AP World History

 Was what was left of the Roman Empire  Defeated attacks from Asia, Middle East, and Eastern Europe  It preserved the Roman and Greek laws, ideals, and culture  Lasted 1,123 years, one of the longest empires in history

 In the middle of Europe and Asia  Constantinople controlled water ways needed for trade  Founded by Constantine in 330 in an attempt to rule the vast Roman Empire  Split the Roman Empire into Greek and Latin speakers

 Built like a Roman city  Public baths, forums, churches, columns  Free hospitals  Street lighting  Fire brigades  Housed 1 million people  3 major structures  Palace, Hagia Sophia, Hippodrome (video will explain these buildings)

 Emperor had absolute power  Body of Civil Law  Codified Law Code by Justinian  Massive bureaucracy that was very inefficient  Emperor practiced caesorpapism

 Massive trade center  Creates cultural diversity  Two monks stole silk worms from China so Byzantium started making silk  Specialized in manufactured goods like rugs, cloth, and luxury items

 Rigid hierarchy with the divine power of the royal family at the top  Massive middle class  Food needs in the city overburden the peasants, which led to serfdom  Women  Increasingly restricted  Were not allowed out without a chaperone or veil  Some female empresses did have power

 Continued traditions of the Greek and Romans  Split with the Catholic Church in 1054  Citizens were very diverse, but most spoke Greek and practiced Eastern Orthodoxy  Expansion of the empire leads many Slavs to convert to Eastern Orthodoxy  Developed Cyrillic writing for the Slavic language

 Attacked by the Turks who sack Constantinople in 1453