| the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the Western Empire in a.d. 476. Capital: Constantinople. |
[is-tahn-bool, -tan-; is-tahn-boo
l, -tan-; Turk. is-tahm-bool] 
| a port in NW Turkey, on both sides of the Bosporus: built by Constantine I on the site of ancient Byzantium; capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and of the Ottoman Empire; capital removed to Ankara 1923. 5,494,900. |
| a former Turkish empire that was founded about 1300 by Osman and reached its greatest territorial extent under Suleiman in the 16th century; collapsed after World War I. Capital: Constantinople. |
| Con·stan·ti·no·ple (kŏn'stān-tə-nō'pəl) See Istanbul. |
An empire, centered at Constantinople, that began as the eastern portion of the Roman Empire; it included parts of Europe and western Asia. As the western Roman Empire declined, the Byzantine Empire grew in importance, and it remained an important power in Europe until the eleventh century. The Byzantine Empire was conquered by Turkish forces in the fifteenth century.
The Byzantine emperor was an absolute ruler (see absolute monarchy), and the laws and customs associated with his empire were strict and complex. His rule was supported by the Christian Church in the region, which later became the independent Eastern Orthodox Church.
Note: The word byzantine is often applied to a group of intricately connected and rigidly applied regulations or traditions, or to a complex bureaucracy that insists on formal requirements.
Note: Constantinople is called Istanbul today.
A city founded by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great as capital of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. Constantine ruled over both parts of the empire from Constantinople, which was later capital of the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople was conquered by Turkish forces in the fifteenth century.
Note: Today, under the name of Istanbul, Constantinople is the largest city in Turkey.
An empire developed by the Turks between the fourteenth and twentieth centuries; it was succeeded in the 1920s by the present-day republic of Turkey. At its peak, the Ottoman Empire included, besides present-day Turkey, large parts of the Middle East and southeastern Europe.
Largest city in Turkey, located in the northwestern part of the country on both sides of the Bosporus.
Note: Formerly called Byzantium, then Constantinople, the city was the capital consecutively of the eastern branch of the Roman Empire, of the Byzantine Empire, and of the Ottoman Empire.
Note: It is the seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church.