The City-Walls of Istanbul

Constantinople is a precious key, worth a whole kingdom; its possessor will be master of the world'. Napoleon's prophecy might equally have been made by Constantine himself, the founder of the city. For the chequered history of the Byzantine Empire shows that more than once the mere possession of Constantinople stood between it and destruction. Yet the city's impregnability did not depend solely on its Roman heritage and its peerless geographical and political position, but owed as great a debt to the genius of the younger Theodosius in constructing an enceinte which, apart from St. Sophia, is today the most impressive monument of the vanished Byzantine power

Ancient history · Art · Art history · Byzantine architecture · Byzantine studies · Emperor · Empire · Genius · Kingdom · Political science · Politics · Possession (linguistics) · Power (physics) · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · Historical and Architectural Studies · History · Law · Philosophy