he was besieged by
Constantine, and compelled to surrender (A.D. 323-324). To check the
inroads of the barbarians on the north of the Black Sea, Diocletian had
resolved to transfer his capital to Nicomedia; but Constantine, struck with
the advantages which the situation of Byzantium presented, resolved to
build a new city there on the site of the old and transfer the seat of
government to it. The new capital was inaugurated with special ceremonies,
A.D. 330. (See CONSTANTINOPLE.)

The ancient historians invariably note the profligacy of the inhabitants of
Byzantium. They are described as an idle, depraved people, spending their
time for the most part in loitering about the harbour, or carousing over
the fine wine of Maronea. In war they trembled at the sound of a trumpet,
in peace they quaked before the shouting of their own demagogues; and
during the assault of Philip II. they could only be prevailed on to man the
walls by the savour of extempore cook-shops distributed along the ramparts.
The modern Greeks attribute the introduction of Christianity into Byzantium
to St Andrew; it certainly had some hold there in the time of Severus.

[v.04 p.0912] C The third letter in the Latin alphabet and its descendants
corresponds in position and in origin to the Greek Gamma ([Gamma],
[gamma]), which in its turn is borrowed from the third symbol of the
Phoenician alphabet (Heb. _Gimel_). The earliest Semitic records give its
form as [Illustration] or more frequently [Illustration] or [Illustration]
The form [Illustration] is found in the earliest inscriptions of Crete,
Attica, Naxos and some other of the Ionic islands. In Argolis and Euboea
especially a form with legs of unequal length is found [Illustration] From
this it is easy to pass to the most widely spread Greek form, the ordinary
[Illustration] In Corinth, however, and its colony Corcyra, in Ozolian
Locris and Elis, a form [Illustration] inclined at a different angle is
found. From this form the transition is simple to the rounded
[Illustration] which is generally found in the same localities as the
pointed form, but is more widely spread, occurring in Arcadia and on
Chalcidian vases of the 6th century B.C., in Rhodes and Megara with their
colonies in Sicily. In all these cases the sound represented was a hard G
(as in _gig_). The rounded form was probably that taken over by the Romans
and with the value of G. This is shown by the permanent abbreviation of the
proper name