The Foundation of Constantinople and the Beginnings of Byzantine Studies
The Foundation of Constantinople and the Beginnings of Byzantine Studies

Summary/Abstract: This essay takes issue with the idea that Byzantium and Byzantine studies are misnamed because the names misrepresent the true identity of the Eastern Roman Empire. It is argued that while Byzantine identity was indeed the invention of Byzantine studies, both developments were internal and native to the culture of the empire. They resulted from research, around the turn of the sixth century, into the origins of Constantinople, which rediscovered the city’s past, prior to its refoundation by Constantine as a Roman imperial capital, in the ancient Greek city of Byzantion. In using this name to designate Constantinople, local intellectuals did not deny the capital’s official status as New Rome, but signalled that it was a Rome with a Greek – Byzantine – difference.

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