CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE EASTERN EMPIREApostles adjoining Constantine’s mausoleum.^8 Constantius was extremely
pious himself, but the effects of the attempted restoration of paganism by his
successor, Julian (361–63), were felt at Constantinople as elsewhere, and there
were still pagans at court – indeed, Constantius’ panegyrist, Themistius, was
a pagan. At the end of the century, John Chrysostom, who became bishop of
Constantinople in 398, directed many of his sermons against the dangers
of paganism. The fourth century, after the death of Constantine, was a time
of ferment and competition both between Christians and between pagans and
Christians, when despite imperial support for Christianity, the final outcome
was still by no means certain. It was also only in the fifth century that church
building began to take off on a major scale. Again, while Constantinople had
been referred to as ‘New Rome’ since the time of Constantine, it was only the
council summoned by Theodosius I at Constantinople in 381 that gave its
bishop a primacy of honour over all other patriarchates save Rome. In an ear-
lier gesture intended to bolster the Christian claim of the new city and claim
apostolic status for it, Constantius II deposited relics of Timothy and Andrew
within the empty sarcophagi of Constantine’s mausoleum.^9
Constantinople had an advantage, as the seat of emperors, but it was not
immune from religious and political pressures. After Theodosius I became
emperor in 379 he quickly issued an edict together with Gratian condemning
all heresies. This affected Constantinople, where the Christians were divided
and there was a strong and vociferous Arian population. In 380 Theodosius
Figure 1.1 The base of the obelisk in the Hippodrome, showing the emperor in the imperial
box receiving gifts from barbarians