Ancient Byzantine Coin

The Roman empire had been unified in 27 BCE and the western empire fell in the 400s CE. By then, the Byzantine empire had been established by Diocletian in 285 CE. Constantine I moved the capital to Byzantium, which would then be called Constantinople. The Thracians had settled the area around 1,500 to 1,700 years before - possibly by Byzas, supposedly a son of Poseidon and grandson of Io. Having been settled by the Greeks and then occupied by the Greeks. The colony began as a trading site and then traded hands between city states and the Persian Empire before and during the Peloponnesian War. It was then taken by the Romans in 196 CE. The Thracians had been powerful, but not unified, and so their lands were constantly in flux.

The Roman empire flourished and then fragmented. The Eastern and Western empires were jealous of one another and the Byzantines as the proud Easterners considered themselves, allowed Rome to be sacked. The lands of the Western empire fragmented and new nation