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May 6, 2024 · The derivation from Byzantium is suggestive in that it emphasizes a central aspect of Byzantine civilization: the degree to which the empire’s administrative and intellectual life found a focus at Constantinople from 330 to 1453, the year of the city’s last and unsuccessful defense under the 11th (or 12th) Constantine.
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- Constantine I
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- From 867 to The Ottoman Conquest
Byzantine Empire - 867-1453, Constantinople, Eastern Roman...
- The 6th Century
To understand the course of events, it is essential to...
- The Age of Iconoclasm
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While there was an unbroken continuity in administration and other features of Roman society, historians have often distinguished the Byzantine epoch from earlier eras in Roman history for reasons including the imperial seat moving from Rome to Constantinople and the predominance of Greek instead of Latin.
- Overview
- The 6th century: from East Rome to Byzantium
The 6th century opened, in effect, with the death of Anastasius and the accession of the Balkan soldier who replaced him, Justin I (ruled 518–527). During most of Justin’s reign, actual power lay in the hands of his nephew and successor, Justinian I. The following account of those more than 40 years of Justinian’s effective rule is based upon the works of Justinian’s contemporary the historian Procopius. The latter wrote a laudatory account of the emperor’s military achievements in his Polemon (Wars) and coupled it in his Anecdota (Secret History) with a venomous threefold attack upon the emperor’s personal life, the character of the empress Theodora, and the conduct of the empire’s internal administration. Justinian’s reign may be divided into three periods: (1) an initial age of conquest and cultural achievement extending until the decade of the 540s; (2) 10 years of crisis and near disaster during the 540s; and (3) the last decade of the reign, in which mood, temper, and social realities more nearly resembled those to be found under Justinian’s successors than those prevailing throughout the first years of his own reign.
After 550, it is possible to begin to speak of a medieval Byzantine, rather than an ancient East Roman, empire. Of the four traumas that eventually transformed the one into the other—namely, pestilence, warfare, social upheaval, and the Arab Muslim assault of the 630s—the first two were features of Justinian’s reign.
The 6th century opened, in effect, with the death of Anastasius and the accession of the Balkan soldier who replaced him, Justin I (ruled 518–527). During most of Justin’s reign, actual power lay in the hands of his nephew and successor, Justinian I. The following account of those more than 40 years of Justinian’s effective rule is based upon the works of Justinian’s contemporary the historian Procopius. The latter wrote a laudatory account of the emperor’s military achievements in his Polemon (Wars) and coupled it in his Anecdota (Secret History) with a venomous threefold attack upon the emperor’s personal life, the character of the empress Theodora, and the conduct of the empire’s internal administration. Justinian’s reign may be divided into three periods: (1) an initial age of conquest and cultural achievement extending until the decade of the 540s; (2) 10 years of crisis and near disaster during the 540s; and (3) the last decade of the reign, in which mood, temper, and social realities more nearly resembled those to be found under Justinian’s successors than those prevailing throughout the first years of his own reign.
After 550, it is possible to begin to speak of a medieval Byzantine, rather than an ancient East Roman, empire. Of the four traumas that eventually transformed the one into the other—namely, pestilence, warfare, social upheaval, and the Arab Muslim assault of the 630s—the first two were features of Justinian’s reign.
- Justinian: The Byzantine Emperor Who Reconquered the West. Justinian I, also known as Justinian the Great, was probably the most important Byzantine emperor.
- Heraclius: Triumph and Tragedy. In 610, when Heraclius became emperor, the Empire was fighting for its very survival. Sassanid armies had crossed the eastern border and advanced into imperial territory.
- Basil II: The Medieval Roman Empire at its Apex. Born in 958, Basil II was a member of the renowned Macedonian dynasty, which restored imperial fortunes, making the Byzantine Empire the most powerful state in the medieval Mediterranean.
- Alexios I Komnenos: The Byzantine Emperor and a Founder of the Last Great Imperial Dynasty. The Byzantine Empire was like a phoenix. Every time it came to the brink of collapse, a hero would appear to defeat its foes and rebuild the Empire from the ashes.
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Helena. Religion. Roman polytheism (until 312) Christianity (from 312) Constantine I [g] (27 February c. 272 – 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity.
May 10, 2021 · Constantine I (Flavius Valerius Constantinus) was Roman emperor from 306-337 CE and is known to history as Constantine the Great for his conversion to Christianity in 312 CE and his subsequent Christianization...
- Rebecca Denova
The authority of the patriarch of Constantinople was motivated in a formal fashion by the fact that he was the bishop of the “New Rome,” where the emperor and the senate also resided (canon 28 of the Council of Chalcedon, 451). He held the title of “ecumenical patriarch,” which pointed to his political role in the empire.
