The Byzantine Empire, though often forgotten among better-known empires, such as the Roman Empire, ran for nearly one thousand years, occupying the eastern half of what once was the Roman Empire. It engaged in trade, expansion, and decades of warfare. It also gave women a better status then men, valued and preserved Greek history, and eventually fell to the Ottomans. During the year 535, Justinian overthrew the Ostrogothic Kingdom, which had occupied Italy after the split and decline of the Roman Empire. Justinian was said to be the most ambitious emperor since Constantine, whose rule ended in 337. His goal in overthrowing the Ostrogothic Kingdom was to eventually reunify the Roman Empire. Belisarius, Justinian’s general, had already …show more content…
Under the first emperor, Heraclius, the new empire struggled to keep its territory. Persia was conquering land rapidly, taking the empire’s territories in Syria and Palestine, along with Jerusalem. It took until 627 for Heraclius to gain a victory, recapturing Jerusalem from the Persians. It was not long, however, before Islam had sparked a desire for expansion in the Arabs. They quickly conquered Jerusalem, the entire Persian Empire, and headed to claim North Africa. In 677, the Arabs attempted to take Constantinople, the city along the port Byzantium was named for. Unlike Heraclius, the emperor during the second attempt on Constantinople had a better strategy, known as the “Greek Fire”. Leo III was able to not only defeat the Arabs at Constantinople, but also reclaim almost all of the Asia Minor, which was known as the Imperial Heartland for nearly three hundred years. Due to a stable government and a properly managed economy, the Byzantine Empire was able to last for quite a while. Emperors used their power correctly and there was a centralized government that helped keep the empire functioning even during rough times. Constantinople’s bureaucracy made sure everything ran smoothly. They regulated prices and wages, had systems for licensing, controlled the trade, oversaw schools, churches, observation of holidays, and even controlled the military and courts. The
The eastern Roman Empire also known as the Byzantine Empire was originated form and was part of the great Roman Empire which lasted from the fall of Western Roman Empire in 467 A.D, till 1453 A.D., when Constantinople was capture and lost to Ottoman Turks Empire. Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire founded and named after Constantine I. after splitting from Western Roman Empire eastern Roman Empire make every effort to create new Rome in east therefore the Byzantine developed its own unique culture and constructed new buildings with distinct architecture. The Byzantines were great patrons of art and architectures. The place of the emperor were huge and was blazed with gold, silver, marble and mosaics. The emperor were and
After the fall of Rome, the Eastern Roman Empire survived and eventually became known as the Byzantine Empire. As a center of trade, it lasted for over 1,000 years. The Byzantines’ government made laws to keep its citizens safe and in order. Furthermore, several documents revealed that the imperial government of the Byzantine Empire was involved financially in the private and religious lives of its citizens.
The Byzantine Empire can be brought back all the way to 330 AD. It was created by Constantine I, he wanted to have Constantinople stand as the new Roman capital. The Byzantine Empire lasted until 1453. This is increasingly impressive since it suffered through a strand of the Bubonic Plague. This plague took the name of the Justinian Plague, named after the ruler Justinian the First (527-565 CE) who was in reign during the first outbreak (History). Procopius, the historian of the Byzantine Empire during this time, said in his book that nearly 25% of the population had died from the disease (Ancient History Encyclopedia). The plague impacted the Byzantine Empire, during the 225 years that it was around, economically, and politically.
Comparing and contrasting the society of the early medieval Western Empire with that of the Byzantine Empire. The Western Empire and The Byzantine Empire were originally part of the Roman Empire. By the Middle Ages both Empires were vastly different, though they shared common traits. The Western Empire and the Byzantine Empire had very different government structures. The Byzantine Empire was ruled by an Emperor but alternatively to direct rule, the Byzantine used civil service to effectively run the empire. The Western Empire was ruled by a Holy king. The Byzantine Empire had a continuous tradition of emperors reaching back to the east and west split of Roman Empire. The last western emperor was Romulus Augustulus, who abdicated in 476. Three
This division made the empire to be easily governed in the short run but as the time passed by the two halves drifted apart. The newly formed two empires failed to worked together to stop the attacks from outside and they constantly argued about the resources and military aid. As the gap between them widened the Latin speaking Western part of Rome descended into economic crisis and the Greek speaking Eastern Empire grew in wealth. Most importantly the eastern empire grew so high in power that they served to divert the barbarians. Eastern Empire had kings Emperors like Constantine that ensured the city of Constantinople was well guarded, but the city of Rome and Italy which only had their symbolic value for many in the east were left vulnerable. The western politically structure in fifth century disintegrated, but the eastern empire endured for some more thousand years before being overtaken by the Empire of Ottoman Empire in the 1400s (Fenner,
As the Byzantine Empire began its expansion, it would take control of multiple countries along the way such as Italy, Greece, Egypt and several more. To take control of these once dominating regions of the world it would take an incredibly strong
The Byzantine Empire can be traced back to 330 A.D. when the Roman emperor Constantine I decided to form a “new Rome” on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium. The century after the death of Justinian in 565 A.D. was difficult for the eastern Roman Empire. The Persians attacked, there were many rebellions and riots, Bulgars and Muslim attacked. Also plagues and famines on top of weak rulers put the eastern Roman Empire in peril. During this period, there are two fundamental changes that transformed the eastern Roman Empire into the civilization known as Byzantine. Which was taken from the word “Byzantium” which was the ancient Greek name for the capital city, Constantinople. In 600 A.D., the empire still had claims along both the
Through a stroke of luck the Praetorian Prefect Anthemius was able to stabilise the first few years of Theodosius II’s reign. Furthermore, it was during this time that the Byzantine Empire was able to secure an almost unbroken peace between them and the Sassanid Persian Empire, though it was disturbed by a brief interlude of war due to Christian zeal inspired by Pulcheria, the Byzantine Empire was able to stabilise the eastern frontier through skilful use of diplomacy. The newly formed Vandal Kingdom presented a special challenge as it compromised the integrity of the Roman world. The situation had to be handled delicately for the Huns continued to encroach on Byzantine territory and had to be first dealt with, and although the taskforce failed to drive the Vandals out of North Africa, the Byzantine Empire was able to once again achieve peace and stability through the use of diplomacy. The Huns, in particular Attila’s Empire presented a special challenge for the Byzantine Empire but through exploitation and diplomacy the Byzantine Empire outlasted Attila. Though Theodosius II never lived to see the fall of Attila’s Empire, his reign did indeed provide stability through diplomacy and thus creating a platform for the Byzantine Empire to flourish well into the 14th
Since the Western and Eastern Empires were split up due to the fact that they were too hard to rule together there was a city called Constantinople. Constantinople was the Eastern Empire's capital. One of the emperor’s in this city was Justinian. It’s debatable whether Justinian was a good emperor, or bad. Justinian greatly influenced Constantinople in positive and negative ways.
The Byzantine Empire remained strong and sustained its authority over all of the east during that era. The emperor Constantine used his power to move his capital from Rome to the ancient city of Byzantium. During this time, Constantine renamed his capital New Rome and later became known as Constantinople, Greek for Constantine's City. After Constantine's leadership, the empire was divided between two emperors. One was based in Rome, and one in Constantinople.
1) The Byzantine emperors were more powerful than previous Roman emperors because the Byzantine emperors inherited imperial law, which were only provincial forms of Roman law that survived in the west. Also, the emperors were able to transition smoothly into the role of all powerful Christian monarchs.
A huge part of the Roman empire was it’s trade. Since most of the cities were near the Mediterranean Sea, the empires method of trading included the sea. Byzantium was in the east, along with the major trading centers, giving them control and a huge advantage in income and resources. The harbors of in the Bosporus Strait were incredibly safe for ships and boats since water surrounded them, giving them yet another advantage to see incoming ships ahead of time. Most of the luxuries that came with Constantinople helped to provide the Byzantines with food, compensation, the upper hand, and most importantly, protection from the enemies and incoming
The Byzantine Empire was a continuation of the Roman Empire in the eastern part of the Mediterranean and referred to as the "New Rome." The Byzantine Emoire had become a town of growing importantance amgonst the Roman Empire, it was a Christian state. Notably the first empire founded by the authority of the Church and not on worldly power. Due to it's Roman foundation, the empire flourished immensely. The empire was also less vulnerable to foreign attacks than the Western part of Rome, because of its geographical location. One of its many successes was the preservation of both Roman and Greek cultures. Their ideas and culture was able to spread across the land. As for reglion, Saints Cyril and Methodius from the empire had spread Christianity
Secondly, the Byzantine Empire, also referred as the Eastern Roman Empire expanded to parts of Eastern Central Europe as a measure of gaining control over the Holy Roman Empire. Byzantium was
The Byzantium Empire, was the Eastern addition to the Roman Empire during the Late Antiquity and The Middle Ages. Established in the Ancient Greek city Byzantion in 330 AD by the Roman Emperor Constantine as the new imperial capital of Rome. Furthermore, he had added duplicates of everything from Old Rome, such as the Coliseum and the Imperial palace, not including the Pagan temples. The Byzantines had spoken Greek and had more Greek architecture and culture than Roman. The Byzantium Empire had survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. Byzantine was able to remain for a thousand years before subsequently in 1453 falling to the Ottoman Turks. The Byzantium empire was a phenomenal empire lasting almost 1,200 years, it had survived all the other great empires. Much more impressive than age, was the influence and reach the empire had had on civilization. Christianity, literacy, beginnings of art, literature, and architecture from the Russians, Serbs, and the Bulgarians came from the inspiration of the Byzantines in a variable degree.