The Byzantine Empire
Oh No!! Rome Has Fallen!
• Umm…. Not quite.• Eastern and Western halves were officially split
into two distinct empires in 395 CE• 5th century (476 CE): Rome is sacked by the
invading Germanic tribes, but only the Western Empire falls.
• The Eastern Empire exists for 1,000 more years.• Capital is Constantinople (modern name:
Istanbul)• Called the Byzantine Empire
Characteristics of Byzantine Empire
• Elegant buildings
• Christian churches
• Language: Greek
• Commerce
• Armies based on barbarian recruits
• Emperor separate from society
Emperor Justinian(r. 527- 565 CE)
• Successes:– Law Code– Rebuild Constantinople– Reclaims some Roman
provinces:• North Africa, city of Rome
(temporarily), parts of Spain
• Failures:– Unable to retake Italiy for
good– Weakened empire through
expansion
Justinian Code
• Created between 528-533 CE by a panel of ten legal experts– Preserved and reformed/updated Roman law that had
existed for 400 years.– Ultimate Goal: Create a single, uniform law code for the
Byz. Empire.– Forms the basis of modern legal systems.
• Covered all aspects of life: marriage, slavery, property, inheritance, women’s rights and crimes
• Code is used for over 900 years
Four Parts of the Justinian Code
1. Code: 5,000 Roman laws2. Digest: quoted and summarized Rom
e’s greatest legal opinions and thinkers about laws (50 volumes)
3. Institutes: textbook for law students; handbook on how to use laws
4. Novellae (New Laws): any legislation (laws) created after 534
Empress Theodora• Justinian’s wife• Very powerful in her own
right:– Met with foreign leaders,
passed laws, built churches
• Theodora pushes for women’s rights:– Man couldn’t beat wife– Women could sue for
divorce.– Women could own property
Byzantine Politics
• Emperor head of church and state
• Make religious and secular laws
• Bureaucracy– Trained in Greek
classics– From all classes– Spies– Emperor appointed
local leaders to be sent throughout the empire
Constantinople (Istanbul)
• Founded by Constantine and established as the capital of the Byzantine Empire in 330 CE
Constantinople• Naturally protected by waterways on either
side– Coasts were lined with a 14-mile stone wall– Controlled the water between the Aegean and
Black Sea.
• Only land border is protected by a moat and three other walls– 70 feet tall; 25 feet thick
• Constantinople is in middle of trade routes.• City became rich from taxes on trade.
• With the money made from trade, Justinian was able to fund and complete great architectural projects
– Hagia Sophia
• (“Holy Wisdom”)
– Palace
– Aqueducts
– Schools
– Hospitals
Life in Constantinople• Great trade, shopping and cultural attractions in the
city– Offered goods from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle
East
• Entertainment:– Hippodrome: chariot races; circus; held 60,000 people
• Intellectual Life: – education highly prized, influenced by ancient Greek
literature and historical writings– passed on Greco-Roman mathematics and geometry to
the Arabs who adopted and improved it
Problems in the Byzantine Empire
• The Plague– Originated in rats on an Indian trading ship– 542: 10,000 die per day– Occurred every 8-10 years – Smaller population caused empire to be an easy target
for outside groups
• Outside Attacks:– Several groups attempted to attack the empire: Slavs,
Persians, Arab armies, Russians, Turks, knights from Western Europe
– The Crusaders– Finally falls in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks