Siege of Byzantium (324)
Siege between Constantine I forces against Licinius resistance. / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The siege of Byzantium was carried out some time between July and September 324 by the forces of the Roman emperor Constantine I (r. 306–337) during his Second Civil War against his rival, co-emperor Licinius (r. 308–324). It would have been started simultaneously with the naval battle of the Hellespont (today known as Dardanelles) in which Constantine's son and caesar Crispus (r. 317–326) defeated the Lycinian navy commanded by Admiral Abanto.
Siege of Byzantium | |||||||
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Part of Civil wars of the Tetrarchy | |||||||
Left: bust of Licinius in Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; right: head of the colossal statue of Constantine I in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Constantine I | Licinius | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Constantine the Great | Licinius |
The victory on the Hellespont made it possible to prolong the siege of Byzantium and forced Licinius to summon the forces that were quartered in the city to Asia Minor, where the emperor intended to regroup his remaining forces to confront Constantine again. However, he would be defeated at the consecutive battle of Chrysopolis, ending the Tetrarchy system and allowing the Constantine to establish himself as sole ruler of the Roman Empire.
This was the tenth significant siege of the city, and there were to be many more.