View source for New Rome

{{other uses}}
{{verification|date=April 2023}}
{{short description|Ancient nickname for the city of Byzantium, later known as Constantinople (modern Istanbul)}}
{{Distinguish|Nova Roma}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name           = New Rome
| native_name    = {{native name|el|Νέα Ῥώμη}}<br/>{{native name|la|Nova Roma}}
| alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name)
| map_type       = Istanbul#Turkey Marmara#Turkey
| map_alt        = A map of Byzantine Istanbul
| map_size       = 275
| coordinates    = {{coord|41|0|50|N|28|57|20|E|type:city_region:TR|display=inline,title}}
| location       = [[Fatih]], [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]]
| region         = [[Marmara Region]]
| type           = Imperial city
| part_of        = [[Roman Empire]]
| length         =
| width          =
| area           = {{convert|6|km2|abbr=on}} enclosed within Constantinian Walls
<!-- find good source for this claim and discuss in article's text -->
| height         =
| builder        = [[Constantine the Great]]
| material       =
| built          = 11 May 330
| abandoned      =
| epochs         = [[Late antiquity]]
| cultures       = {{unbulleted list| [[Greek culture|Greek]]|[[Culture of ancient Rome|Latin]]}}
|}}
'''New Rome''' ({{langx|grc|Νέα Ῥώμη}}, ''Néa Rhṓmē''; {{IPA|grc-x-koine|ˈne̞a ˈr̥o̞ːme̞ː|lang|link=yes}}; {{Langx|la|Nova Roma}}; {{IPA|la|ˈnɔwa ˈroma|label=[[Late Latin]]:}}) was the original name given by the [[Roman emperor]] [[Constantine the Great]] to his new imperial capital in 330 CE,<ref name="Britannica-Istanbul">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Istanbul|title=Istanbul|website=britannica.com|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> which was built as an expansion of the city of [[Byzantium]] on the European coast of the [[Bosporus]] strait. 

The city was founded as [[Byzantium|Byzantion]] ({{langx|grc|Βυζάντιον}}) by [[Megara|Megarian]] colonists in 657 BCE.<ref name="Britannica-Istanbul"/> It was renamed by Constantine the Great first as "New Rome" (''Nova Roma'') during the official dedication of the city as the new [[Roman Empire|Roman]] capital in 330 CE,<ref name="Britannica-Istanbul"/> which he soon afterwards changed to [[Constantinople]] (''Constantinopolis'').<ref name="Britannica-Istanbul"/><ref name="ODB">{{ODB|title=Constantinople|last=Mango|first=Cyril|authorlink=Cyril Mango|pages=508–512}}</ref> The city was officially renamed as [[Istanbul]] in the 20th century, after the establishment of the [[Turkey|Turkish Republic]] in 1923.

Constantine essentially rebuilt the city on a monumental scale from 326<ref name="Georgacas1947">{{Cite journal |author=Georgacas, Demetrius John |year=1947 |title=The Names of Constantinople |journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association |volume=78 |pages=347–67 |doi=10.2307/283503 |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |jstor=283503 }}</ref> to 330, partly modeling it after [[Rome]]. Names of this period included {{lang|grc|ἡ Νέα, δευτέρα Ῥώμη}}, "the New, second Rome";<ref>The 5th-century church historian [[Socrates of Constantinople]] writes in his ''Historia Ecclesiastica'', 1:16 (c. 439) that the emperor named the city "Constantinople" while decreeing that it be designated a "second Rome" (‘Κωνσταντινούπολιν’ μετονομάσας, χρηματίζειν ‘δευτέραν Ῥώμην’ νόμῳ ἐκύρωσεν).</ref> {{lang|grc|Ἄλμα Ῥώμα}}, {{lang|la|"Alma Roma"}}; {{lang|grc|Βυζαντιάς Ῥώμη}}, "Byzantine Rome"; {{lang|grc|ἑῴα Ῥώμη}}, "Eastern Rome"; and ''Roma Constantinopolitana''.<ref name=Georgacas1947 />{{rp|354}}

The term "New Rome" was used to indicate that Byzantium, thereafter Constantinople, was the second/new capital of the [[Roman Empire]]. In modern times, "New Rome" remains part of the official title of the Orthodox [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarch]] of that city.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ec-patr.org/athp/index.php?lang=en|title=Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch}}</ref>

During the [[Tetrarchy]] system established by [[Diocletian]] in the 3rd century, [[Nicomedia]] (modern [[İzmit]]) near Istanbul was the Eastern (and most senior) capital of the Roman Empire (Diocletian had his seat in Nicomedia as the [[Augustus (title)|Augustus]] of the East). The last Roman co-emperor in Nicomedia, [[Licinius]], was defeated by Constantine at the [[Battle of Chrysopolis]] (in the modern [[Üsküdar]] district on the Asian side of Istanbul) on 18 September 324. Constantine used Nicomedia as his interim capital city between 324 and 330, while rebuilding and expanding [[Byzantium]] as ''Nova Roma'' (which he soon renamed again as ''Constantinopolis'').<ref name="Britannica-Istanbul"/> Constantine died at a villa near Nicomedia on 22 May 337.

==See also==
*[[Second Rome (disambiguation)]]
*[[Third Rome]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Ancient Byzantium| ]]
[[Category:City nicknames]]
[[Category:Constantinople]]
[[Category:History of Istanbul]]