In 667 BC, Byzas founded the city of Byzantium.
Opposite of him was the Chalcedon colony in Asia Minor, whose inhabitants he considered 'blind' as they did not see the advantages of the European shore. When he arrived at where the Sea of Marmara meets the Bosporus, on the border of Europe and Asia, he understood the meaning of the oracle. The oracle instructed him to settle opposite the ‘land of the blind’. According to the legend, the ancient Greek prince Byzas consulted the oracle of Delphi on where to establish a new colony. The tale of the founding of Byzantium speaks about its favourable position. Situated on the Bosporus (part of the boundary between Europe and Asia), the city's location ensured that it could be supplied from the sea in the event of a siege. The term ‘Byzantine’ comes from the name of the ancient Greek city Byzantium which the Roman Emperor Constantine I (Constantine the Great) rebuilt and renamed Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), and in 330, moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople.
