The Byzantine Empire World History Chapter 11

Setting the stage In Chapter 6, the Western Roman Empire crumbled as it was overrun by Germanic tribes. The capital city had moved from Rome to Constantinople in 330 A.D.

The Empire divides The Roman Empire crumbles In 284 A.D., the emperor Diocletian divided the Roman Empire into east and west The Greek speaking east became the Eastern Empire – Greece, Anatolia, Syria, and Egypt The Latin speaking west became the Western Empire – Italy, Gaul, Britain, and Spain) Diocletian kept the Eastern Empire for himself and appointed a co- ruler for the west Diocletian was forced to retire in 305 A.D. and civil war broke out

Constantine takes over By 324 A.D., Constantine had won control of both halves of the Empire In 330 A.D., Constantine moved the capital of the empire from Rome to the Greek city of Byzantium, later renamed Constantinople The capital was chosen because it stood on the Bosporus Strait, strategically located for trade and defense purposes on a crossroads between West and East Soon the new capital was protected by massive walls After Constantine’s death, the Eastern Empire remained and would thrive for 1,000 years, the Western Empire fell

A New Rome in a New Setting In 527, a high ranking Byzantine nobleman named Justinian rose to the throne. Justinian set out to capture and reclaim the old lost lands of Rome. He recovered parts of North Africa, almost all of Italy, and parts of Spain. Justinian had almost recovered all of the territory that Rome had ever ruled. He also ruled with absolute power like the old Caesars. He was the head of not only the state, but the church as well.

Life in the New Rome In being a new unified empire, Justinian set up a panel of legal experts to regulate Byzantium’s complex society. The panel combed through over 400 years of Roman law. It got rid of tons of outdated laws. The panel created a single, uniform code known as the Justinian Code. It consisted of four different works. It served the Byzantine Empire for 900 years.

The Justinian Code The Code contained nearly 5,000 Roman laws that were still considered useful for the Byzantine Empire. The Digest quoted and summarized the opinions of Rome’s greatest legal thinkers about the laws. The Institutes was a textbook that told law students how to use the laws. The Novellae (new laws) presented legislation passed after 534.

Creating the Imperial Capital Justinian created a 14-mile stone wall along the city’s coastline and repaired the massive fortifications along its western land border. Church building was his crowing glory… The Hagia Sophia (“Holy Wisdom”).

Justinian projects The Hagia Sophia, baths, aqueducts, law courts, schools, and hospitals. Byzantines also preserved the Greek and Roman culture by teaching their kids geometry, history, medicine, grammar and literature. The Hippodrome held 60,000 spectators. Fans wore different colors worn by their heroes. In 532, two fan groups (Greens and Blues) sparked a citywide riot scraming, “Nika!” Or “Victory!” Justinian ready to flee has his wife Theodora convince him to fight the rebellion.

Cont’d Justinian dispatches his troops, they lock the rioters in the Hippodrome and slaughter near 30,000 rebels.

The Fall After Justinian’s death in 565, the empire starts to crumble. SET BACKS Before his death, Justinian experienced a horrible plague on his empire similar to the Bubonic Plague. 542-700------estimated 10,000 a day lost. Attacks from East and West on the Empire. The Byzantines used bribes, diplomacy, political marriages, and military power to keep the enemies at bay.

The Church Divides The Byzantine Empire A. The Church Divides 1. The Western and Eastern Roman Empire are increasingly different due to the distance and lack of communication. 2. Christianity begins to develop differently and as the Eastern Empire flourishes and becomes Byzantium—the differences will split the empire. 3. Differences and disputes increase over 600 years before the church is officially split in 1054 between the Roman Catholic Church in the Western Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the East.

Competition for Converts 1. Missionaries from the Eastern Orthodox Church traveled to the Northern Forests of the Black Sea, Saint Methodius and Saint Cyril worked among the Slavs, the people living in this region. 2. They created an alphabet, the Cyrillic alphabet for the Slavic languages, which is still used today by many Slavic languages including Russian. Now, they could read the Bible in their own languages. 3 . Whereas in the West, the Roman Catholic Church developed with the use of Latin and spread to the North and West throughout Europe.  

Timeline 379 AD—Theodosius comes to power as the last Emperor of both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, makes Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire   395 AD—Death of Theodosius and the official split of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires 527 AD—Justinian becomes Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire 529 AD—Justinian’s Code 532—Nika Rebellions, Justinian almost flees but stays at the urging of his wife, Theodora

532 AD—Justinian builds the Hagia Sophia   540s AD—The Empire suffers from boughs of plague, empire never fully recovers 565 AD—Justinian dies *periods of dispute and reconciliation, before “official split” (attempts are made to reconcile the Churches and usually followed by periods of each church ignoring the other) 1054 AD—The Great Schism, the official split of the Christian church The pope (leader of the Roman Catholic Church) and the patriarch (leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church) excommunicate each other over disagreements of religious doctrine