Byzantium

American  

[bih-zan-shee-uhm, -tee-uhm] / bɪˈzæn ʃi əm, -ti əm /

noun

1. an ancient Greek city on the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara: Constantine I rebuilt it and renamed it Constantinople a.d.

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Byzantium British  

/ baɪ-, bɪˈzæntɪəm /

noun

1. an ancient Greek city on the Bosporus: founded about 660 _bc ; rebuilt by Constantine I in 330 _ad and called Constantinople; present-day Istanbul

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Example Sentences

A priest traces the endless conflict of Russia and the West to the Crusaders’ sack of Constantinople, formerly Byzantium, in 1204.

From The Wall Street Journal

While Anna failed to reconcile her love for her father with her love of historical truth, recent scholars of Byzantium have rightly acclaimed “The Alexiad” as a historical source of first importance.

From The Wall Street Journal

Meanwhile diplomacy provided Byzantium with the intelligence to deflect pressure from the Huns and otherwise shape the Byzantine near abroad to favor its own interests.

From The Wall Street Journal

It’s thanks to this more free-breathing approach to history, including art history, that we’re getting a challenger of an exhibition like “Africa & Byzantium,” which opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art this Sunday.

From New York Times

“He might be from Byzantium. He’s such a nice man. He’s not that much older than your papa. When Papa gets back, maybe he and Father Drozdov can become friends.”

From Literature