It is the story of an empire of superlatives: the legendary city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. For one thousand years, the Christian city of Byzantium symbolised faith, power and immense wealth. But the proud empire eventually fell victim to intrigue, war and disasters. How could Byzantium become a global power on the Bosporus? And after a thousand years, what led to the downfall of Constantinople?

WRITER: Daniel Sich   DIRECTOR: Daniel Sich, Stephan Koester   PRESENTER: Petra Gerster  CAMERA: Tom Kaiser, Roland Breitschuh     EDITOR: Claudia Spoden, Agnès Padrol Sureda     MUSIC: Paul Rabiger   COMMISSIONING EDITOR: Ingo Witt