Alternatives to Constantinople

But Constantine has to have a really good reason to not keep the de facto eastern capital at Nikomedia. OTL Byzantium offered just about everything he could have dreamed of in a capital city as far as location and a blank slate goes, which is why he chose it.

This!

There is no need for any other capital but Nikomedia. And sometimes Antiochia and others if war warrants it (Augusta Treverorum, Singidum, ....). Byzantium was perfect due to its geographical location. Surrounded by the sea on 3 sides. No other city was comparable or could had become the same invulnerbale fortress.

So it remains Nikomedia or it becomes Byzantium. Everything else makes no sense, from a roman point of view.
 
What if a city similar to Constantinople was made in Hispania instead, near OTL Gibralter?

Makes no sense. The main fronts these days are Euphrat and Danube. So the emperor has to be somewhere in the middle. Simply for faster communication and travel.

Even if the western roman empire looses everything but Africa and perhaps Baetica, Carthago is the obvious choice and not Tingis or the rock of Gibraltar.

If the empire divides in to 3 parts, like it did during Gallienus times, you would see perhaps Augusta Treverorum as the western capital. The rest stays the same.
 
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