...J. Riley Snyder Constantinople and Ravenna found new life in Late Antiquity through calculated decisions to transform them into capitals. For these cities to succeed, simultaneous large-scale imperial building projects had to be undertaken, such as fortifications, roads, aqueducts, palaces...

... Augustus in his new city, as that concession signaled something important that he could not communicate otherwise: his new city’s identity vis-à-vis Rome. Figure 3. Byzantine Constantinople. Map by Carolyn Connor and Tom Elliott. Ancient World Mapping Center © 2003 (awmc.unc.edu ). Used by permission...

.... The emperor Heraclius (610–641), who had coordinated the defense in person, left Syria in haste. A passage in Nicephorus’ Breviarium covers what happened in Constantinople in the aftermath of the battle: It tells a seemingly strange tale of Heraclius being so afraid of water that he would not enter...