The Fisherman’s Village That Conquered Rome – The Storie about Constantinople pt 1
The Fisherman’s Village That Conquered Rome – Constantinople: Episode 1 🏛️🌊
Byzantium in 300 AD – a sleepy Greek port about to change the world.
🐟 667 BC: A Blind King’s Bad Bet
“Build here, and you’ll starve.” – Delphi Oracle
King Byzas ignored her.
He sailed from Megara, saw a tiny peninsula with zero farmland, and said:
“Perfect.”
Why?
- Golden Horn: Natural harbor deeper than Piraeus
- Bosporus: Fish so thick you could walk on them
- Europe + Asia: One foot in each continent
He named it Byzantium – “City of Byzas”.
Population: 2,000 fishermen.
Future: Capital of the world.
🏺 193 AD: Rome Burns It to Ashes
Emperor Septimius Severus sieged Byzantium for 3 years.
When he won?
→ Razed it.
→ Beheaded every dog.
→ Left one stone on another.
Anecdote: A surviving fisherman hid in a barrel of pickled fish for 40 days.
Locals still call stubborn people “barrel men” in Thessaloniki.
⚡ 324 AD: Constantine’s Vision
Emperor Constantine needed a new Rome.
He marched to Byzantium… and stopped.
“An angel appeared in my dream and said: ‘Build here.’”
He drew the city limits with a spear in the dirt – 7 times larger than old Byzantium.
Workers laughed: “You’ll never fill this!”
He replied: “I’ll follow the angel until he stops.”
🏛️ The Birth of Nova Roma (New Rome)
- Walls: 5 km of stone
- Population: 50,000 → 500,000 in 10 years
- Name: Constantinople – “City of Constantine”
- Serbian link: First Orthodox baptisms in the Balkans began here.
📸 Visual Proof
Constantine’s statue – Rome still jealous.
❓ YOUR TURN
Poll (reply 1–4):
What should Constantine have named it?
1️⃣ Nova Roma
2️⃣ Constantinople
3️⃣ Angelopolis
4️⃣ Byzas 2.0
Next episode – a chariot track that killed 30,000 in one day.
Resteem if you’re hooked! 🔥