 Take out something to write  Take out Chapter 9 Notes Guide  Put the remainder of your materials in/under your desk

Today we will be learning about the rise of the Byzantine Empire.

 *As the Western Roman Empire fell the Eastern Roman Empire grew rich.  *Greeks made up the Eastern Roman empire’s largest group.

 *By A.D. 500s, Con has become one of the world’s great cities.  *It was located between the Black Sea & the Aegean Sea which offered safe harbors for trade ships.  Con was easy to defend. *Seas protected it on three sides and a huge wall on the fourth. Con = Constantinople

 *At first the Byzantines followed Roman ways. *Con was known as the “New Rome.”  *The city even had an arena for chariot races called the Hippodrome.

 *Empires spoke Latin & enforced Roman Laws.  As time passed the empire became less Roman & more Greek. They spoke Greek & followed Greek customs. *Other cultures like Egyptian, Slavs & Persian blended w/the Byzantine culture.

 *Justinian b/c emperor of the Byzantine Empire in A.D  *He was a strong ruler who controlled the military, made laws, & was supreme judge.  *Theodora, his wife, helped him rule the empire.  *She convinced him to give women more rights.

 Theodora is perhaps the most influential and powerful woman in the Byzantine Empire's history.  Law changed for her marriage  Her name on laws  No children  Died of Cancer

 Justinian wanted to reunite the Roman Empire & bring back Rome’s glory.  *He ordered general, Belisarius, to reorganize the army & make it stronger.  *The Byzantine military conquered most of Italy & northern Africa.  *However, after Justinian died the conquered territory was lost.

 *Justinian order Tribonian to reform the law codes to make them easier to understand. Tribonian headed a group of legal scholars who reformed the law code  *The new laws were known as Justinian Code (these laws influenced laws in other countries in Europe).

 *The Byzantine Empire lasted for about 1,000 yrs.  The Byzantines preserved & passed on Greek culture and Roman law to other ppl.  *They also helped to spread Christianity.

 *The Byzantine Empire was the center of trade btw Europe & Asia.  *Most Byzantine were farmers, herders, laborers & artisans.  *One major industry was weaving silk (they stole the idea from China).

 Hagia Sophia *One of Justinian’s greatest achievements was building this huge church. *“Holy Wisdom.”  *I/S the church were mosaics (pictures made from bits of colored glass and stone).  *The mosaics showed figures of Saints or Christian holy ppl.

 *The family was the center of social life for Byzantines.  *Women were expected to stay at home and take care of the family.  *Empress Theodora helped women gain some rights & b/c educated.  *Some royal women b/c regents. Regent- person who stands in and rules for a ruler that is too young or ill to govern.

 The gov’t supported the training of scholars & gov’t officials.  Boys studied: *Religion *Medicine *Law *Math *Grammar.

 *Some wealthy parents hired teachers to come to their homes & teach the sons.  *Byzantine writers copied down & passed on the writings of Greeks and Romans.