Approximately 2,500 senators were initially required to reside in Constantinople.
"I mentioned earlier that we have something like 2 and 1/2 thousand senators who are required initially to reside in Constantinople." (said at 1:54:27)
Historical scholarship contradicts the claim that roughly 2,500 senators were initially established or required to reside in Constantinople. When Constantine founded Constantinople, the eastern senatorial body was modest in size, numbering around 300 members (functioning more like a municipal council of *clari*). It was not until the reign of his successor, Constantius II (specifically the 350s CE), that the Senate of Constantinople underwent a major expansion—largely driven by orators and administrators such as Themistius—eventually growing to roughly 2,000 members to achieve institutional parity with the Roman Senate.
- contradicts: The early development of the senate of Constantinople (Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 2008)
"The development of the senate of Constantinople as an imperial senate, on a par with the senate of Rome, has been attributed to Constantius II to the exclusion of Constantine and dated to 357. The present paper argues that the evidence for this dating is fundamentally flawed and that the decisive change came at the outset of the reign of Constantius II, while developments under Constantine foreshadowed it in significant respects." (abstract, passage verified)
openalexfull study (doi) - contradicts: Senators and senates (Cambridge University Press eBooks 1997)
"The most obvious institutional innovation of the fourth century was the creation of the senate of Constantinople. The new body did not spring fully formed from the head of the emperor Constantine, however, having at least three marked phases of development." (abstract, passage verified)
openalexfull study (doi)