In the year 330, the Roman Emperor Constantine decided that the capital of the entire Roman Empire should be moved.

The location he selected was a small Greek town by the name of Byzantium,

located in the middle of the Bosphorus Strait, approximately 500 miles or 800 kilometers from Rome.

From there it grew into one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world and was the seat of

more than one major empire.

Learn more about Constantinople, now known as Istanbul,

on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Before I get into the history of the city I should address the issue of the name.

Today the city is known as Istanbul and it was changed to this in 1930.

So when you refer to Constantinople, you and it was changed to this in 1930.

So when you refer to Constantinople,

you're referring to the city pre-130.

This is very similar to the use of Leningrad and St. Petersburg.

If you refer to the Siege of Leningrad, you are referring to St. Petersburg during the Soviet period when the city was known as Leningrad.

There is also an issue of geography.

Today Istanbul is a huge sprawling city, one of the largest in the world.

Most of what is Istanbul today was never part of Constantinople.

Even if you wanted to be cheeky and said that you were flying to

Constantinople, you really wouldn't be. The historical city of Constantinople is

only a small part of modern Istanbul. To that extent, it's a lot like

Manhattan.

Manhattan used to be synonymous with New York,

but when the Burrows merged a little over a hundred years ago,

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