1. 476-1453 (Fall of Rome – conquest by the Ottoman Turks)
Byzantium (Part 1)
(Fall of Rome – conquest by the Ottoman Turks)

2. 1. Origins of the Eastern Roman Empire
Division of empire. Who? When?
Founding of Constantinople. By whom? When?

3. 1. Origins of the Eastern Roman Empire
The Roman emperor Diocletian divided the empire in 286.

4. 1. Origins of the Eastern Roman Empire
The Roman emperor Constantine established in 330 his capital in the old city of Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople (Constantinus-polis) after himself.
Rome was no longer the imperial capital.

5. 2. The Byzantine empire Byzantium or Constantinople?
Eastern Roman empire or Byzantine empire?
Byzantium, Constantinople: Istanbul

6. 3. The Western Roman Empire
But…what happened to the Western Roman empire?

7. 3. The Western Roman Empire
Germanic invasions 4th- 5th centuries (476)

8. 4. Byzantine Empire
After the Western Roman empire falls in 476, Constantinople remains secure preserving the Eastern Empire.
Capital?
Form of government?
Language?
Religion?
Economy?
Population?
Cultural life?

9. 4. Byzantine empire

10. 4. Byzantine empire

11. 4. Byzantine Empire Capital: Constantinople
Form of government: autocracy: (divinized) emperor
Language: Greek
Religion: Christian (Orthodox)
Economy: trade and increasingly agriculture
Population: mixture of Greeks, Serbs, Turks, Bulgarians…
Cultural life: vibrant but not innovative

12. 5. Byzantine Culture Cultural legacy: Political and legal system:
Greek intellectual legacy.
Political and legal system:
Roman political (legal, administrative) legacy.
Religion:
Christian religious legacy.
Result: a mixture of Christian principles and Greco- Roman ideals
Classical values and art are now put to the service of Christianity.

13. 6. Orthodox Christianity
Iconoclastic controversy ( )
The worshiping of icons was seen as a blasphemy (idolatry).
Many religious images were destroyed

14. 6. Orthodox Christianity

15. 6. What do you think about…
the act of destroying (ancient) works of art for religious reasons (idolatry)?