Constantinople › Constantius II › Aristotle's On the Heavens » Origins and History

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  • Constantius II › Who Was
  • Aristotle's On the Heavens › Origins

Ancient civilizations › Historical places, and their characters

Constantinople › Origins

Definition and Origins

by Donald L. Wasson
published on 09 April 2013
Map of Byzantine Constantinople (Cplakidas)
Built in the seventh century BCE, the ancient city of Byzantium proved to be a valuable city for both the Greeks and Romans.Because it lay on the European side of the Strait of Bosporus, the Emperor Constantine understood its strategic importance and upon reuniting the empire in 324 CE built his new capital there -- Constantinople.




Valens Aqueduct, Constantinople

Valens Aqueduct, Constantinople

In 330 CE, Constantine consecrated the Empire's new capital, a city which would one day bear the emperor's name.Constantinople would become the economic and cultural hub of the east and the center of both Greek classics and Christian ideals. Its importance would take on new meaning with Alaric ’s invasion of Rome in 410 CE and the eventual fall of the city to Odoacer in 476 CE. During the Middle Ages, the city would become a refuge for ancient Greek and Roman texts.


A convert to Arianism, Constantius II's death would place the already tenuous status of Christianity in the empire in jeopardy.His successor, Julian the Apostate, a student of Greek and Roman philosophy and culture (and the first emperor born in Constantinople), would become the last pagan emperor. Although Constantinius had considered him weak and non-threatening, Julian had become a brilliant commander, gaining the support and respect of the army, easily assuming power upon the emperor's death. Although he attempted to erase all aspects of Christianity in the empire, he failed. Upon his death fighting the Persians in 363 CE, the empire was split between two brothers, Valentinian I (who died in 375 CE) and Valens.Valentinian, the more capable of the two, ruled the west while the weaker and short-sighted Valens ruled the east. Valens only contribution to the city and the empire was to add a number of aqueducts, but in his attempt to shore up the empire's frontier --he had allowed the Visigoths to settle there-- he would lose a decisive battle and his life at Adrianople in 378 CE. After Valens embarrassing defeat, the Visigoths believed Constantinople to be vulnerable and attempted to scale the walls of the city but ultimately failed.
Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia


No expense was to be spared. He wanted the new church to be built on a grand scale -- a church no one would dare destroy.He brought in gold from Egypt, porphyry from Ephesus, white marble from Greece and precious stones from Syria and North Africa. The historian Procopius said:
Over ten thousand workers would take almost six years to build it. Afterwards Justinian was reported to say, “ Solomon, I have surpassed thee.” Near the height of his reign, Justinian's city suffered an epidemic in 541 CE --the Black Death-- where over one hundred thousand of the city's residents would die. Even Justinian wasn't immune, although he survived. The economy of the empire would never completely recover.
Binbirderek Cistern, Constantinople

Binbirderek Cistern, Constantinople



Constantius II › Who Was

Definition and Origins

by Craig Morley
published on 18 December 2012
Constantius II (Mary Harrsch (Photographed at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology))
Constantius II ruled the Roman Empire between 337-361 CE. He was the second son of Constantine the Great and Fausta. Constantius was a devout follower of Arianism Christianity. Ruling for 24 years, he was the longest reigning son of Constantine and therefore, arguably, the most successful.


Ammianus Marcellinus records his life and reign in great detail. However, the hostility of the historian has forever marred the reputation of this successful emperor, recording that his reign was plagued by imperial insecurity, court intrigue and an inability to solve widespread religious controversies.
Constantius was responsible for the slaughter of his cousins and uncles, of Theodora's line during the great massacre of 337 CE. Such a slaughter within the imperial family itself was unprecedented. Murdering his relatives (such as Dalmatius, Hannibalianus and Julius Constantius), whom he saw as challengers to his and his brothers' ascensions to the throne, Constantius secured his own position within the Empire. The only two male members of this line of the imperial family to survive were Gallus and Julian. Thus, after this slaughter and the division of the empire between Constantine's sons, Constantius was able to secure the most prestigious and wealthiest provinces in the east for himself, and perhaps more importantly; Constantinople – the new capital of the Roman Empire. Eventually, after the death of his brothers; Constantine II and Constans, he became sole ruler of the Roman Empire. However, learning the lessons from Diocletian and Constantine the Great he realised that to rule and secure the empire on his own was impossible, thus throughout his reign he subsequently promoted his only surviving male relatives, Gallus and later Julian as his Caesars.



