Heirs to Rome: The Byzantine Empire

World History: Libertyville HS

What Was the Byzantine Empire?• Same thing as the Eastern

Roman Empire• The capitol,

Constantinople, was located at the Hellespont

– Narrowest area btwn Asia, Europe

• Imp. trade routes met there– North, to Rus / Vikings– South, to Anatolia / ME– East, to India / China– West, to Europe

Who Were They?

• To inhabitants, they were simply the Roman Empire

• Emperors continued in unbroken succession from Caesar to Diocletian, Constantine and beyond

Statue of Octavian

Justinian I (527-565)• Introduced Law Code (“Codex Justinian”), a

revision of old Roman laws, in Greek• Great general, Belisarius, helped recapture

much of traditional Roman Empire (Italy, Africa, part of Spain)

Expansion of Byzantine Empire from start of Justinian’s rule to his death

Justinian I

Construction of the Hagia Sophia, the greatest church built east of Rome, completed

Justinian I• After death of Justinian,

territory gained in West was quickly lost

• Empire almost fell in late 500s

– Persians reached Nile River & Bosphorus

– Slavs overran the Balkans in Europe and laid siege to Constantinople itself

Heraklius (610-628) • Savior of Empire

– Considered abandoning Constantinople

• Reforms– Gave soldiers land in

frontier– Soldiers paid no

taxes– Sons of soldiers =

soldiers themselves– Reorganized

provinces into themes, under control of General

Byzantine Themes, ca 620 AD (yellow) and 900 AD (in pink)

Heraklius• Successes

– Longest period of Byz. Empire success, creativity

– Re-established Byz. Empire in Balkans

– By 629 AD, recaptured most of ME (Jerusalem)

• Rise of Islam put Byz, Empire on the defense– Lost Mesopotamia, Syria,

Egypt, Africa by 700 AD

Byzantine Empire, 600-1025

• Spread of Orthodox Christianity– Two monks, Cyril and

Methodius, spread Orthodox faith into Balkans, Poland, & Russia

– Intro’d Cyrillic Alphabet, to Russians (still use today)

• Monks, scholars & artists followed, giving culture a distinct Byzantine flavor

Cyril and Methodius

LET’S FLASH FORWARD SEVERAL HUNDERD YEARS…..

Decline of the Byzantine Empire• Death of emperor

in 1025 led to conflict between military themes & civilian nobility in capital

• By 1081, Byzantine Empire had been reduced to Greece due to this civil war & pressure from Turks

Byzantine Empire, 1081

Decline of Byzantine Empire• 1100s were a period of

recovery for the Empire– Assisted by Western

Crusaders, starting in 1097

– Economy flourished– Artistic revival– Re-captured SE

Europe

Fall of the Byzantine Empire• Weak ruler took throne

in 1185 – Emptied treasury for gifts,

building churches• In 1204, the 4th Crusade

sacked Constantinople (Crusaders / Venetians)

• Led to fragmentation of empire (local states fought for local control)

• Sack of Constantinople in 1453 by Ottomans (85k v. 7k defenders) Crusaders enter Constantinople

Legacy of Byzantine Empire• Most (only!) stable state during

European Middle Ages• Expert military, diplomacy saved

Europe from Muslim invasion• Trade center brought many peoples into

contact with one another• Transmission of classical knowledge

from Islamic world to West helped bring about European Renaissance