William Jackson Brodribb and Walter Besant

“ A great revolution which was to have enduring effects had been accomplished. The fragments of the empire were again united under one head; the seat of government was to be transferred from the city on the Tiber to that on the Bosporus, and Christianity was to be the established religion, we may say, of the world. As always happens, there had been a long, gradual preparation for the change, but still it is no wonder that the man by whom it was directly consummated should have been styled "the Great." Yet we almost grudge Constantine the epithet. ”

“ The successes of Severus were rapid and complete. Having crossed the Hellespont into Asia with part of his army, he utterly defeated Niger near Issus, where more than five centuries before Alexander had won his second great victory over Dareius. But his work was not yet done. Niger was a man who inspired respect and might be thought worthy of empire. There were those who still clung to him. One city was faithful to his cause, and put forth all its powers of resistance. It was Byzantium. The city may have felt that it had a right to become the head of an Eastern empire. ”

“ He has, perhaps, been sometimes judged by too high a standard because he professed Christianity and presided at the general Council of Nice. In many of his notions it is certain that he was thoroughly pagan, though he did what he could outwardly to discourage paganism. To call him a saint looks almost like a wilful untruth. To call him "great" makes us prefer to think of what he did rather than of what he was. The year 324 B.C., however, in which Byzantium became the seat of empire, and was henceforth to be known as the city of Constantine, was assuredly a great epoch in the world's history. ”

“ It must indeed have been a bad time for those treasures of art in which Byzantium was so rich. The citizens had clearly made up their minds to spare neither themselves nor their most precious possessions, but to fight on to the dreadful end. ”

“ But what most grieved the Byzantines was the destruction of their noble walls, which had long been their pride and glory. Severus had them demolished as far as was possible with such a substantial structure. Thereby he destroyed one of Rome's great safeguards against the barbarian tribes of Asia and Pontus. Against these Byzantium was both a defence and a place of refuge. This fact is noted by the historian [3] who has described the siege and fall of the city, and it seems to have much impressed him. ”

“ BYZANTIUM UNDER THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
NDER the Emperors of Rome, Byzantium, as far as we know, enjoyed quiet and prosperity. Its citizens, we may assume, were no longer annoyed by their barbarous neighbours, but were, no doubt, able to trade and make money to their hearts' content. For such people the rule of Rome over the world, with the peace and order it established, was a decided advantage. The city must have had many attractions for a rich and cultivated Roman visitor. ”

“ It was comparatively easy for Constantine to attract new citizens; any city, indeed, which is made a seat of government must become moderately populous, and even already the new capital must have been well furnished with inhabitants. We hear of the desertion of Rome by its old and noble families, which are said to have followed the emperor to the Bosporus. But these stories are mainly due to the lively Greek imagination. Rome was not quite shorn of its glory or of its population. We may assume that a number of rich idlers gladly accepted Constantine's invitation to settle in his city. ”

“ Its Christianity, too, though not of the best and highest type, must have been a source of strength to it, and have been the means of raising up a number of men whose influence for good would be widely and powerfully felt. For however much the Christian religion may by human error and perverseness become corrupted, it can never wholly lose its great moral worth, or altogether fail to ally itself with some of our better feelings and instincts. The Christianity, indeed, of the East was far too metaphysical and too much addicted to subtle discussion of dogmas ”

“ The city had also a numerous and well-appointed fleet. Three hundred vessels of every variety, well piloted and manned, some armed with particularly formidable beaks, were at the disposal of the Byzantines.
For the unusually long period of three years they defended themselves; and their brave persistency amid the sufferings which so prolonged a struggle necessarily involved, shows plainly enough that in great emergencies these citizens, who had the character of being mere lovers of ease and comfort, could rise to a high degree of patriotism and loyalty. ”

“ There must be a forum and a circus, and porticoes, baths, and aqueducts. Although Constantine built several Christian churches, the city must have had a thoroughly pagan aspect, as it was richly adorned with the statues of gods and goddesses from all parts of Greece and Asia. It could be said by Jerome that the dedication of Constantinople involved the stripping bare of almost every city in the world. Still, all the efforts of Constantine failed to make his city equal to Rome in size, population, and grandeur.
There are in truth limits to what the most enterprising man can accomplish ”

“ He is, in short, one of those men whom, though they have accomplished great and even worthy things, it is barely possible to admire. His wars with Maxentius and Licinius may be favourably regarded, and their result was satisfactory, inasmuch as they saved the world from rulers infinitely worse than himself But there are passages in his history which suggest that he was really capable of cold-blooded cruelty, and was not, like Alexander, the mere victim of an occasional violent and savage impulse. ”

“ The science of besieging had made but little, if any, progress since the first century, and Byzantium was probably assailed on this occasion by the same methods and with engines of the same construction as had been employed by Titus in the siege of Jerusalem. Earthworks were thrown up equal in height to the city walls, and on these were planted towers, from which stones and other missiles were hurled on the garrison. Licinius does not seem to have shown any remarkable tenacity in the defence. ”

“ As Gibbon says, "The Romans, after the fall of the republic, combated only for the choice of masters." In such struggles, the provinces, and mankind generally, were but uninterested spectators, and cared very little for the result. ”

“ At last they were reduced to chewing leathern hides soaked in water, and finally, it is said, to the dire and horrible extremity in which the weak become literally the prey of the strong. Some attempted an escape from these horrors, and taking advantage of a violent storm, ventured into their boats, resolved to perish or to get supplies of food. ”