Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium.

Episode 167.

5 Centuries on.

Back in our very first end of the century tour, in episode 10 of the show, we toured Constantinople.

The year was 518 AD, and it was fun re-listening to that episode recently and hearing what was still true and what was now out of date.

As you just heard in our fantasy narrative, the most famous landmarks of the city were still the same in 1025, as they were in Anastasia's day.

Interestingly, our last update actually came a few years before the Nika riots, so that episode was out of date almost instantly.

But if you replace the holy apostles and archaea Sophia with the ones which Justinian built, then the sites are still the same.

So let's follow Stephen and George's route and survey those locations in more detail and see how things would have looked by 1025.

We start at the Theodosian walls, which would have looked older and dirtier, but not particularly different than they had appeared in 518.

Sections of it had undergone major repairs. A huge earthquake in 740 had prompted significant work under Constantin V, while Theophilus also recorded many upgrades along the land and sea defenses.

Listener M.L. asked whether there was a well-organized system of maintenance for the city's fortifications, and the truth is we don't know.

Presumably, soldiers and administrators alike were able to spot when sections began to show serious wear and tear. However, the written sources give the impression that they were only paid serious attention during a crisis.

I suspect there is truth in that. Hiring work crews and bringing in building materials was very expensive, so most emperors probably left the walls alone, unless it looked like siege was in the offing.

We see the same dynamic at play with the Imperial fleet, to maintain a navy cost a huge amount. It was easier to let it run down in times of peace and simply build new ships when you needed them.

The one part of the land walls that had changed significantly was in the northwest of the city, around the palace of La Chiaunei.

The palace was built by Anastasia and was propped up against the walls that encompassed the sixth hill. However, outside the walls lay the church of the Virgin Mary established by Elia Pulceria in the 5th century.

Over time, this had become arguably the second most important church in the city, thanks to the growth of the cult of Mary and the presence of her relics in the building.

This prompted Heraclius to extend the walls to enclose the church after the 626 siege by the Avos.

The slope of the hill in that area made it very difficult to build two walls or a moat, and although the single wall which was built was thick and studied with extra towers, it became a target for future attacks.

Justinian II, Thomas the Slav and several Balgar Khan's all focused their attempts to breach the walls on this section.

Once inside the walls, you would see acres of farmland. After 1025, this space between the Theodosian and Old Constantinian walls will be colonized by monasteries.

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