Constantine XI Palaiologos

God forbid that I should live an Emperor without an Empire. As my city falls, I will fall with it.

Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Δραγάσης Παλαιολόγος; 8 February 1404 – 29 May 1453) was the last reigning Byzantine emperor from 23 January 1449 until his death in battle at the fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453. Constantine's death marked the definitive end of the Eastern Roman Empire, which traced its origin to Constantine the Great's foundation of Constantinople as the Roman Empire's new capital in 330.

Quotes

• Τὸ δὲ τὴν πόλιν σοὶ δοῦναι οὔτ' ἐμὸν ἐστίν οὔτ' ἄλλου τῶν κατοικούντων ἐν ταύτῃ• κοινῇ γὰρ γνώμῃ πάντες αὐτοπροαιρέτως άποθανοῦμεν καὶ οὐ φεισόμεθα τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν.
  • To surrender the city to you is beyond my authority or anyone else’s who lives in it, for all of us, after taking the mutual decision, shall die out of free will without sparing our lives.
  • Reply to Mehmed II's call for the surrender of Constaninople. George Sphrantzes. Greek: "29 Μαϊου 1453: Όταν "η Πόλις εάλω..." [29 May 1453: When the City Fell...]. iefemerida.com (29 May 2012) · English: Jem Duducu, "Mehmed II: Ottoman Caesar", All About History, 89 (2013) p. 75

• God forbid that I should live an Emperor without an Empire. As my city falls, I will fall with it.
  • To some one in the imperial suite who suggested that there was, perhaps, still time for the Emperor to reach the harbour safely. Chedomil Mijatovich, Constantine: The Last Emperor of the Greeks; or, The Conquest of Constantinople by the Turks (London: Sampson, Low, Marson & Co, 1892) p. 220

• Whoever wishes to escape, let him save himself if he can; and whoever is ready to face death, let him follow me!
  • Final order to his suite. Spandugin Cantacuzin, Comentari, p. 190–6. C. Mijatovich (1892) p. 220

• The city is fallen and I am still alive.
  • Last words, before charging to his death. Michael Kritoboulos. Cited in Philip Sherrard, Constantinople: Iconography of a Sacred City (Oxford UP, 1965) p. 139