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Byzantium

ancient Greek city, precursor of Constantinople

34 dated entries naming Byzantium, drawn from 30 separate years between 667 BCE and 1421 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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7th century BC

  • 667 BCEByzantium (modern Istanbul) is founded by Megaran colonists under Byzas.source

5th century BC

  • 498 BCEKaunos and Caria, followed by Byzantium and towns in the Hellespont also revolt against the Persians. Cyprus also joins the rebellion, as Onesilus removes his pro-Persian brother, Gorgos, from the throne of Salamis.source
  • 478 BCEWith the help of the Athenian statesman and general, Cimon, Aristides commands an Athenian fleet of 30 ships that the Spartan commander Pausanias leads to capture the Greek cities on Cyprus and Byzantium, taking them from the Persians and their Phoenician allies.source
  • 409 BCEAlcibiades recaptures Byzantium, ending the city's rebellion from Athens. This action completes Athenian control of the Bosporus which secures the Athenian supply route for grain from the Bosporan Kingdom in the Black Sea region.source

4th century BC

  • 389 BCEThe Athenian general, Thrasybulus, leads a force of triremes to levy tribute from cities around the Aegean and support Rhodes, where a democratic government is struggling against Sparta. On this campaign, Thrasybulus captures Byzantium, imposes a duty on ships passing through the Hellespont, and collects tribute from many of the Aegean Islands.source
  • 363 BCEThe Theban general, Epaminondas, makes a bold attempt to challenge Athens' naval empire. With a new Boeotian fleet, he sails to Byzantium, with the result that a number of cities in the Athenian Empire rebel against their now threatened masters.source
  • 356 BCEThe Social War begins between the Second Athenian League, led by Athens, and its revolting allies of Chios, Rhodes, and Kos as well as the independent state Byzantium. Mausolus, the tyrant of Caria, instigates the rebellion against the Athenian control of these states. The revolting allies ravage the islands of Lemnos and Imbros which are loyal to Athens.source
  • 344 BCEPhilip II of Macedon besieges Perinthus, which had defied him and was inclining towards his opponents the Athenians, the Perinthian's allies Byzantium and the Achaemenid Empire support Perinthus in their defence of the city.source
  • 340 BCEWhen King Philip II of Macedon invaded Perinthus and Byzantium, King Artaxerxes III of Persia sent support to those cities.source
  • 312 BCEAntigonus arrives at the Propontis and tries to negotiate an alliance with Byzantium, but the city, at the urging of Lysimachus, remains neutral; without it Antigonus gives up on the idea of crossing over into Europe.source

3rd century BC

  • 201 BCERhodes and its allies Pergamum, Cyzicus, and Byzantium combine their fleets and defeat Philip V in the Battle of Chios. His flagship is trapped and rammed by two enemy ships.source

1st century

  • 89Polycarpus I, Greek bishop of Byzantiumsource
  • 89Polycarpus I, Greek bishop of Byzantium, dies after a 20-year reign and is succeeded by Plutarch.source

2nd century

  • 169Pertinax succeeds Alypius as bishop of Byzantium.source
  • 169Alypius, bishop of Byzantium (approximate date)source
  • 194Septimius Severus besieges Byzantium (194–196); the city walls suffer extensive damage.source
  • 196Emperor Septimius Severus captures and sacks Byzantium; the city is rebuilt and regains its previous prosperity.source

3rd century

  • 203Emperor Septimius Severus rebuilds Byzantium, and expands the southern frontier of Africa, with the metropolis Carthage re-fortified.source
  • 244Alexander of Constantinople, bishop of Byzantium (approximate date)source
  • 267The Heruli invade the Black Sea coast; they unsuccessfully attack Byzantium and Cyzicus. The Roman fleet defeats the Herulian fleet (500 ships) but allows them to escape into the Aegean Sea, where they raid the islands of Lemnos and Skyros.source
  • 275c. November – Aurelian is assassinated near Byzantium (Turkey). Aurelian had developed a reputation for punishing corruption with severity, and his secretary Eros was under suspicion. As a result, Eros, fearing for his life, forged a list of high-ranking officers marked for execution. In this way, the secretary tricked the officers into assassinating Aurelian. They then flee into Asia Minor to avoid the wrath of the soldiers.source

4th century

  • 324(Date unknown) The Roman Emperor Constantine I seizes the Byzantine Empire's capital, Byzantium, and commences work on rebuilding the city as the Eastern Empire's capital, which he will inaugurate as Constantinople in 330.source
  • 324July 3 – Battle of Adrianople: Emperor Constantine the Great defeats his rival Licinius near Adrianople, forcing him to retreat to Byzantium. Constantine then invades Thrace with a Visigothic force and raids the countryside.source
  • 330May 11 – Emperor Constantine the Great dedicates the Column of Constantine and Constantinople, or Nova Roma (modern-day Istanbul). He had spent four years expanding the city of Byzantium, having chosen the site for its strategic location on the Bosporus. The city became the capital of the Byzantine Empire.source
  • 337August 30 – Alexander of Constantinople, bishop of Byzantium (approximate date)source

9th century

  • 824February – A major earthquake strikes Byzantium in Asia Minor (now part of western Turkey) and part of Greece, damaging the city walls of Theodosiopolis (now Barbaros in Turkey) and Heraclea Perinthus at the same time that the forces of Byzantine Emperor Michael II the Amorian are suppressing the rebellion by Thomas the Slav. Both cities surrender after the natural event.source

14th century

  • 1303January 17 – A major earthquake strikes Byzantium and Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey). Byzantine Emperor Michael IX Palaiologos spreads the word that the former Patriarch of the Eastern Church, Athanasius I had given him a warning about the imminent wrath of God against the city.source
  • 1303June 23 – Athanasius I returns to leadership of the Eastern Orthodox church in Byzantium, receiving recognition as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople almost 10 years of having been driven from that office.source
  • 1306June 23 – The Knights Hospitaller, led by Grand Master Foulques de Villaret, land with 600 men on the island of Rhodes, one of the Dodecanese Islands off of the coast of Byzantium, and begin a four-year long war to capture the fortified city of Rhodes (which will not fall until August 15, 1310).source
  • 1310May 9 – Nephon I of Constantinople becomes the new Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church in Byzantium, now at Turkey. He is elected after his predecessor, the 80-year-old Athanasius I, is forced to retire.source
  • 1315April 28 – The Mamluk Sultanate army invades the Christian outpost of Malatya in Byzantium, then loots the city.source
  • 1373September 25 – At Constantinople, Manuel II Palaiologos is proclaimed as co-Emperor of Byzantium by his father, the Emperor John V Palaiologos.source
  • 1399December 10 – Manuel II Palaiologos, The Emperor of Byzantium, departs from Constantinople along with French General Jean II Le Maingre (known as Boucicaut) and a ships of the Venetian navy on a diplomatic mission to obtain military aid, traveling first to the Republic of Venice to negotiate with the Doge Antonio Venier.source

15th century

  • 1421January 19 – The coronation of John VIII Palaiologos as the Emperor of Byzantium, the "Eastern Roman Empire", takes place in Constantinople.source

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