The Byzantine Empire

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The Byzantine Empire
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Oh No!! Rome Has Fallen!

• Eastern and Western halves were officially split
  into two distinct empires in 395 CE
• 476 CE Fall of Western Rome
• Eastern Empire dates from 395 1453 CE
• Capital is Constantinople (modern name Istanbul)
• Called the Byzantine Empire

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Characteristics of Byzantine Empire

• Elegant buildings
• Christian (Roman Catholic, then Eastern Orthodox)
• Language Greek
• Strong Commercial Focus
• Armies based on barbarian recruits
• Emperor separate from society

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Emperor Justinian(r. 527- 565 CE)

• Successes
• Law Code
• Rebuilt Constantinople
• Reclaims some Roman provinces
• North Africa, city of Rome (temporarily), parts
  of Spain
• Failures
• Unable to retake Italy for good
• Weakened empire through expansion

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Justinian Code

• Created between 528-533 CE
• Preserved and reformed/updated Roman law
• Ultimate Goal Create a single, uniform law code
• Forms the basis of modern legal systems.
• Covered all aspects of life marriage, slavery,
  property, inheritance, womens rights and crimes
• Code is used for over 900 years

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Empress Theodora

• Justinians wife
• Very powerful in her own right
• Met with foreign leaders, passed laws, built
  churches
• Theodora pushes for womens rights
• Man couldnt beat wife
• Women could sue for divorce.
• Women could own property

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Politics in the Byzantine Empire

• Emperor head of church and state
• Make religious and secular laws
• Not uncommon for women to hold throne temporarily
• Troops given land for service
• Government keeps food prices low

• Bureaucracy
• Trained in Greek classics
• From all classes
• Spies
• Emperor appointed local leaders to be sent
  throughout the empire

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Constantinople (Istanbul)

• Founded by Constantine and established as the
  capital of the Byzantine Empire in 330 CE

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Constantinople

• Naturally protected by waterways on either side
• Controlled the water between the Aegean and Black
  Sea.
• Only land border is protected by a moat and three
  other walls
• Constantinople is in middle of trade routes.
• City became rich from taxes on trade.

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• Revenue from trade funds government-supported
  building projects
• Hagia Sophia
• (Holy Wisdom)
• Palaces
• Aqueducts
• Schools
• Hospitals

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Life in Constantinople

• Great trade, shopping and cultural attractions in
  the city
• 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

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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 (sacked Constantinople in 1204 CE)
• Battle of Manzikert (1071 CE) army defeated and
  destroyed by Muslim Turkish invaders
• Finally falls in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks