Four major nations building up their navies included:

the united states constitution defines the structure of the national government and dictates the scope and limitation of its powers. the constitution is known as “the supreme law of the land” and all other laws are measured against it. the application of the articles and amendments of the constitution comprise constitutional law.

in addition to the united states constitution, each state has its own constitution and therefore, its own body of constitutional law as well. state constitutions resemble the federal constitution in that they outline the state government’s structure of legislative, executive and judicial branches as well as contain a bill of rights.

but there are various ways state constitutions differ from the federal constitution. often, state constitutions are much longer and more detailed than the federal constitution. state constitutions focus more on limiting rather than granting power since its general authority has already been established. as a result, the constitution of alabama is six hundred pages long whereas the federal constitution can be easily read in one sitting front to back.

the details in state constitutions are not particularly “constitutional” in nature. they often address topics unique to the state. the federal constitution can only be amended through a lengthy process designed to limit changes to this fundamental document. as a result, it has only been amended seventeen times since the adoption of the bill of rights in 1791.

state constitutions are more open to amendments. amendments can be proposed by legislature, a constitutional commission or citizens’ petition and can be accepted by referendum.   for example. the constitution of massachusetts has been amended one hundred and twenty times. the constitution of georgia has even been replaced altogether as many as ten times.

the founder of the byzantine empire and its first emperor, constantine the great, moved the capital of the roman empire to the city of byzantium in 330 ce, and renamed it constantinople.

the byzantine empire (the eastern roman empire) was distinct from the western roman empire in several ways; most importantly, the byzantines were christians and spoke greek instead of latin.

constantine the great also legalized christianity, which had previously been persecuted in the roman empire. christianity would become a major element of byzantine culture.

constantinople became the largest city in the empire and a major commercial center, while the western roman empire fell in 476 ce.

as emperor, constantine enacted many administrative, financial, social, and military reforms to strengthen the empire. the government was restructured and civil and military authority separated. a new gold coin, the solidus, was introduced to combat inflation. it would become the standard for byzantine and european currencies for more than a thousand years. as the first roman emperor to claim conversion to christianity, constantine played an influential role in the development of christianity as the religion of the empire. in military matters, the roman army was reorganized to consist of mobile field units and garrison soldiers capable of countering internal threats and barbarian invasions. constantine pursued successful campaigns against the tribes on the roman frontiers—the franks, the alamanni, the goths, and the sarmatians, and even resettled territories abandoned by his predecessors during the turmoil of the previous century.