Byzantine Empire was the continuation of the

Roman Empire in the Greek-speaking, eastern

part of the Mediterranean. Christian in nature, it
was perennially at war with the Muslims,
Flourishing during the reign of the Macedonian
emperors, its demise was the consequence of
attacks by Seljuk Turks, Crusaders, and Ottoman
Turks.

CE, when its last ruler was dethroned and a

military leader, Odoacer, took power.

Christianity
In the course of the fourth century, the Roman
world became increasingly Christian, and the
Byzantine Empire was certainly a Christian
state.

Byzantium was the name of a small, but

important town at the Bosphorus, the strait
which connects the Sea of Marmara and the
Aegean to the Black Sea, and separates the
continents of Europe and Asia. In Greek times
the town was at the frontier between the Greek
and the Persian world. In the fourth century
BCE, Alexander the Great made both worlds
part of his hellenistic universe, and later
Byzantium became a town of growing
importance within the Roman Empire.

In the course of the fourth century, the Roman

world became increasingly Christian, and the
Byzantine Empire was certainly a Christian
state. It was the first empire in the world to be
founded not only on worldly power, but also on
the autority of the Church. Paganism, however,
stayed an important source of inspiration for
many people during the first centuries of the
Byzantine Empire.

By the third century CE, the Romans had many

thousands of miles of border to defend. Growing
pressure caused a crisis, especially in the
Danube/Balkan area, where the Goths violated
the borders. In the East, the Sasanian Persians
transgressed the frontiers along the Euphrates
and Tigris. The emperor Constantine the Great
(reign 306-337 CE) was one of the first to
realize the impossibility of managing the
empire's problems from distant Rome.

When Christianity became organized, the

Church was led by five patriarchs, who resided
in Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch,
Constantinople, and Rome. The Council of
Chalcedon (451 CE) decided that the patriarch
of Constantinopel was to be the second in the
ecclesiastical hierarchy. Only the pope in Rome
was his superior. After the Great Schism of 1054
CE the eastern (Orthodox) church separated
form the western (Roman Catholic) church. The
centre of influence of the orthodox churches
later shifted to Moscow.

Constantinople
So, in 330 CE Constantine decided to make
Byzantium, which he had refounded a couple of
years before and named after himself, his new
residence. Constantinople lay halfway between
the Balkan and the Euphrates, and not too far
from the immense wealth and manpower of Asia
Minor, the vital part of the empire.
"Byzantium" was to become the name for the
East-Roman Empire. After the death of
Constantine, in an attempt to overcome the
growing military and administrative problem,
the Roman Empire was divided into an eastern
and a western part. The western part is
considered as definitely finished by the year 476

Cultural Life
Since the age of the great historian Edward
Gibbon, the Byzantine Empire has a reputation
of stagnation, great luxury and corruption. Most
surely the emperors in Constantinopel held an
eastern court. That means courtlife was ruled by
a very formal hierarchy. There were all kinds of
political intrigues between factions. However,
the image of a luxury-addicted, conspiring,
decadent court with treacherous empresses and
an inert state system is historically inaccurate.
On the contrary: for its age, the Byzantine
Empire was quite modern. Its tax system and
administration were so efficient that the empire
survived more than a thousand years.

The culture of Byzantium was rich and affluent,

while science and technology also flourished.
Very important for us, nowadays, was the
Byzantine tradition of rhetoric and public
debate. Philosophical and theological discources
were important in public life, even emperors
taking part in them. The debates kept knowledge
and admiration for the Greek philosophical and
scientific heritage alive. Byzantine intellectuals
quoted their classical predecessors with great
respect, even though they had not been
Christians. And although it was the Byzantine
emperor Justinian who closed Plato's famous
Academy of Athens in 529 CE, the Byzantines
are also responsible for much of the passing on
of the Greek legacy to the Muslims, who later
helped Europe to explore this knowledge again
and so stood at the beginning of European
Renaissance.

Justinian
Byzantine history goes from the founding of
Constantinople as imperial residence on 11 May
330 CE until Tuesday 29 May 1453 CE, when
the Ottoman sultan Memhet II conquered the
city. Most times the history of the Empire is
divided in three periods.
The first of these, from 330 till 867 CE, saw the
creation and survival of a powerful empire.
During the reign of Justinian (527-565 CE), a
last attempt was made to reunite the whole
Roman Empire under one ruler, the one in
Constantinople. This plan largely succeeded: the
wealthy provinces in Italy and Africa were
reconquered, Libya was rejuvenated, and money
bought sufficient diplomatic influence in the
realms of the Frankish rulers in Gaul and the
Visigothic dynasty in Spain. The refound unity
was celebrated with the construction of the
church of Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, in
Constantinople. The price for the reunion,
however, was high. Justinian had to pay off the
Sasanian Persians, and had to deal with firm
resistance, for instance in Italy.
Under Justinian, the lawyer Tribonian (500-547
CE) created the famous Corpus Iuris. The Code
of Justinian, a compilation of all the imperial

laws, was published in 529 CE; soon the

Institutions (a handbook) and the Digests (fifty
books of jurisprudence), were added. The
project was completed with some additional
laws, the Novellae. The achievement becomes
even more impressive when we realize that
Tribonian was temporarily relieved of his
function during the Nika riots of 532 CE, which
in the end weakened the position of patricians
and senators in the government, and
strengthened the position of the emperor and his
wife.
After Justinian, the Byzantine and Sasanian
empires suffered heavy losses in a terrible war.
The troops of the Persian king Khusrau II
captured Antioch and Damascus, stole the True
Cross from Jerusalem, occupied Alexandria, and
even reached the Bosphorus. In the end, the
Byzantine armies were victorious under the
emperor Heraclius (reign 610-642 CE).
However, the empire was weakened and soon
lost Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Cyrenaica, and
Africa to the Islamic Arabs. For a moment,
Syracuse on Sicily served as imperial
residence. At the same time, parts of Italy were
conquered by the Lombards, while Bulgars
settled south of the Danube. The ultimate
humiliation took place in 800 CE, when the
leader of the Frankish barbarians in the West,
Charlemagne, preposterously claimed that he,
and not the ruler in Constantinople, was the
Christian empe
ror.

285 CE

The Roman empire is split into the

Western and Eastern Roman
empires.
313 CE
Roman emperor Constantine I
tolerates Christianity.
11 May 330 CE

Constantinople is founded on the site

of old Byzantium as the new
Rome.

c. 527 CE - 646 CE
The Byzantine Empire controls
Egypt.

361 CE
531 CE - 534 CE
Roman emperor Julian attempts to
revive Paganism.
376 CE
The Visigoths are fleeing the Huns,
entering the Eastern Roman Empire.
378 CE
The Goths defeat Emperor Valens is
near Adrianople.
391 CE

Byzantine forces engaged in a series

of military campaigns against the
Slavs and other groups.
533 CE
Belisarius defeats the Persians to the
east of the Byzantine Empire and the
Vandals of Africa.
533 CE - 534 CE

Emperor Theodosius closes pagan

temples.

The Vandal War launched by

Emperor Justinian I, aimed a
reconquering Africa from the
Vandals.

395 CE - 637 CE

534 CE

Byblos is a colony of the Byzantine

Empire (formerly known as the
Eastern Roman Empire).

Justinian of the Byzantine Empire

conquers the Vandal kingdom in
Africa.

469 CE

535 CE

The Byzantine Empire builds the

Anastasian Wall.

Belisarius' first campaign against the

Ostrogoths in Italy.

525 CE

536 CE

Justinian I marries Theodora, a

woman from a poor background and
possibly a courtesan.

Rome falls to Belisarius.

527 CE - 565 CE

The Byzantine Empire conquers

Italy.

Reign of Byzantine Emperor

Justinian I.

536 CE - 562 CE

545 CE

Belisarius' second campaign against

the Ostrogoths in Italy.
c. 550 CE

A colaition of Slavs, Avars and

Bulgars lay siege to Constantinople,
the Romans manage to repel the
attack. .

The Slavs advance towards

Thessalonica, entering the region of
the Hebrus River and the Thracian
coast. Thessalonica is saved by the
Roman army.

628 CE

554 CE

637 CE

Byzantine Empire conquers southern

Iberia.

Muslim invasion of the Levant. The

Byzantines are driven out.

Jul 556 CE - c. Jul 572 CE

Samaritan revolt beginning in
Caesarea Maritima, perhaps with
Jewish support. A number of
churches are destroyed and there is a
significant loss of life.
c. 580 CE
The Slavs and the Avars overwhelm
Greece, Thrace and Thessaly.
585 CE
The Slavs march on to
Constantinople, they are driven off
by the Roman defence. .
607 CE - 627 CE
East Rome defeats Sasanian Persia.
610 CE - 622 CE
Heraclius restructures the Eastern
Roman empire into the Byzantine
empire.
626 CE

Byzantine Empire re-takes

Alexandria, Egypt, from the
Persians.