed insignificant to the citizens of Constantinople.”
“riots broke out, and a wave of anti-Western feelings swept through Constantinople.”
“By Christmas, they suspected, they would be ransacking the palaces of Constantinople.”
Episode 16 (11 mentions)
The central setting of the entire episode — Brownworth describes a city that had fallen from splendor to poverty and ruin by the 15th century, its population shrunk, its buildings crumbling, its harbor trade collapsed. It endures a 53-day siege in 1453 before falling to the Ottomans, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire and, as Brownworth frames it, the Middle Ages themselves.
“to cross at will, but he could effectively cut off Constantinople's food supply.”
“Gathering an immense army, he set out for Constantinople on March 23, 1453.”
“He would bring back glory to Constantinople, making it once again a great world power.”
Episode 17 (7 mentions)
The heart of Brownworth's entire concluding argument: Constantinople stood for 1,123 years and 18 days as the glittering capital of Christendom, sheltering one of the most brilliant civilizations ever seen and holding back the tide of Islam. Its fall in 1453 did not end the Byzantine story, but the West forgot it with unconscionable speed.
“Constantinople remained the glittering capital of Christendom the visible symbol of all that had been lost to the Dark Ages in the West”
“But had Constantinople done nothing other than simply exist for a thousand years. It would still have done the West in invaluable service”
“Unlike the West the learning of their ancient heritage was never lost protected by the strong walls of Constantinople”