It is even said that the bronze ox from the Forum Tauri was melted down to help provide materials for coinage.[10] Sergius can also be credited with saving Constantinople's status as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Constantinople had been suffering throughout the campaign against the Persians as grain was the primary source of food for the city and Egypt, the provider, had been lost. Heraclius believed that moving the capital to Carthage would make it easier to provide the population with food.