ByzantiumSocial Studies for 10th E.G.B.

Teacher: Mauricio Torres

Background

At its height the Roman Empire included all the land around the Mediterranean Sea. It went from England to Egypt and all the way into the Syrian desert.

External and internal threats started to decimate the empire.

Emperor Diocletian considered the empire to big to be ruled, so he named a co-emperor to rule the western half, while he ruled the eastern half.

Christianity was now the official religion in the empire.

Division of the Empire

When Diocletian left power, Constantine reunited the empire for a short time. He also moved the capital to the east, into what is now Turkey.

The new capital was rebuilt into a grand city, which he named Constantinople (which means the City of Constantine).

Even though the capital now had moved out of Rome, it was still called the Roman Empire.

Decline of Rome

North-European Barbarian tribes started to invade the Roman Empire in the 200s. A century later, these bands began to raid inside the heart of the Empire.

The Romans fought desperately to keep these tribes (Goths, Huns, Vandals, Saxons, Franks, etc). They even paid some of them bribes not to attack.

In 408 AD, the Visigoths marched into Rome, sacked it and almost destroyed it.

In 476 a foreign general in the Roman army overthrew the last Emperor of Rome and declared himself king of Italy.

This is considered by historians as the end of the western Empire.

Decline of Rome

A new Eastern Empire

Despite the fall of Rome, the eastern empire grew in wealth and power. Its people created a new society that was different from the society in the west.

Justinian

For the emperor Justinian (527-565) reuniting the Roman empire was a passion.

His armies conquered Italy and much of the land around the Mediterranean.

His other passions were: the law and the church.

He ordered officials to remove any out-of-date or unchristian laws.

He organized the whole legal system called Justinian’s Code.

By simplifying Roman law, fair treatment for all was guaranteed.

Justinian

Despite his successes, Justinian made many enemies.In 532, an uprising almost drove him out from Constantinople.

His smart and powerful wife, Theodora convinced him to stay and fight.

He took her advise, crushed the revolt and ruled effectively for the rest of his reign.

Fall of Constantinople

After Justinian’s death, the eastern empire began to decline.

Invaders took over all the land Justinian had gained.

The empire continued to shrink for the next several hundred years.

In 1453, the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople, bringing and end to the Eastern Roman Empire.

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