Essay on Constantinople's Fall

Silk soon became an imperial monopoly, and through this way, the trade of luxury items became the Byzantine’s main source of income. The location of Constantinople also aided in military conquest and defence, for the empire’s naval headquarters were located along the shores, and had access to the Black Sea and Mediterranean. Because of the Empire’s location, all but overlapping the fallen Roman’s territory, the Byzantine Empire was greatly affected by these Roman’s past traditions and ways of life.

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Though both had similar roots, they both took these similar bases & formed it into their own way. Both the Byzantine Empire and Ancient Roman have similar aspects, but each one made it unique. To better understand the similarities and differences of the Byzantine Empire and Ancient Romans one must look at each civilization’s cultural ideas, religion, & dependence on lower class.

The Byzantine Empire and Western Europe originally were part of the Roman Empire, but by the middle Ages(medieval times), they were very different, even though they did share some common traits, but by the 300's, the Byzantine Empire had far surpassed Western Europe in trade and economics and political unity, while both empires were having arguments over religion.

Following the decline of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE, a new empire rose up in the ashes. This new empire, the Byzantine Empire, was a culmination of Western Roman cultures and tradition, yet, it also contains many distinctive features. Originating from the same empire, the two empires display similar cultural roots.

The major cultural achievements was the preservation of the Greek language and culture. Greek ethics and science became the foundation of the Western Civilization. In the Byzantine Empire they preserved the Ancient Greek literature scribes. Homer ~ The iliad and the Odyssey are among most widely read poems in American and European schools and colleges today. Sophocles ~ Theatrical plays, including Oedipus Rex, helped to define a form of literature called tragedy. Socrates ~ Known to us through the writings of Plato and others, Socrates crafted a form of inquiry and debate, called the Socratic Method, that is used in classrooms today. It features questions rather than answers. Plato ~ One of Plato’s works, The Republic, describes an ideal society and explores the importance of justice in that society. Aristotle ~ His many scientific and philosophical writings advanced the use of logic and scientific thought. Euclid ~ He made inquires into astronomy, music, and mathematics. Regarded as the father of geometry. Hippocrates ~ His medical works and his ethical standards led to the still- used Hippocratic Oath taken by all doctors. Originally the language of the Byzantine Empire was Latin until 700 CE when it was changed to Greek by Emperor Heraclius. The culture of Constantinople was diverse. The Byzantine Empire had an important cultural legacy, both on the Orthodox Church and on the revival of Greek and Roman

Diocletian became Rome’s emperor in 284. He changed the leadership to a monarchy rather than democracy, and basically made himself dominus, or lord of the region. During his “reign” he divided the empire in half, the east and west regions. He then created the tetrarchy; lord (himself), an augustus, and two caesars. According to history the tetrarchy didn’t last long but the division of east and west

The legal, cultural, and structural developments during the Roman Empire (753 BCE- 476 CE) have had an effect on Western civilization. Influenced by the ideals of the ancient Greeks, the empire lived through many worldwide transformations that changed the way in which emperors governed and ruled the Roman people, and these adaptations can be seen in the style of artwork in each Roman reign. One of the most notable changes in art style is in the Late Empire Period, during the third and fourth centuries, where the change in government, from imperial rule to the tetrarchy, led artists to focus on the message of the piece rather than the individual represented, and become more abstract and geometric rather than classical and individualistic.[footnoteRef:1] Another notable period of change was under Constantine I, who overthrew the tetrarchy, and was the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity. [1: Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren, Art History. 4th ed., Vol 1 (London: Laurence King Publishing, 2011), 207.]

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 was one of the most influential events in history and marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. The main effect of the fall of Constantinople in 1453 was the downfall of the Byzantine Empire and the rise of the Ottoman Empire. The city was mainly populated by Christians and now has become an Islamic city. The capture of Constantinople stated the end of the Roman Empire, which lasted for about one thousand five hundred years. The invasion of the city of Constantinople and the end of the Byzantine Empire marked the end of the Middle Ages.

Constantinople was the newfound Christian capital of the eastern Roman Empire, otherwise known as the Byzantine Empire. Throughout its long history, there have been many different attacks on the religious capital city. Over a period of 1123 years, Constantinople was a solid city controlled by the Byzantines apart some small upsets. Multiple attacks and sieges were attempted to overthrow the city, however, most failed miserably. It wasn’t until 1453 that the city finally fell to the Ottoman Empire. Some victories of the Byzantines may have been caused by a weapon called Greek fire, believed to be invented around the 650’s AD (Groller). The weapon was similar to today’s weapon, napalm.

Many anthropologists and historians have speculated about the different causes and effects of the fall of the Roman Empire. Some have even stated that Rome did not fall but instead, was merely transformed. However, there were many causes that did end this prodigious empire. Many seemingly small decisions made by powerful emperors over the course of just over a century lead to its destruction. In this paper it will be established that the Roman emperors, in an effort to save their political power, made adjustments to warfare/treaty practices and made political changes which over time lead to the inevitable collapse of the realm, this caused a drastic regression in the living standards of the Roman citizens, implying that the Empire did indeed collapse and not transform.

At its tallness, the Roman Empire extended from the Atlantic Ocean the distance to the Euphrates River in the Middle East. However its glory may have been ruin. With such an immense domain to administer, the realm confronted a regulatory and strategic bad dream. Even with their street frameworks, the Romans were not able impart rapidly or even successfully. It was not enough to deal with their property.

In a time where war was constant, the Byzantine army was a formidable force. The Byzantine Empire, through most of its history was set up in military themes, garrisoned by soldiers and governed by generals. This meant that the Empire was split and the generals ruled large portions of the land with soldiers under their rule. The Themes brought both a structure and security to the Byzantine Empire and army. While they were created to maintain an army and save the empire money they were not always beneficial. The themes placed soldiers on to farms as payment for a mandatory service to the military. The themes also had downfalls. The Emperor of the Byzantine Empire had to please the army in order to keep power; not all Emperors understood this concept and the generals of the themes showed their strength and over threw those Emperors who they saw as unfit. These themes were meant to allow the Empire easy access to an army but, even with all its benefits it still has its problems.

In the year 330 Constantine founded a new imperial city in the east, which became known as Constantinople. Accompanying Diocletian's system of tetrarchy, the creation of this new city affirmed the separation of the Roman Empire into the east and the west. The Eastern Roman Empire held a series of advantages over the west both socially and economically. The Western Roman Empire was the weaker empire and a bad leadership and government along with attacks from barbarians led to the demise of the Western Roman Empire.

Today, there are virtually no multinational states remaining and one would be hard-pressed to find a government that has remained in place since the pre-World War I era. In that sense, it is highly unlikely that the Ottoman Empire could have survived the tumultuous 20th Century. Nevertheless, it may have had a chance. If not for European intervention, Ottoman reforms may have succeeded. However, even with those reforms, they had to compete with the rise of nationalism, which would have been difficult.