The Byzantine Empire After Rome split, the Eastern Empire, known as Byzantium, flourishes for a thousand years.

A New Rome Constantine planned Constantinople as the new capital of the empire: the New Rome The Roman Empire officially was divided in two in 395; however, emperors still thought of themselves as Roman emperors The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD. The Eastern Roman Empire came to be known as the Byzantine Empire.

Emperor’s Power Ruled w/ absolute power Lived under constant risk Of 88 Byzantine emperors, 29 died violently, 13 abandoned the throne to live in monasteries

Justinian In 527, Justinian becomes emperor In 533, he sends out his best general, Belisarius, to reconquer the Roman empire W/ help of Belisarius, reconquers almost all of the territory that Rome ruled

Byzantine Expansion under Justininian

Life in the New Rome Justinian’s Code: single, uniform civil law Laws from Roman law and legal opinions Served the empire for 900 years Became basis for much of Europe 4 works: The Code: 5,000 Roman Laws The Digest: Roman legal opinions The Institutes: Instructed law students how to use the laws The Novellae: New laws

Creating the Imperial Capital Justinian launched most ambitious public bldgs in Roman world Rebuilt the crumbling fortifications: 14 mile stone wall Constantinople protected by deep moat and 3 walls Innermost wall 25’ thick Built baths, aqueducts, law courts, schools, hospitals

Hagia Sophia Means “Holy Wisdom” in Greek Completed in 537 as the most splendid church in the Christian world After fall of Constantinople in 1453, changed over to a mosque and now it is a museum Rich mosaics An enormous dome which seems to float in space 42 windows which allow light

Hagia Sophia

View from the cupola in the Hagia Sophia

Constantinople’s Hectic Pace City became a trading hub with a huge marketplace Products from the Asia, Africa, and Europe Hippodrome offered chariot races and circus acts Held 60,000 spectators Fans of different teams wore the colors of their heroes Hippodrome Today in Istanbul

Nika Rebellion 532, the “Blues” and “Greens” start citywide riots Mobs angry that gov’t was too severe in putting down a previous riot Mobs pack the Hippodrome and proclaim a new emperor W/ Theodora’s advice, Justinian orders Belisarius to slaughter the 30,000 rebels

Theodora Most powerful woman in Byzantine history Grew up in poverty Was an actress who caught Justinian’s eye Married Justinian in 525 Met w/ foreign envoys, wrote to foreign leaders, passed laws, built churches Championed women’s rights (own property, divorce husbands, widows keep children) Convinces Justinian to put down Nika Rebellions and not to flee (“I think that flight, even if t brings us to safety, is not in our interest.”)

Byzantium Preserves Learning They valued education Basic courses focused on Greek and Latin Classic Greek and Roman literature served as textbooks Homer, Euclid, Herodotus Preserved the great works of Greece & Rome

The Empire Falls After death of Justinian in 565, empire suffers many setbacks

The Plague of Justinian Began before Justinian’s death Disease that resembled bubonic plague hits At its peak in 542, estimates say 10,000/day died Broke out every 8-12 years until 700 Destroyed a huge % of their population Small population left them vulnerable

Attacks from East and West Empire is attacked by many different groups from both sides Lombards from west Avars, Slavs, Bulgars from north Arab armies attack city in 674 and 717 Russians attempt invasions in 860 and 1043

Greek fire was used by Byzantine Navy Invented in 7th century by Byzantines. Squirted from tubes or thrown from clay pots, it would ignite spontaneously and burn, even on water. Ingredients and proportions were never written down.

What did they use to prop up the empire? Empire survives for a while using bribery, diplomacy, and military power Ex. Reorganize empire into military districts run by a general who would report back to emperor Falls to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 This date marks the end of the Byzantine Empire Today Constantinople is called Istanbul

Icons: religious images used to aid devotion The Church Divides Christianity develops differently in the Eastern and Western Roman Empire The 2 churches disagree over the use of icons in the 8th century Emperor of Constantinople thought icons amounted to idol worship Iconoclasts “icon breakers” broke into churches and destroy the images The pope in Rome supported the use of icons and excommunicated a Byzantine Emperor 842, an empress named Theodora restored icons to Eastern churches Differences continued 1054 the Schism permanently divided the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Church Icons: religious images used to aid devotion

Differences between 2 Christian Traditions Roman Catholic Services in Latin Pope has authority over bishops Pope claims authority over kings/emperors Priest may not marry Divorce isn’t permitted Eastern Orthodox Services in Greek or local languages Patriarch and other bishops head church Emperor claims authority over patriarch & other bishops Priests may be married Divorce is allowed under certain conditions

Byzantine Missionaries Convert the Slavs Eastern Orthodox missionaries seek to convert northern peoples, Slavs Missionaries create Cyrillic alphabet—basis of many Slavic languages today Alphabet enables many groups to read the Bible

Cyrillic Alphabet