The Consecration of Nova Roma

The eleventh of May, 330 AD, dawned with a brightness that seemed to announce itself in every corner of the empire. The city that had been called Byzantium, battered and half-forgotten on the edge of empire, now shimmered with banners and gold. Constantinople, Nova Roma, the New Rome, stood reborn-more than a city, a declaration, a weapon, and a spell. By imperial command, the greatest metropolis in the world was consecrated in a ceremony that rivaled any triumph of old Rome, even as it outstripped every ambition of the Caesars before Constantine.

At the first light, the Bosphorus glowed, catching the reflection of flags that unfurled from every tower and every ship at anchor. Incense drifted from pagan temples and Christian churches alike, blurring the line between the old faiths and the new, while somewhere above the city the cries of priests, the peal of bells, and the shouts of a crowd wove themselves into a hymn that had no name.