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An exploration of the geographic and hydrographic features of the Bosporus strait, and the ways in which they impacted on the lives of the inhabitants of Byzantium. This chapter investigates how the currents, winds, and dangerous, winding shores of the Bosporus made it possible to tax or to exploit the strait. It also, in this connection, uses Dionysius of Byzantium’s treatise of the region to recreate a vivid tableau of mythological and epichoric traditions which bound the various villages and communities along the shores of the Bosporus together.

An investigation of Byzantium’s strained relationship with its Thracian neighbours, this chapter explores how the Byzantines tried to distinguish themselves from their barbarian neighbours through myths and legends, citizenship policy, and their festival calendar (which is reconstructed). In practice, it is suggested, the Byzantines had a much closer relationship with the Thracians than is usually assumed, but this is deliberately covered up in our myths, inscriptions, onomastics, and Patria accounts in an effort to emphasize the Greek credentials of the controlling city of the Bosporus.

Byzantium’s foundational tradition is notoriously confused and contradictory, but Megara is traditionally accepted as the first founder. Though Megara’s influence on the cults, institutions, and alphabet at Byzantium is undeniable, this chapter questions whether common assumptions about Greek colonization are warranted in the case of Byzantium. By placing the foundation of Byzantium within a wider debate on the nature of Greek colonization, it suggests that the traditional Megarian view may be too simple, and that in any case there may be more important questions to ask than who founded a city. By rethinking what we mean by colonization, it is suggested that some of the difficulties with the sources for Byzantium’s foundation can be overcome.

The fishing industries of the Bosporus are famous, and in this chapter the economy of ancient Byzantium is illustrated through an explanation of fishing and fish processing techniques in the region. Minimalist interpretations of ancient fishing are contested in this chapter, which explores how specific regions, such as enclosed straits like the Bosporus, could enjoy regular surpluses which could be processed and exported. The local economy, it is shown, enjoyed a thriving trade in fish, and the methods used to both catch fish and regulate the fishing industries are explored.

An introduction to the themes explored in this book, the relationship between the Bosporus and the city of Byzantium, and the ways in which this book attempts to differ itself from previous work on the city as well as other local histories. The reasons why certain themes are emphasized are outlined, and the sources used are discussed. There is also an exploration of previous scholarship on the city of Byzantium.