The founding of Constantinople in the context of myths

Abstract

The founding of Constantinople was one of the most significant events of Constantine’s the Great epoch and his major building project. It has always attracted serious attention of historians. Along with purely technical issues (the period of construction, the amount of money and materials spent, etc.), it is worth paying attention to how the project on building a new center of Pax Romana was ideologically justified. According to Ammianus Marcellinus (Res Gest. XXI.10.8), Constantine’s nephew Julian upbraided his uncle for his reckless commitment to innovations. However, as some modern scientific researches show us, many of the emperor’s innovations were based on a clever interpretation of old ideologemes. In this respect, the use of traditional myths about the origin of Rome in connection with the founding of Constantinople looks especially interesting. These are the myths about the Trojan War, as well as the story of Aeneas, the Capitoline She-wolf, Romulus and Remus. The direct reference to the image of Romulus, the founder of Rome, is evidence of Constantine viewing the new city founded by him as the new Rome, and its foundation as a new landmark in the history of the Roman state (which Constantine himself called in his letter to the poet Porphyrius - saeculum meum).