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The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centered in Constantinople during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The eastern half of the Empire survived the conditions that caused the fall of the West in the 5th century AD, and continued to exist until the fall of Constantinople ...
May 6, 2024 · The Byzantine Empire was the eastern half of the Roman Empire, and it survived over a thousand years after the western half dissolved. A series of regional traumas—including pestilence, warfare, social upheaval, and the Arab Muslim assault of the 630s—marked its cultural and institutional transformation from the Eastern Roman Empire to the ...
- When did the Byzantine Empire exist?The Byzantine Empire existed from approximately 395 CE—when the Roman Empire was split—to 1453. It became one of the leading civilizations in the w...
- How did the Byzantine Empire get its name?Modern historians use the term Byzantine Empire to distinguish the state from the western portion of the Roman Empire. The name refers to Byzantium...
- Where was the Byzantine Empire?At its greatest extent, the Byzantine Empire covered much of the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, including what is now Italy, Greece, and T...
- Did the Byzantine Empire practice Christianity?Citizens of the Byzantine Empire strongly identified as Christians, just as they identified as Romans. Emperors, seeking to unite their realm under...
- The Name 'Byzantine' & Dates
- Constantinople
- Byzantine Emperors
- Byzantine Government
- Corpus Juris Civilis
- Byzantine Society
- Territories of The Byzantine Empire
- The Byzantine Church
- Byzantine Art
- Byzantine Architecture
The name 'Byzantine' was coined by 16th-century historians based on the fact that the capital city's first name was Byzantium before it changed to Constantinople (modern Istanbul). It was and continues to be a less-than-perfect but convenient label which differentiates the Eastern Roman Empire from the Western Roman Empire, especially important aft...
The beginnings of the Byzantine Empire lie in the decision of Roman emperor Constantine I to relocate the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium on 11 May 330. The popular name Constantinople or 'City of Constantine' soon replaced the emperor's own official choice of 'New Rome'. The new capital had an excellent natural harbour on the Go...
The Byzantine emperor or basileus (or more rarely basilissa for empress) resided in the magnificent Great Palace of Constantinople and ruled as an absolute monarch over a vast empire. As such, the basileusneeded the assistance of an expert government and a widespread and efficient bureaucracy. Although an absolute ruler, an emperor was expected - b...
The Byzantine government followed the patterns established in imperial Rome. The emperor was all-powerful but was still expected to consult such important bodies as the Senate. The Senate in Constantinople, unlike in Rome, was composed of men who had risen through the ranks of the military service, and so there was no senatorial class as such. With...
Byzantine government was greatly assisted by the creation of the Justinian Code or Corpus Juris Civilis (Corpus of Civil Law) by Justinian I. The corpus, drawn up by a panel of legal experts, collected, edited, and revised the huge body of Roman laws which had been accumulated over the centuries - a massive number of imperial edicts, legal opinions...
The Byzantines gave great importance to the family name, inherited wealth, and the respectable birth of an individual. The individuals in the higher levels of society possessed these three things. Wealth came from land ownership or the administration of land under an individual administrator's jurisdiction. However, there was no aristocracy of bloo...
The geographical extent of the Byzantine Empire changed over the centuries as the military successes and failures of individual emperors fluctuated. Territories which were held in the earlier part of the empire's history included Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine. Greece was less important in practical terms than it was as a symbol of th...
Paganism continued to be practised for centuries after the foundation of Byzantium, but it was Christianitywhich became the defining feature of Byzantine culture, profoundly affecting its politics, foreign relations, and art and architecture. The Church was headed by the Patriarch or bishop of Constantinople, who was appointed or removed by the emp...
Byzantine artists moved away from the naturalism of the Classical tradition towards the more abstract and universal, displaying a definite preference for two-dimensional representations. The rarity of signatures on works of art produced before the 13th century suggests that artists did not enjoy a high social status. Artworks which promoted a relig...
Byzantine architects continued to employ the Classical orders in their buildings and took ideas from the Near East, amongst other places. Designs became more eclectic than in antiquity, especially given the common habit of reusing the materials from older buildings for new structures. There was, too, a definite emphasis on function over form and a ...
- Mark Cartwright
From the 3rd to 6th centuries, the Greek East and Latin West of the Roman Empire gradually diverged, marked by Diocletian's (r. 284–305) formal partition of its administration in 285, the establishment of an eastern capital in Constantinople by Constantine I in 330, and the adoption of Christianity as the state religion under Theodosius I (r ...
It began as the city of Byzantium, which had grown from an ancient Greek colony founded on the European side of the Bosporus. The city was taken in 330 ce by Constantine I, who refounded it as Constantinople. The area at this time was generally termed the Eastern Roman Empire.
Aug 24, 2010 · Learn about the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, which survived for 1,000 years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Explore its origins, achievements, challenges and legacy in this comprehensive article.
Dec 6, 2023 · Learn about the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, from its foundation in 330 to its fall in 1453. Explore its history, culture, and achievements in art and architecture, from Constantinople to Ravenna, from Hagia Sophia to San Vitale.
