Constantinople – New Rome from Constantine to Justinian

Pre-requisites: Enrollment in the applicable semester of studies

Course objectives: Introducing students to the life and functioning of the byzantine capital and understanding the complex connections between building, ideology, propaganda and questions of legitimacy of the rulers. Students will learn to recognize the many layers of the subtle differences of the historical conscience prevalent in many of the sources.

Course description: A review of the history of New Rome since its inception as a city in the age of Constantine the Great to the end of the rule of emperor Justinian, under who the walling of the new city is finished. Special attention will be given to the meaning of Constantinople in byzantine politics and spiritual history (the ideas held by Byzantines, legends of the city and its building) as well as what daily life was like in this metropolis.

Learning Outcomes: Students will have an understanding of the meaning of Constantinople and its central position as the capital in a geographical, ideological and sacred sense.

Literature/Reading:

• R. Janin, Constantinople byzantin, Paris 1964.
• V. Stanković, Carigradski patrijarsi i carevi Makedonske dinastije, Beograd 2003.
• T. Mathews, The Early Churches of Constantinople, University Park-London 1971.
• C. Mango, Byzantine Architecture, New York, 1971