The main criticism levelled at Constantius was his cautious and defensive foreign policy. This is understandable given that most Roman contemporaries, even in the Later Roman Empire, were still obsessed with the idea of conquest and expansion.Yet this defensive policy safeguarded the frontiers of the empire against the Sassanian Empire – which was resurgent during the reign of the ambitious and skilful Shapur II – and the increased threat of the Germanic tribes in the west. His policy was also extremely important in protecting and conserving Rome ’s limited manpower strength. The vicious cycle of usurpation, civil war and dynastic murder had led to wider imperial insecurity and vulnerability, making aggressive foreign campaigns ever more dangerous and unwise. The civil wars that had wrecked the empire were particularly damaging and always proved a huge drain on Roman manpower. For example, during Constantine's conflict with Magnentius, his brothers' murderer, Constantius lost 40% of his men while his rival's army suffered a loss of 2/3.
Therefore, although Constantius' foreign policy of defence and containment received a lot of criticism it proved a lot more effective than an aggressive policy would have done and indeed it actually formed the precedent for the later overall strategy of the Roman Empire.
Constantius II

Constantius II

Constantius was especially skilled at cementing the internal stability of the Empire – a fact that is often overlooked considering the bloody civil wars and unrest that had previously threatened the empire. During his reign he faced many varied internal threats and challengers. These included;
1) Vertranio: who had briefly been proclaimed by the Danube legions, was quickly disposed of
2) Magnentius: survived three years of war with his brothers' killer. Finally defeated him at the battle of Mons Seleuci. (later proscribed the followers of Magnentius [Amm. Marc. 14.5.2-5])
3) Silvanus: the Frankish-born general was disposed of through a trick [Amm.Marc. 15.5.3-31]
4) Caesar Gallus: who was suspected of insubordination and was quickly checked and done away with.
5) Caesar Julian: openly rebelled against Constantius and succeeded – mainly because Constantius died before he could give battle.
It is important to note that Constantius II was the first ever Roman Emperor to publically and monumentally celebrate victory in a civil war [Amm.Marc. 21.16.14]. This was a completely new and unprecedented move by a Roman Emperor, especially when one considers that in the early empire Octavian changed his name to Augustus in order to actively distance himself from civil conflict. Constantius' decision to do this underlines the fact that the ability to protect against internal threats was now a major prerequisite of being a successful emperor during the Later Roman Empire.
Ammianus criticises Constantius throughout his narrative for his paranoia and his susceptibility to court intrigue and scheming courtiers. The historian states that this paranoia created a culture of suspicion and fear in Rome [Amm.Marc.21.16.8-9 & 21.6.1-3 & 8-10]. However, given all the schemes and plots against him his suspicions seem highly justified – indeed if more Roman Emperors had been so 'paranoid' perhaps fewer would have fell victim to palace coups and military rebellions.
Map of Byzantine Constantinople

Map of Byzantine Constantinople


Given that Constantius was the longest living and most documented of the sons of Constantine it is in his reign that we can best see how the reforms introduced earlier by Constantine the Great developed and worked. This is especially true for the reign of Constantius as he did not change much himself but instead chose to continue with the administrative systems set in place by his father. For example, he ensured the distinction between military and civil posts.
During his reign Constantinople increased in importance becoming more clearly recognisable as an equal to the Eternal City ;Rome. Under Constantius the city increasingly became the centre of the Empire. He was the patron of many important building projects in the city; granaries, Horrea Constantia, bath houses and a library. In addition, the Church of the Holy Apostles was remodelled and improvements were made to the water supply.
Indeed after his work in the city the orator Themistius (Oration 3) stated that Constantinople was now no longer a second city but a true rival to Rome itself.
Constantius also furthered the religious policies of the Constantinian Dynasty. With the Edict of 365 CE he ordered the closure of all pagan temples, forbade access to them and prohibited the performance of sacrifice both private and public; stating that those who disobeyed were to be executed [Cod. Theod. 16.10.4]. Laws such as this and others were specifically designed to break the power and institution of temples in pagan religious practice. Temples were central to almost every activity in paganism, acting as sites of celebration of the cults. Therefore, Constantius' policies were evidently a direct attack on paganism. The Emperor also had the famous statue of Victory removed from the Senate house in Rome as he believed no Christian should have to work in the shadow of a pagan monument. However, other practices were allowed to remain such as the burning of incense and candles which would, interestingly, later be adopted by Christianity.
Constantius died of an illness in 361 CE while marching to do battle with his Caesar, Julian, who had rebelled and claimed the title of Augustus.

Aristotle's On the Heavens › Origins

Ancient Civilizations

by Robert Campbell
published on 16 October 2016
One of Aristotle ’s more famous quotes was, "All men naturally desire knowledge" ("πάντες ἄνθρωποι τοὺ εἰδέναι ὀρὲγονται φύσει") (Aristotle, Metaphysics, 1.980a.22). As a classical Greek philosopher, an ideology like this is required for producing many outstanding achievements. He was known as a philosopher, artist, and scientist. Greek-born, he started with humble beginnings by attending Plato ’s academy; becoming one of the most widely known philosophers in human history. Aristotle wrote many books, one of them was On the Heavens ( ΠΕΡΙ ΟΥΡΑΝΟΥ). We are still not sure when the book was officially written, but it was around 350 BCE. His ideas included the four common elements on Earth (earth, air, fire, water), and also a fifth element which we will discuss later. The book revolves around his observations regarding the universe. The theories of Aristotle were groundbreaking for his time and were used until roughly the 1500s CE until the writings of Copernicus.



