place_of_birth theodosius i of constantinople
___MASK13___ on the Orontes ( also Syrian ___MASK13___ ) was an ancient Greco - Roman city on the eastern side ___MASK2___ the Orontes River . Its ruins lie near the modern city ___MASK2___ ___MASK63___ , Turkey , and lends the modern city its name . The ecumene ( US ) or oecumene ( UK " oikoumén ", " inhabited ") was an ancient Greek term for the known world , the inhabited world , or the habitable world . Under the ___MASK27___ Empire , it came to refer to civilization and the secular and religious imperial administration . In present usage , it is used as the noun form ___MASK2___ " ecumenical " and describes the Christian Church as a unified whole or the unified modern world civilization . It is also used in cartography to describe a type ___MASK2___ world map (" mappa mundi ") used in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages . ___MASK66___ was the capital city of the Roman / Byzantine Empire ( 330  1204 and 1261  1453 ), and also of the brief Latin ( 1204  1261 ), and the later Ottoman ( 1453  1923 ) empires . It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great , after whom it was named , and dedicated on 11 May 330 AD . A ___MASK65___ ( or simply capital ) is the municipality exercising primary status in a country , state , province , or other region , usually as its seat ___MASK2___ government . A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the offices and meeting places ___MASK2___ its respective government ; the status as capital is often designated by its law or constitution . In some jurisdictions , including several countries , the different branches ___MASK2___ government are located in different settlements . In some cases , a distinction is made between the official ( constitutional ) capital and the seat ___MASK2___ government , which is in another place . New ___MASK28___ ( Greek :   , " Nea Rom "; Latin : " Nova ___MASK52___ ") was a name given by the ___MASK27___ Emperor Constantine the Great in 330 AD to his new imperial capital at the city on the European coast ___MASK2___ the Bosporus strait , also known as Byzantium until then , and as " Knstantinoúpolis " ( ___MASK66___ ). The city is now known as Istanbul . ___MASK44___ , officially known as the Syrian Arab Republic (""), is a country in Western Asia , bordering ___MASK73___ and the Mediterranean Sea to the west , Turkey to the north , Iraq to the east , Jordan to the south , and Israel to the southwest . ___MASK44___ ' s capital and largest city is Damascus . ___MASK63___ (" Anky " from , " Aniokia " " Antiócheia "), is the seat of the Hatay Province in southern Turkey . The ___MASK45___ , also referred to as the Eastern ___MASK27___ Empire , was the continuation ___MASK2___ the ___MASK27___ Empire in the East during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages , when its capital city was ___MASK66___ ( modern - day Istanbul , which had been founded as Byzantium ). It survived the fragmentation and fall ___MASK2___ the Western ___MASK27___ Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 . During most ___MASK2___ its existence , the empire was the most powerful economic , cultural , and military force in Europe . Both " ___MASK45___ " and " Eastern ___MASK27___ Empire " are historiographical terms created after the end ___MASK2___ the realm ; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the " ___MASK27___ Empire " ( tr . ), or " Romania ", and to themselves as " Romans ". The Orontes (  ) or Asi ("  ") is a northward flowing river starting in ___MASK73___ and flowing through Syria and Turkey before entering the Mediterranean Sea . Originally , a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family . The system ___MASK2___ such rule ___MASK2___ families by senior males is termed patriarchy . Primus inter pares (" prtos metax ísn ") is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals . It is typically used as an honorary title for those who are formally equal to other members ___MASK2___ their group but are accorded unofficial respect , traditionally owing to their seniority in office . Historically , the " princeps senatus " ___MASK2___ the Roman Senate was such a figure and initially only bore the distinction that he was allowed to speak first during debate . Also , Constantine the Great was given the role ___MASK2___ " primus inter pares ". However , the term is also often used ironically or self - deprecatingly by leaders with much higher status as a form ___MASK2___ respect , camaraderie , or propaganda . After the fall ___MASK2___ the Republic , Roman emperors initially referred to themselves only as " princeps " despite having power ___MASK2___ life and death over their " fellow citizens ". Various modern figures such as the Chair ___MASK2___ the Federal Reserve , the prime minister ___MASK2___ parliamentary regimes , the Federal President ___MASK2___ Switzerland , the Chief Justice ___MASK2___ the United States , and the Ecumenical Patriarch ___MASK2___ the Eastern Orthodox Church fall under both senses : bearing higher status and various additional powers while remaining still merely equal to their peers in important senses . ___MASK23___ the Great ( 27 February 272 AD  22 May 337 AD ), also known as ___MASK23___ I or Saint ___MASK23___ ( in the Orthodox Church as Saint ___MASK23___ the Great , Equal - to - the - Apostles ), was a ___MASK27___ Emperor from 306 to 337 AD . ___MASK23___ was the son ___MASK2___ Flavius Valerius Constantius , a ___MASK27___ Army officer , and his consort Helena . His father became " Caesar ", the deputy emperor in the west , in 293 AD . ___MASK23___ was sent east , where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under the emperors Diocletian and Galerius . In 305 , Constantius was raised to the rank ___MASK2___ " Augustus ", senior western emperor , and ___MASK23___ was recalled west to campaign under his father in Britannia ( Britain ). Acclaimed as emperor by the army at Eboracum ( modern - day York ) after his father ' s death in 306 AD , ___MASK23___ emerged victorious in a series ___MASK2___ civil wars against the emperors Maxentius and Licinius to become sole ruler ___MASK2___ both west and east by 324 AD . A Christian ( or ) is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity , an Abrahamic , monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings ___MASK2___ Jesus Christ . " Christian " derives from the Koine Greek word " Christós " (  ), a translation ___MASK2___ the Biblical Hebrew term " mashiach ". Theodosius I Borradiotes ( Greek :     ; b . ___MASK13___ -- d . after 1183 in ___MASK66___ ) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of ___MASK66___ from 1179 to 1183 . ___MASK28___ is a city and special " comune " ( named " ___MASK52___ Capitale ") in Italy . ___MASK28___ is the capital ___MASK2___ Italy and ___MASK2___ the Lazio region . With 2 , 870 , 336 residents in , it is also the country ' s largest and most populated " comune " and fourth - most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits . The Metropolitan City ___MASK2___ ___MASK28___ has a population ___MASK2___ 4 . 3 million residents . The city is located in the central - western portion ___MASK2___ the Italian Peninsula , within Lazio ( Latium ), along the shores ___MASK2___ Tiber river . The Vatican City is an independent country geographically located within the city boundaries ___MASK2___ ___MASK28___ , the only existing example ___MASK2___ a country within a city : for this reason ___MASK28___ has been often defined as capital ___MASK2___ two states . The ___MASK37___ ___MASK2___ Chalcedon ( or ) was a church council held from October 8 to November 1 , AD 451 , at Chalcedon . The ___MASK37___ is numbered as the fourth ecumenical council by the Great Church . A minority ___MASK2___ Christians do not agree with the council ' s teachings . Its most important achievement was to issue the Chalcedonian Definition . The ___MASK37___ ' s judgements and definitions regarding the divine marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates . Chalcedon was a city in Bithynia , on the Asian side ___MASK2___ the Bosphorus ; today the city it is part ___MASK2___ the Republic ___MASK2___ Turkey and is known as Kadköy ( a district ___MASK2___ Istanbul ). ___MASK4___ (" Byzántion ") was an ancient Greek colony on the site that later became ___MASK66___ , and later still ___MASK87___ . ___MASK4___ was colonised by the Greeks from Megara in . ___MASK24___ , officially the Republic ___MASK2___ ___MASK24___ ( Turkish : ), is a transcontinental country in Eurasia , mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia , with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe . ___MASK24___ is a democratic , secular , unitary , parliamentary republic with a diverse cultural heritage . ___MASK24___ is bordered by eight countries : Greece to the west ; Bulgaria to the northwest ; Georgia to the northeast ; Armenia , the Azerbaijani exclave ___MASK2___ Nakhchivan and Iran to the east ; and Iraq and Syria to the south . The Aegean Sea is to the west , the Black Sea to the north , and the Mediterranean Sea to the south . The Bosphorus , the Sea ___MASK2___ Marmara , and the Dardanelles , which together form the Turkish Straits , divide Thrace and Anatolia ; they also separate Europe and Asia . ___MASK24___ ' s location has given it geopolitical and strategic importance throughout history . The Ecumenical Patriarch (" His ___MASK89___ Divine All - Holiness the Archbishop ___MASK2___ ___MASK66___ , New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch ") is the Archbishop ___MASK2___ ___MASK66___  New Rome and ranks as " primus inter pares " ( first among equals ) among the heads ___MASK2___ the several autocephalous churches that make up the Eastern Orthodox Church , and is widely regarded as the representative and spiritual leader ___MASK2___ the 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide . The term " Ecumenical " in the title historically referred to the Ecumene , a Greek designation for the civilised universe , i . e . the Roman Empire , and legally stems from Canon 28 ___MASK2___ the Council ___MASK2___ Chalcedon . The ___MASK27___ Empire ( Koine and Medieval Greek :    , tr . ) was the post - ___MASK27___ Republic period ___MASK2___ the ancient ___MASK27___ civilization , characterized by government headed by emperors and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe , Africa and Asia . The city ___MASK2___ Rome was the largest city in the world BC AD , with ___MASK66___ ( New Rome ) becoming the largest around 500 AD , and the Empire ' s populace grew to an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants ( roughly 20 % ___MASK2___ the world ' s population at the time ). The 500 - year - old republic which preceded it was severely destabilized in a series ___MASK2___ civil wars and political conflict , during which Julius Caesar was appointed as perpetual dictator and then assassinated in 44 BC . Civil wars and executions continued , culminating in the victory ___MASK2___ Octavian , Caesar ' s adopted son , over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle ___MASK2___ Actium in 31 BC and the annexation ___MASK2___ Egypt . Octavian ' s power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the ___MASK27___ Senate formally granted him overarching power and the new title " Augustus ", effectively marking the end ___MASK2___ the ___MASK27___ Republic . The Eastern Orthodox Church , also known as the Orthodox Church , or officially as the Orthodox Catholic Church , is the second largest Christian church and one ___MASK2___ the oldest current religious institutions in the world . The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that it is the One , Holy , Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to the apostles . It practices what it understands to be the original Christian faith and maintains the sacred tradition passed down from the apostles .