Chapter 13, “Sacred Dimensions: Death and Burial,” examines burial practices in Constantinople between the fourth century and the fifteenth century. Particular attention is given to aristocratic and imperial burial practice.

Chapter 15, “Philanthropic Institutions,” looks at the range of social services available to Constantinopolitan residents from the fourth century through the fifteenth century. It notes the contributions of monastics to the institution and organization of such institutions as orphanages, hospitals, leprosaria, and old age homes.

Chapter 1, “Before Constantinople,” discusses ancient Byzantion, the town selected as the location for Constantine’s new capital. It explores the site’s strategic value from its earliest settlement in the eighth century BC until the fourth century AD, paying particular attention to the political, military, and economic implications of its relationship to the Bosporos.

Chapter 14, “The Administration of Constantinople,” examines how the city was governed in the period between the fourth century and the fifteenth century. Particular attention is paid to the organization of the office of the City Prefect or Eparch. Aspects of continuity and change between the early and late city governance are observed.

Chapter 4, “Waters for the Capital: Hydraulic Infrastructure and Use in Byzantine Constantinople,” provides an overview of the history of water supply and distribution to Constantinople, discussing the construction and maintenance of hydraulic infrastructure and its importance in determining the ways in which the city grew and developed.

Chapter 3, “The People of Constantinople,” tracks population numbers across the centuries together with the factors that contributed to growth and decline. It also examines the ethnic and demographic make-up of the capital’s population.

Chapter 19, “Pilgrimage to Constantinople,” examines the emergence of Constantinople as a sacred center of Christian pilgrimage. It outlines the city’s attractions and considers the motives that drove people to visit.

Chapter 12, “Sacred Dimensions: Constantinopolitan Monasticism,” describes the introduction of monastic communities to the city and ensuing developments in these urban monastic institutions. It considers, in particular, the distinctive nature of Constantinopolitan monasticism, debates about the idea of what monastic living should be, and the ever-evolving relationship between the patriarchate and monastic communities in the period between the fourth and the fifteenth centuries.

Chapter 9, “Residential Constantinople,” considers Constantinopolitan domestic architecture by examining written sources and material remains. It discusses the evidence chronologically and according to social group, distinguishing between the early Byzantine period and the middle and late Byzantine periods to demonstrate that, institutional continuity notwithstanding, the makeup of the residential city and its components changed over time.

Chapter 10, “Commercial Constantinople,” examines the commercial developments in the capital. It concentrates on the city’s commercial topography, its provisioning, trade networks, merchant class, and manufacturing industries as well as government control over them.

Chapter 6, “Constantinople: Building and Maintenance,” considers the built environment of Constantinople as a thermodynamic system, examining such issues as the supply of materials, construction legislation, and architectural techniques in the context of three basic categories: urban infrastructure, public monuments, and vernacular architecture.