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Roman client state, 211 B.C. Roman province, 46 A.D.

Throughout the third century A.D., tensions grew between the eastern, Greek-speaking, Hellenistic half of the empire and the western, Latin-speaking, Romanized half. In 324 A.D., in order to ease the administration of the eastern half of the empire, the Emperor Constantine enlarged the city of Byzantium in Thrace, building a new wall and numerous magnificent structures, and settling large numbers of Roman citizens there. He renamed the city "Constantinople" and established it as a second capital, complete with its own senate.

Taking advantage of its position as a port controlling a strategic waterway, the city became one of the most prosperous and populous cities in the empire. After the split between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire, it became the capital of the East, standing for centuries after the fall of Rome. Constantinople was finally conquered in the fifteenth century by the Turks, who renamed it Istanbul.