Dictionary of Battles / From the Earliest Date to the Present Time

by Thomas Benfield Harbottle

Byzantium (War of the Two Empires).

In 323 the city was besieged by Constantine the Great after his victory over Licinius at Hadrianopolis. Licinius, finding the place difficult of defence, crossed into Asia and collected an army to raise the siege. He was, however, defeated at Chrysopolis, and Byzantium surrendered in 324. Constantine was proclaimed Emperor of the united Empire, and Byzantium, under its modern name of Constantinople, was made the capital.