ost serious
object of the attention of its founder. In the dark ages which succeeded
the translation of the empire, the remote and the immediate consequences
of that memorable event were strangely confounded by the vanity of the
Greeks and the credulity of the Latins. It was asserted, and believed,
that all the noble families of Rome, the senate, and the equestrian
order, with their innumerable attendants, had followed their Emperor to
the banks of the Propontis; that a spurious race of strangers and
plebeians was left to possess the solitude of the ancient capital; and
that the lands of Italy, long since converted into gardens, were at once
deprived of cultivation and inhabitants. Since the growth of
Constantinople cannot be ascribed to the general increase of mankind and
of industry, it must be admitted that this artificial colony was raised
at the expense of the ancient cities of the empire.

Many opulent senators of Rome, and of the eastern provinces, were
probably invited by Constantine to adopt for their country the fortunate
spot which he had chosen for his own residence. The invitations of a
master are scarcely to be distinguished from commands; and the
liberality of the Emperor obtained a ready and cheerful obedience. He
bestowed on his favorites the palaces which he had built in the several
quarters of the city, assigned them lands and pensions for the support
of their dignity, and alienated the demesnes of Pontus and Asia to grant
hereditary estates by the easy tenure of maintaining a house in the
capital. But these encouragements and obligations soon became
superfluous and were gradually abolished. Wherever the seat of
government is fixed, a considerable part of the public revenue will be
expended by the prince himself, by his ministers, by the officers of
justice, and by the domestics of the palace. The most wealthy of the
provincials will be attracted by the powerful motives of interest and
duty, of amusement and curiosity. A third and more numerous class of
inhabitants will insensibly be formed, of servants, of artificers, and
of merchants, who derive their subsistence from their own labor and from
the wants or luxury of the superior ranks. In less than a century
Constantinople disputed with Rome itself the preeminence of riches and
numbers. New piles of buildings, crowded together with too little regard
to health or convenience, scarcely allowed the intervals of narrow
streets for the perpetual throng of