<P> Kievan Rus', although sparsely populated compared to Western Europe, was not only the largest contemporary European state in terms of area but also culturally advanced . Literacy in Kiev, Novgorod and other large cities was high . As birch bark documents attest, they exchanged love letters and prepared cheat sheets for schools . Novgorod had a sewage system and wood paving not often found in other cities at the time . The Russkaya Pravda confined punishments to fines and generally did not use capital punishment . Certain rights were accorded to women, such as property and inheritance rights . </P> <P> The economic development of Kievan Rus may be translated into demographic statistics . Around 1200, Kiev had a population of 50,000, Novgorod and Chernigov both had around 30,000 . Constantinople had population of about 400,000 around 1180 . The Soviet scholar Mikhail Tikhomirov calculated that Kievan Rus' on the eve of the Mongol invasion had around 300 urban centres . </P> <P> Kievan Rus' also played an important genealogical role in European politics . Yaroslav the Wise, whose stepmother belonged to the Macedonian dynasty, which ruled the Byzantine empire from 867 to 1056, married the only legitimate daughter of the king who Christianized Sweden . His daughters became queens of Hungary, France and Norway, his sons married the daughters of a Polish king and a Byzantine emperor (not to mention a niece of the Pope), while his granddaughters were a German Empress and (according to one theory) the queen of Scotland . A grandson married the only daughter of the last Anglo - Saxon king of England . Thus the Rurikids were a well - connected royal family of the time . </P> <P> From the 9th century, the Pecheneg nomads began an uneasy relationship with Kievan Rus ′ . For over two centuries they launched sporadic raids into the lands of Rus ′, which sometimes escalated into full - scale wars (such as the 920 war on the Pechenegs by Igor of Kiev reported in the Primary Chronicle), but there were also temporary military alliances (e.g. the 943 Byzantine campaign by Igor). In 968, the Pechenegs attacked and besieged the city of Kiev . Some speculation exists that the Pechenegs drove off the Tivertsi and the Ulichs to the regions of the upper Dniester river in Bukovina . The Byzantine Empire was known to support the Pechenegs in their military campaigns against the Eastern Slavic states . </P>

Which city was once known as byzatium and then as constantinople