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9. Constantinople
9.君士坦丁堡（Constantinople）
After the split of the Roman Empire into two, the city of Rome gradually lost almost all of its former glory. In 330 AD, Emperor Constantine moved the seat of power from Rome to the small town of Byzantium and then transformed it into Constantinople. The capital of the Byzantine Empire for over 1000 years, this mighty city became the wealthiest and most influential metropolis in Europe.
罗马帝国一分为二后，罗马城逐渐丧失昔日光环。公元330年，君士坦丁一世把王座由罗马移到小镇拜占庭，后来移至君士坦丁堡。拜占庭帝都有超过1000年的历史，是欧洲最富裕，最具影响力的大城市。
It had the largest walls the continent had ever seen, the Theodosian Walls, sparing the city from many attacks across the centuries. The imposing cathedral of Hagia Sophia, built by Emperor Justinian I in 537 AD, was one of the Wonders of Late Antiquity, and the Hippodrome, where horse races were held, surpassed even the Coliseum of Rome.
帝都拥有欧洲大陆最雄伟城墙——特奥多修斯墙，几个世纪以来成功阻挡多次进攻。雄伟的圣菲亚大教堂（由东罗马帝国君主渣士丁尼一世于公元537年修建）是古代奇迹之一。罗马斗兽场（可举行赛马）的规模甚至超过罗马大剧院。
Situated on the strait of Bosphorus, which seperates the Mediterranean from the Black Sea and Europe from Asia, Constantinople helped, among other things, turn future European empires into world dominating forces. Not even after the fall of the Byzantines in 1453 did the city lose its power; it simply changed its name to Istanbul under the new rule
君士坦丁堡濒临博斯普鲁斯海峡，将地中海和黑海分开，并把欧洲和亚洲隔开。后来的欧洲列强成为世界主导力量，与君士坦丁堡（当然也有其他因素）是分不开的。直到1453年，拜占庭衰落，帝都也失去了影响力。帝都更名为伊斯坦布尔，受奥斯曼土耳其人统治。
