But the greatest glory of
Constantinople was away back in the early days before the time of
Mohammed, or of the Crusaders, when it was the centre of the
Christian religion, the chief and gorgeous capital of a Christian
empire, and the residence of Christian emperors,--from the days
of Constantine the conqueror to those of Justinian the law-giver
and of Irene the empress. It was the metropolis of the eastern
half of the great Roman Empire, and during this period of over
five hundred years all the wealth and treasure of the east poured
into Constantinople, while all the glories of the empire, even
the treasures of old Rome itself, were drawn upon to adorn and
beautify this rival city by the Golden Horn. And so in the days
of Theodosius the Little, the court of Constantinople, although
troubled with fear of a barbarian invasion and attack, glittered
with all the gorgeousness and display of the most magnificent
empire in the world.
In the great daphne, or central space of the imperial palace, the
prefect Anthemius, with the young emperor, the three princesses,
and their gorgeously arrayed nobles and attendants, awaited, one
day, the envoys of Ruas the Hun, who sought lands and power
within the limits of the empire.
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