In 262, for reasons which have not been very well as certained, the tyrant Gallienus had determined to wreak his fury on the Byzantines. Despairing of being able to take so strong a place by force, be made the most so lemn assurances to the inhabitants, that if they would admit him into their city, all persons and their property should be sacredly respected. But he violated these as surances, and was no sooner admitted than he ordered a general massacre, not only of the garrison, but of the in habitants at large; and, according to Trebellius Pollio, not an ancient family of Byzantium was left in existence, except a very few, whose members happened at the time to be abroad in the armies or on business.
In the wars betwixt the two emperors Maximin and Udine's, the first hesieged and took Byzantium, but was in a short time after compelled to give it up to his rival , who, in his turn, was under the necessity of abandoning it to Constantine the Great, to whom it opened its gates in 324.
Constantine was so strongly impressed with the supe rior advantages of Byzantium as a place of residence. that he resolved to make it for the future the capital of his empire. Accordingly he began next year to repair. enlarge, and beautify it. Anxious that his should follow his example, in making this new city the place of their ordinary residence, he spared neither cost nor pains to render it worthy of their pi eference. Mag nificence, convenience, and beauty, were studlcd in all its public and private edifices, and in a short time Byzan tium was seen almost to rival the ancient capital of the empire. " lie urged the progress of the work," says
Gibbon, " with the impatience of a lover ; the walls, the poiticoes, and the principal edifices, were completed in a few years." The encouragement given to settlers in the new city, and particularly an edict published by the emperor, declaring that such as had lands in Thrace, Pontos, or Asia, should not he at liberty to dispose cf these, or even leave them to their proper heirs at their death, unless they had a house in the city of Byzantium, soon rendered it one of the most populous and flourishing of the empire. An amphitheatre. a circus maximus, se veral forums, porticoes, and public baths, with whatever else could contribute to the dignity of a great capital, and to the benefit or pleasure of its numerous inhabiter .-s.
NT were soon found in Byzantium. The city was divided into 14 regions, and privileges and immunities granted to the inhabitants equal to those that were enjoyed in Rome. The common people even from that ancient capital, as well as from all other parts of the empire, were invited, by the emperor's donations of corn, wine, and oil, to come and settle at Byzantium. Christians, however, had a manifest preference shewn them. The statues of the heathen deities were every where demolished, and their temples converted into churches, and consecrated to the worship of the true God. Crosses were erected in all the squares and public places.