nd Diocletian divided them.
The praetorians of Rome being dangerous, Diocletian replaced them with
two legions. The Occident was in ruins and depopulated and hence the
Orient had become the important part of the empire; Diocletian,
therefore, abandoned Rome and established his capital at Nicomedia in
Asia Minor.[169] Constantine did more and founded a new Rome in the
East--Constantinople.

=Constantinople.=--On a promontory where Europe is separated from Asia
only by the narrow channel of the Bosporus, in a country of vineyards
and rich harvests, under a beautiful sky, Greek colonists had founded
the town of Byzantium. The hills of the vicinity made the place easily
defensible; its port, the Golden Horn, one of the best in the world,
could shelter 1,200 ships, and a chain of 820 feet in length was all
that was necessary to exclude a hostile fleet. This was the site of
Constantine's new city, Constantinople (the city of Constantine).

Around the city were strong walls; two public squares surrounded with
porticos were constructed; a palace was erected, a circus, theatres,
aqueducts, baths, temples, and a Christian church. To ornament his
city Constantine transferred from other cities the most celebrated
statues and bas-reliefs. To furnish it with population he forced the
people of the neighboring towns to remove to it, and offered rewards
and honors to the great families who would come hither to make their
home. He established, as in Rome, distributions of grain, of wine, of
oil, and provided a continuous round of shows. This was one of those
rapid transformations, almost fantastic, in which the Orient delights.
The task began the 4th of November, 326; on the 11th of May, 330, the
city was dedicated. But it was a permanent creation. For ten centuries
Constantinople resisted invasions, preserving always in the ruins of
the empire its rank of capital. Today it is still the first city of
the East.

=The Palace.=--The emperors who dwelt in the East[170] adopted the
customs of the Orient, wearing delicate garments of silk and gold and
for a head-dress a diadem of pearls. They secluded themselves in the
depths of their palace where they sat on a throne of gold, surrounded
by their ministers, separated from the world by a crowd of courtiers,
servants, functionaries and military guards. One must prostrate one's
self before them with face to the earth in token of adoration; they
were called Lord and Majesty; they were treated a