<Articles>The Foundation of Constantinople : the Reality and the Legend

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  • <論説>コンスタンティノープル三三〇年 : その実態と伝承の形成
  • コンスタンティノープル330年--その実態と伝承の形成
  • コンスタンティノープル 330ネン ソノ ジッタイ ト デンショウ ノ ケイセ

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Abstract

What is the meaning of the foundation of Constantinople (330)? After re-examining many sources, we found that it wasn't until the 5th century that the descriptions of its foundation appeared. To our surprise, authors didn't make much of Constantinople in the days of Constantine the Great. Accordingly, it is necessary to inquire into the foundation of Constantinople from these two aspects, that is, the reality and the legend. In this paper, I studied these two aspects by analyzing sources from Constantine's age to the 8th century, such as Eusebius of Caesarea, Themistius, Socrates, Sozomenos, Zosimus, Hesychius, Malalas, and The Parastaseis. First, they proved that the contemporary authors didn't regard the foundation by Constantine as an exceptional undertaking. It was in the days of Theodosius the Great that Constantinople became the political core of the empire, and the legend of 330 slowly developed from the time of the Theodosian dynasty. However, the contents changed suddenly in the 6th century, and the legend became a new one peculiar to the Byzantine Empire.

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  • 史林

    史林 71 (2), 223-258, 1988-03-01

    THE SHIGAKU KENKYUKAI (The Society of Historical Research), Kyoto University

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