Istanbul (2016) by Thomas F. Madden, a so-far fantastic history of the city. About 350 pages, and so far, midway through the book, worth every one of them.

Edit: Here's a passage that I enjoyed (with wiki links for further context):

Hippodrome-goers were not the only targets of John Chrysostom's sermons. He frequently berated clergy more interested in wealth, finery, and banquets than in the care of Christ's flock. What made him most popular among the common people, though, was his barbed, even mocking condemnation of the lavish ostentation of Constantinople's wealthy elite. He ridiculed the rich vestments and heavy jewelry of the aristocracy, which they proudly wore even in the church. After one such sermon, the empress [Aelia] Eudoxia concluded (probably correctly) that his barbs were directed at her. She was, after all, the best-dressed woman in the city. With silent rage she conspired with John's enemies in the church to convene a synod to discern whether he held heretical views. Realizing that he would be condemned regardless of the facts, John refused to attend, instead condemning the whole affair in his weekly sermons. As expected, the synod in 404* found the patriarch guilty, deposed him of his office, and banished him from the empire. Outraged at the ouster of their beloved patriarch, the city mobs took to the streets outside the Hippodrome. In the confusion, someone thought it a good idea to burn down Hagia Sophia. The horrible destruction, and a subsequent powerful earthquake, convinced Eudoxia that she had made a mistake. John was allowed to retain his position in Constantinople—that is, until the next year, when he condemned Eudoxia as a self-serving manipulator of the emperor after she convinced him to erect a statue of her in the Augusteion. The banishment order was instantly renewed. No earthquakes followed.

Note: This may be a typo, as Britannica states the Synod of the Oak that deposed John was in 403, while the second was in 404. This would be more in line with Aelia Eudoxia dying in 404.