Where was the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire?

• A. Rome.
• B. Athens.
• C. Constantinople.
• D. Alexandria.

Answer: (C)

The seat of government for the Eastern Roman Empire determined its capital. After the empire split, the eastern realm centralized power in Constantinople, a city Constantine the Great built on the site of ancient Byzantium and renamed to mark its new role. Its position on the Bosporus gave control over crucial sea lanes between Europe and Asia and made it highly defensible, helping it endure for nearly a thousand years and remain the capital until the fall of 1453. Rome stayed the heart of the earlier unified empire and the western part, while Athens and Alexandria were important cities but not the imperial capital of the eastern realm. So Constantinople is the correct answer.