Which emperor dedicated Constantinople as the Roman Empire’s new capital in 330 CE?

Constantine the Great dedicated Constantinople as a new Roman imperial capital in 330 CE.

The city was built on the site of Byzantium, a strategically placed settlement beside the Bosporus. Constantine selected it because the location connected Europe and Asia and stood close to important military and commercial routes.

The dedication ceremony took place on 11 May 330 CE. The city was officially called Constantinople, meaning “City of Constantine,” although it also retained older names and later acquired many others. It became a major center of imperial government, Christianity, trade, and scholarship.

Rome remained symbolically important, but Constantinople increasingly served as the administrative heart of the eastern empire. After the western imperial court disappeared in the fifth century, Constantinople continued as the capital of the Byzantine, or Eastern Roman, Empire until its capture in 1453.