The heart of Byzantine civilization was Constantinople.
The city lies on a peninsula between the Sea of Marmora and the spacious harbor
called the Golden Horn. Washed on three sides by the water and, like Rome,
enthroned upon seven hills, Constantinople occupies a site justly celebrated as
the noblest in the world. It stands in Europe, looks on Asia, and commands the
entrance to both the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. As a sixteenth century
writer pointed out, Constantinople "is a city which Nature herself has
designed to be the mistress of the world."
CONSTANTINOPLE AS A NATURAL CITADEL
The position of Constantinople made it difficult to attack
but easy to defend. To surround the city an enemy would have to be strong upon
both land and sea. A hostile army, advancing through Asia Minor, found its
further advance arrested by the long, winding channel which the Bosporus, the
Sea of Marmora, and the Dardanelles combine to form. A hostile fleet, coming by
way of the Mediterranean or the Black Sea, faced grave difficulties in
attempting to penetrate the narrow strait into which this waterway contracts at
each extremity. On the landward side the line of defense was so short—about
four miles in width—that it could be strongly fortified and held by a small
force against large numbers. During the Middle Ages the rear of the city was
protected by two huge walls, the remains of which are still visible.
Constantinople, in fact, was all but impregnable. Though each new century
brought a fresh horde of enemies, it resisted siege after siege and long
continued to be the capital of what was left of the Roman Empire. [16]
[16] Of the eight sieges to which Constantinople was
subjected in medieval times, only two succeeded. In 1204 A.D. it was captured
by the Venetians and in 1453 A.D., by the Ottoman Turks.
