Episode 9

In this episode, we wrap up our long journey through the prehistoric and early Greek past of the Bosphorus—moving from Paleolithic hunters to Bronze Age farmers, and finally through the shadowy centuries of the Greek Dark Ages. While we pause to apologize for lingering so long in the mists before Byzantion’s founding, we also explain why this deep background matters: it sets the stage for the city’s birth and extraordinary future. Unlike broader histories of the Byzantine Empire, this series focuses on the city itself—its streets, walls, and people—telling the biography of Byzantion, later Constantinople, in all its vivid detail. With the Archaic Greeks just over the horizon, the true story of the city is about to begin.

MUSIC:

Franz Gordon, Hanna Ekström, Anna Dager / Boxes of Memories / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com.