The first main component to Aristotle's discussion is the nature of the universe. Aristotle concluded that three things make up a physically constituted entity: bodies and magnitudes, beings possessed of body and magnitude, and the principles of causes of these beings. Magnitude divided in one direction is a line, in two directions is a surface, and in three directions, a body. His view was much like our understanding today. We know a line (length) is one dimensional, a shape is two-dimensional (length & width), and most objects in our everyday life, including us, are three-dimensional (length, width, depth). This concept is over 2,000 years old.
He described the four elements of the world and nature - earth (heaviest), water, air, and fire (lightest) - and believed a fifth element existed (aether). To determine whether the body is light or heavy, Aristotle believed 'lightness' was the nature of moving away from the centre and 'heaviness' was the nature of moving toward the centre. The same goes for vertices; the lightest rises to the top, and heaviest moves downward. Aristotle was not the first person to propose the four elements. In the 5th century BCE, Anaximenes recorded the first proposal regarding the four elements making up everything. The elements, when combined, created qualities. Fire and Earth would make Dry; Water and Water would create Cold; Water combined with Air would result in Wet; and finally, Air and Fire would be Hot.
The Four Elements

The Four Elements


Aristotle took it one step further with his observations of motion. Aristotle postulated that all bodies have a natural way of moving, which could be regular or irregular. He believed that everything that moved was moved by something. The latter is only possible when the irregularity of the movement proceeds from either the mover or from the object moved or both.Basically, this is saying bodies could naturally move in a straight line or not all. This idea is actually a rudimentary form of Newton's first law of motion (an object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon). He also introduced a third option which was circular motion.
Aristotle noted that the motion of the body moving upward would be fire or air, and downward would be water or earth. This would mean the objects that could be effected by circular motion must be of an exalted substance. Circular motion is connected with more 'heavenly bodies' such as planets. The planets that were allowed to be in circular motion were spheres.These planets revolve around an Earth. He believed the initial motion of the objects was from a 'prime body' who acted on the outermost sphere. Since these spheres are moving in a circular motion, they could neither have weight or lightness as they cannot move naturally or unnaturally towards or away from the centre. The prime body was seen as always running and eternal, going past any other element. This element was known as aether or quintessence. Essentially, this was the fifth element which made up the Sun, planets and stars. Aether or αἰθήρ was described as a pure, perfect substance, which is unlike anything else on Earth.


The model created by Aristotle was a part of multiple examples described as the geocentric model. His model had a total of 55 objects in his idea of the universe. At the centre of the universe laid Earth. From the centre to the farthest exterior, the objects were as follows: Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Past Saturn, stars were in a fixed position. The interesting part is if we change the position of the Earth and the Sun, then bring the moon to Earth, it would be pretty similar to our current model. This model and many like it lasted until the 16th century CE. Aristotle's universe gradually ended near the stars. The stars were the line between the universe seen by man. Past the stars laid spiritual space where mankind could never go.


Aristotle also created a theory on how the Earth was created and how the universe is laid out. He believed the Earth had always existed and was in an almost eternal state. The Earth, to his understanding, was unchanged and always provided a perfect circular motion for the revolving bodies. Aristotle argued for a spherical Earth. Around this time, the idea of a flat earth was coming into question. The proof provided by Aristotle was a moon's eclipse. When the moon eclipses, the boundary is always convex. So if the eclipses are due to the interposition of the earth, the shape must be caused by its circumference.Also, he mentioned that the stars provide evidence of Earth also being of no great size. His explanation was if an individual stood in Egypt, while another stood in Cyprus, they would see different sets of stars due to how small the Earth is. A vast change over a small amount of space. Since the Earth was in the centre and always existed, the next question Aristotle had was whether or not the Earth was unique.


Since the Earth is in the centre of the universe, and we live at the centre, does this mean the world is unique? Aristotle believed the Earth was unique and that mankind was alone in the universe. His hypothesis behind this was that if there were more than one world and the universe had more than one object at the centre, then elements like earth would have more than one natural place to fall to. The idea is that if multiple centres existed, the planets would be unable to revolve around Earth and have trouble understanding how to move. Remember, his idea of Earth, was that it was also the centre of motion. So by these standards, it makes sense for him to believe the Earth was unique.
The concepts put forth by Aristotle were incredible given the time. In roughly 350 BCE, he was able to identify rudimentary laws of motion prior to Newton's famous three laws. The ability to create a hypothesis of objects being heavier or lighter depending on the distance to the centre is also no small feat. His universe model consisted of 55 objects that aided in his observations and predictions regarding the motion of the planetary objects. The insight put forth by Aristotle was scientific theory at a rudimentary level, based on our model today, and his research shows the use of a scientific process. Though Aristotle's views were not all correct by today's current research, he did lay the fundamental framework for those like Galileo, Copernicus, and Newton. On the Heavens is just one of his many books that attempt to understand life, the universe, and everything. The examples used in this discussion are just the tip of the iceberg, and if anyone wants to read more on similar topics, please consider Physics and Meteorologica.


Article based on information obtained from these sources:
with permission from the Website Ancient History Encyclopedia

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