# List of sieges of Constantinople

Constantinople (part of modern Istanbul, Turkey) was built on the land that links Europe to Asia through Bosporus and connects the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. As a transcontinental city within the Silk Road, Constantinople had a strategic value for many empires and kingdoms who tried to conquer it throughout history.
Known as Byzantium in classical antiquity, the first recorded siege of the city occurred in 510 BC by the Achaemenid Empire under the command of Otanes. Following this successful siege, the city fell under the rule of Persians until it won its independence again, and around 70 BC it became part of the Roman Republic, which was succeeded by the Roman Empire. Despite being part of Rome, it was a free city until it came under siege by Septimius Severus between 193–196 and was partially sacked during the civil war. After it was captured by Constantine the Great in 324, it became the capital of the Roman Empire, under the name of New Rome. It later became known as Constantinople, and in the years that followed it came under attack by both Byzantine pretenders fighting for the throne and also by foreign powers for a total of 22 times. The city remained under Byzantine rule until the Ottoman Empire took over as a result of the siege in 1453, known as the Fall of Constantinople, after which no other sieges took place.
Constantinople was besieged 36 times throughout its history. Out of the ten sieges that occurred during its time as a city-state and while it was under Roman rule, six were successful, three were repelled and one was lifted as a result of the agreement between the parties. Three of these sieges were carried out by the Romans who claimed the throne during civil war. Of all the sieges that took place from its founding by Constantine the Great till 1453, only three were successful, 21 were unsuccessful, and three were lifted by reaching mutual agreements. Four of these sieges took place during civil wars. The Sack of Constantinople that took place in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade caused the city to fall and to be established as the capital of the Latin Empire. It also sent the Byzantine imperial dynasty to exile, who founded the Empire of Nicaea. Constantinople came under Byzantine rule again in 1261 who ruled for nearly two centuries. The city was taken by the Ottomans with the siege in 1453, and as a result the Byzantine Empire came to an end. The city has been under the rule of Turks since the last siege, except for the period of Allied occupation from 1920 to 1923.

## List

| Date | Attackers | Defenders | Forces used | Result |
| 510 BC | Achaemenid Empire | Byzantium | Naval and land | Successful |
| 478 BC | Delian League | Achaemenid Empire | Naval | Successful |
| 408 BC | Athens | Byzantium, Megara, Boeotia | Naval and land | Successful |
| 340–339 BC | Macedonia | Byzantium, Athens | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 278–277 BC | Galatians | Byzantium | Land | Lifted |
| 251 BC | Seleucid Empire | Byzantium, Heraclea Pontica, Ptolemaic Kingdom | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 73–72 BC | Pontus | Byzantium | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 193–194 | Septimius Severus | Pescennius Niger | Naval and land | Successful |
| 313 | Maximinus II | Licinius | Land | Successful |
| 324 | Constantine the Great | Licinius | Naval and land | Successful |
| 378 | Goths | Roman Empire | Land | Unsuccessful |
| 626 | Pannonian Avars, Sasanian Empire | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 654 | Rashidun Caliphate | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 669 | Umayyads | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 674–678 | Umayyads | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 715 | Theodosius III, Byzantine Empire | Anastasios II, Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Successful |
| 717–718 | Umayyads | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 813 | First Bulgarian Empire | Byzantine Empire | Land | Unsuccessful |
| 821–822 | Thomas the Slav | Michael II | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 860 | Rus' Khaganate | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 907 | Kievan Rus' | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 913 | First Bulgarian Empire | Byzantine Empire | Land | Unsuccessful |
| 921 | First Bulgarian Empire | Byzantine Empire | Land | Unsuccessful |
| 923 | First Bulgarian Empire | Byzantine Empire | Land | Unsuccessful |
| 941 | Kievan Rus' | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 1047 | Leo Tornikios | Constantine IX Monomachos | Land | Unsuccessful |
| 1203 | Crusaders | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Lifted |
| 1204 | Crusaders | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Successful |
| 1235–1236 | Empire of Nicaea, Second Bulgarian Empire | Latin Empire, Duchy of the Archipelago | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 1260-1261 | Empire of Nicaea | Latin Empire | Naval and land | Successful |
| 1376 | Andronikos IV Palaiologos, Genoa | John V Palaiologos | Land | Successful |
| 1391 | Ottoman Empire | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 1394–1402 | Ottoman Empire | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Unsuccessful |
| 1411 | Musa Çelebi | Byzantine Empire | Land | Unsuccessful |
| 1422 | Ottoman Empire | Byzantine Empire | Land | Unsuccessful |
| 1453 | Ottoman Empire | Byzantine Empire | Naval and land | Successful |

## Footnotes

* ↑ The "Result" column is relative to the side that carries out the siege.
* ↑ As a result of the agreement reached with the mediator of Bithynia, the siege was lifted.
* ↑ While some sources have used Cicero and Tacitus's writings as a reference to argue that the city was in fact under a siege until it "repelled the enemies", other ancient writings found mention that a siege was planned through the sea but did not take place because of stormy weather conditions.
* ↑ Byzantine sources give 860 and Russian sources give 866 as the year in which this siege occurred, although it is accepted that the latter is wrong.
* ↑ The besieging army retreated after Byzantine allies,the Hungarians attacked the Ottoman lands.
* ↑ The year in which the siege started is controversial. Fahameddin Başar, Halil İnalcık and Konstantin Josef Jireček gave it as 1394, while Feridun Emecen and Haldun Eroğlu believed that it was 1396. In addition, some sources mention that the siege started in 1391 and ended in 1396, and that between these years, there was only one siege, the severity of which increased and decreased from time to time.
* ↑ The siege was lifted after Timur attacked the Ottoman lands.
* ↑ The siege was lifted after Mehmed Çelebi's move to Rumeli territory to fight against Musa Çelebi.
* ↑ The siege was lifted after Mustafa Çelebi's move to Anatolian lands to fight against Murad II.