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May 6, 2024 · 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 world before falling to an Ottoman Turkish onslaught in the 15th century.
- Istanbul
Istanbul, largest city and principal seaport of Turkey....
- Byzantine Empire Summary
Byzantine Empire, Empire, southeastern and southern Europe...
- Constantine I
Constantine reigned during the 4th century CE and is known...
- From 867 to The Ottoman Conquest
Byzantine Empire - 867-1453, Constantinople, Eastern Roman...
- The 6th Century
Byzantine Empire - East Rome, Christianity, Constantinople:...
- The Age of Iconoclasm
Byzantine Empire - Iconoclasm, Religion, Empire: For more...
- Diocletian, Constantine, Reforms
Byzantine Empire - Diocletian, Constantine, Reforms: The...
- The Successors of Justinian: 565–610
Byzantine Empire - The successors of Justinian: 565–610:...
- The Last Years of Justinian I
Byzantine Empire - Justinian I, Constantinople, Legacy:...
- Pillars of Heracles
Pillars of Heracles, two promontories at the eastern end of...
- Istanbul
- It Wasn’T called The Byzantine Empire Until After It Fell.
- Constantinople Was Purpose-Built to Serve as An Imperial Capital.
- Its Most Influential Emperor Came from Humble Origins.
- A Riot by Chariot-Racing Hooligans Nearly Brought The Empire to Its knees.
- Byzantine Rulers Were Known to Blind and Mutilate Their Rivals.
- Its Military Used An Early Version of Napalm.
- The Empire Gave Rise to The Eastern Orthodox Church.
- Its Capital Was Sacked During The Crusades.
- The Invention of The Cannon Helped Bring About The Empire’s Fall.
- The Byzantines Preserved Many of The Writings of Ancient Greece.
The term “Byzantine Empire” came into common use during the 18th and 19th centuries, but it would’ve been completely alien to the Empire’s ancient inhabitants. For them, Byzantium was a continuation of the Roman Empire, which had merely moved its seat of power from Rome to a new eastern capital in Constantinople. Though largely Greek-speaking and C...
The early origins of the Byzantine Empire date to 324, when Emperor Constantine abandoned the decaying city of Rome and moved his court to Byzantium, an ancient port town strategically located on the Bosporus strait separating Europe and Asia. In the span of just six years, Constantine converted the sleepy Greek colony into a metropolis complete wi...
Byzantium’s rise corresponded with the unlikely reign of Justinian I. Born around 482 in the Balkans, he spent his youth as a peasant’s son before being taken under the wing of his uncle Justin I, a former swineherd and soldier who later became the Byzantine Emperor. Justinian succeeded Justin in 527, and while he always spoke Greek with a bad acce...
Just as modern sports franchises have diehard fans, Byzantine chariot racing had the Blues and the Greens, a pair of fanatical—and often violent—supporters’ groups named for the colors worn by their favorite teams. These ancient hooligans were sworn enemies, but in 532, discontent over taxation and the attempted execution of two of their leaders sa...
Byzantine politicians often avoided killing their rivals in favor of carrying out ghastly acts of physical mutilation. Many would-be usurpers and deposed emperors were blinded or castrated to prevent them from leading troops or fathering children, while others had their tongues, noses or lips cut off. Maiming was supposed to prevent victims from ch...
Byzantium owed much of its military success to Greek Fire, a mysterious incendiary liquid that was used to set enemy troops and ships ablaze. The precise recipe for this ancient napalm has been lost to history—it might have contained everything from petroleum and pine resin to sulfur and saltpeter—but accounts describe it as a thick, sticky substan...
Byzantium was almost always a Christian empire, but over the centuries its Greek-speaking church developed distinct liturgical differences from the Catholic, Latin-speaking church in the West. The theological tensions finally boiled over in 1054, when a falling out between the patriarch of Constantinople and a papal delegate led the Eastern and Wes...
One of the darkest chapters in Byzantine history began in the early 13th century when Christian warriors assembled in Venice for the Fourth Crusade. The Crusaders were supposed to sail for the Middle East to seize Jerusalem from the Muslim Turks, but due to cash shortages and friction with the Orthodox Byzantines, they were persuaded to make a deto...
Constantinople’s towering city walls kept invading Goths, Persians, Russians and Arabs at bay for centuries, but they proved to be no match for changing military technology. In the spring of 1453, having already conquered most of the Byzantine frontier, Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II laid siege to the capital with a collection of cannons spec...
The writings of Greek thinkers such as Plato, Ptolemy and Galen might have been lost to history if not for the Byzantine Empire. Though often hostile toward so-called “pagan” ideas, Byzantine scribes judiciously copied the decaying manuscripts of the ancients, and Constantinople’s libraries safeguarded Greek and Roman texts that were slowly vanishi...
Sep 19, 2018 · The Byzantine Empire was the longest-lasting medieval power, and its influence continues today, especially in the religion, art, architecture, and laws of many Western states, Eastern and Central Europe, and Russia.
- Mark Cartwright
- Byzantium. The term “Byzantine” derives from Byzantium, an ancient Greek colony founded by a man named Byzas. Located on the European side of the Bosporus (the strait linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean), the site of Byzantium was ideally located to serve as a transit and trade point between Europe and Asia.
- Byzantine Empire Flourishes. The eastern half of the Roman Empire proved less vulnerable to external attack, thanks in part to its geographic location.
- Eastern Roman Empire. As a result of these advantages, the Eastern Roman Empire, variously known as the Byzantine Empire or Byzantium, was able to survive for centuries after the fall of Rome.
- Justinian I. Justinian I, who took power in 527 and would rule until his death in 565, was the first great ruler of the Byzantine Empire. During the years of his reign, the empire included most of the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, as Justinian’s armies conquered part of the former Western Roman Empire, including North Africa.
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 Byzantine Empire's history is generally periodised from late antiquity until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD.
May 10, 2022 · The Byzantine Empire, also known as Byzantium, refers to the eastern half of the Roman Empire that survived for nearly 1,000 years after the western half of the empire collapsed.
