Did you know that Rome was not always the capital of the Roman Empire?
If you were attending the “Million Show” and the question was, “Was Rome always the capital of the Roman Empire?” What would you do? Would you say yes, for sure, or would you appeal to college students? For, as easy as this question may seem, for a brief period of history, the capital of the Roman Empire belonged to another region!
Even though Rome is always considered the "heart" of the Roman Empire, the honor of being the center of government once belonged to another city. Between 208 and 211 AD and again between 305 and 306, the capital of the Romans was York, England!
Roman bullshit
For some time, the city was home to Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus, who was born in the area that now corresponds to Libya and first came to power in Africa as governor. Then he marched to Rome and took the capital. His predecessor, Julianus, was executed and the Senate recognized Severus as emperor.
Thus, Lucius Septimius Severus became the first Roman emperor from Africa. On the battlefield he showed his strengths and thus led the troops through Roman territory to York.
Cultural shock
Reports show that Severus and his men caused a major culture shock. Imagine that, at the time, most people in the region were born and died in the same village: they lived with the same people all their lives. The surprise was immense when people came across the emperor in flesh and blood, when everyone knew him only through coins.
Thus, more than an emperor, Severus became a true celebrity. During his time in office, he succeeded in making great strides against corruption, earning even more respect from the people. Of course, his followers wanted to look like him and even ate new foods, discovered different spices, explored fashion trends and changed their hair - all to make them more similar to new visitors.
But do not think that Severus suddenly arrived in York: at the time, he was 60 years old and already governed by 18! So the bustle! His presence in the city was not accidental either: the emperor and his troops were there to protect Roman interests against the various attempts at the Caledonian invasion. It is not known exactly how many people he took with him, but it is estimated that there were no less than 50, 000 people in his army!
After much talk, the emperor was able to negotiate a peace treaty with the invaders. But unfortunately, that was not the easy way you are thinking: for many years thousands of lives were lost while York was considered the capital of the Roman Empire.
On February 2, 211, Severus died in York, along with his sons, who were considered co-emperors. Shortly after the death, they left the city and returned to Rome.
It took almost a century for York to once again be the capital of the Roman Empire. This time under the command of Constantine! When he also died in the city, his son took office, becoming Constantine the Great. In power, he transferred the capital to the city known as Constantinople.
The building of Constantinople
Built in 330 by Emperor Constantine, Constantinople was on a point of important trade routes and had as one of its main objectives to maintain the hegemony of the Roman Empire.
The construction was made on the site of the Greek city Byzantium, so the emperor committed himself to the cultural and social development of the city. As promised, he brought several paintings and sculptures from different regions of the world to the site. In addition, archives belonging to Greece in Classical Antiquity were incorporated into the libraries of Rome.
Thus, with several factors in its favor, Constantinople became an important cosmopolitan city, developing and reaching a population of approximately one million people. However, in 395, due to a major crisis, Emperor Theodosius divided the empire into two parts: the Western and Eastern Roman Empire, leaving his two sons in power. The part of the Eastern Roman Empire, whose capital was Constantinople, was then erected to be Nova Roma.
* Text written by Camila Galvão via N-Experts.
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