Constantinople, the New Rome

After the synod the emperor spent some time in relaxation. Then, after the public celebration of the twentieth anniversary of his accession, he at once turned his attention to repairing the churches. He did this in other cities, and also in the city named after him. It had previously been called Byzantium. He enlarged it, surrounded it with massive walls, and adorned it with all kinds of buildings; and having made it equal to imperial Rome, he named it Constantinople, and established by law that it should be called New Rome. This law was carved on a stone pillar set up in public view in the Strategium, near the emperor’s statue on horseback. He also built two churches in the same city. One he named Irene, and the other The Apostles. [a]

Nor did he only improve the affairs of the Christians, as I have said; he also destroyed the superstition of the pagans. He brought their images out into public view to decorate the city of Constantinople, and set up the Delphic tripods publicly in the Hippodrome. It may seem needless to mention these things now, since people see them before they hear of them. But at that time the Christian cause received its greatest growth, for in the times of the emperor Constantine divine Providence preserved a great many other things as well. Eusebius Pamphilus has recorded the emperor’s praises in magnificent terms, and I thought it would not be out of place to touch on them here as briefly as possible.