1. The Ancient
Middle East

2. 7. Byzantium:
The
"New Rome"

3. The Roman Empire Divided in 294

4. Constantine’s City--Constantinopolis

5. Barbarian Invasions of the Roman Empire

6. Constantinople: A Greek City (Istanbul Today)

7. Constantinople

8. Sunset on the “Golden Horn”

9. Overview: Byzantine Empire
Capital: Byzantium
On the Bosporus
Commercial, strategic value of location
Constantine names capital after himself (Constantinople), moves capital there 330 CE
1453 falls to Turks, renamed Istanbul

10. The Later Roman Empire and Byzantium
Byzantine Empire inherits Roman Empire after fall of Rome in 5th c. CE
preserved Greco-Roman culture and advancements
Eastern territories remain major power until 13th c. CE

11. The Later Roman Empire
Roman infrastructure in place in East – even though West crumbled
Roads, institutional hierarchies
Challenges: Persian empire (Sassanid dynasty) & Germanic peoples

12. Caesaropapism Emperor w/aura of divinity – divine authority
Centralized power (political & religious)
Authority absolute
Byzantine bureaucracy

13. The Byzantine Court – Don’t Write
Etiquette reinforces authority of Emperor
Royal purple
Prostration
Mechanical devices designed to inspire awe

14. Emperor Justinian [r. 527-564]

15. Empress Theodora

16. Mosaics of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora and her retinue, from Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna

17. Justinian (527-565 CE) The “sleepless emperor”
Wife Theodora as advisor
Rebuilt Constantinople
Church of Hagia Sophia
Codification of Roman Law
Justinian’s Code

18. Justinian’s Empire at its Peak

19. The Hagia Sophia

20. Church of Hagia Sophia [Holy Wisdom]

21. Interior of the Church of Hagia Sophia

22. The Hagia Sophia

23. Justinian’s Code
Corpus Juris Civilis:
1. Digest
2. Code
3. Institutes 

24. Byzantine & Sassanid Empires, 6c

25. A Threat to the Great Empires
6c Arabia:
A Threat to the Great Empires ? ?

26. The Byzantine Empire and its neighbors 527-554 CE

27. Islamic Conquests and Byzantine Revival
7th century Arab Muslim expansion
Besieged Byzantium ,
Defense made possible through use of a weapon “Greek fire”

28. Imperial Organization
Themes (provinces) under control of generals
Military administration
Control from central imperial government
Soldiers from peasant class, rewarded with land grants

29. Tensions with Western Europe
Church
Byzantine: Greek; Roman: Latin
Conflicts over hierarchical control
Fealty of Germanic peoples
Roman pope crowns Charlemagne in 800, a challenge to Byzantine authority

30. Byzantine Economy and Society
Constantinople largest city in Europe, 5th-13th c.
Dependent on small landholders, free peasants
Earlier large landholdings destroyed by invasions in 6th-7th centuries
Theme system rewards soldiers with land grants

31. Decline of the Free Peasantry
Despite economic and social benefits of small peasants landholdings, large landholdings on the increase
Reduces tax revenues, recruits to military
Last three centuries indicate steady decline of economy

32. Manufacturing and Trade
Trade routes bring key technologies, e.g. silk industry
Advantage of location causes crafts and industry to expand after 6th century
Tax revenues from silk route
Banking services develop

33. Urban Life
Aristocrats: palaces; artisans: apartments; working poor: communal living spaces
Hippodrome
Chariot races, “greens vs. blues”
Politically inspired rioting
Role of Theodora & Justinian

34. “Whether or not a woman should give an example of courage to men, is neither here nor there…At a moment of desperate danger, one must do what one can…If flight were the only means of safety, still I would not flee. Those who have worn the crown should never survive its loss…Emperor, if you wish to flee, well and good, you have the money, the ships are ready, the sea is clear. But I shall stay. I accept the ancient proverb: Royal purple is the best burial sheet.”
Theodora, AD 532

35. Tensions with Western Europe
Church
Byzantine: Greek; Roman: Latin
Conflicts over hierarchical control
Fealty of Germanic peoples
Roman pope crowns Charlemagne in 800, a challenge to Byzantine authority

36. Orthodox Christianity
Legacy of Classical Greece
Greek replaces Latin after 6th c. CE; language of New Testament
Byzantine education sponsors development of large literate class for state bureaucracy
Training in classical canon

37. The Byzantine Church
By 6th C. Christianity is the dominant cultural community
Church and state closely aligned
Council of Nicea (325) bans Arian movement
Human/divine nature of Jesus
Constantine favors Arians, but supports Nicean condemnation
Byzantine Emperors appoint patriarchs
Caesaropapism creates dissent in church

38. Iconoclasm Emperor Leo III (r. 717-741 CE) Icons seen as a heresy
Destruction of icons after 726 CE
Popular protest, rioting
Policy abandoned 843 CE

39. Greek Philosophy and Byzantine Theology
Attempt to reconcile Greek philosophy with Judeo-Christianity
Constantine establishes school to apply philosophical methods to religious questions

40. Ascetism Hermit-like existence Celibacy Fasting Prayer
St. Simeon Stylite
Lived atop pillar for 37 years in Syria

41. Byzantine Monasticism and St. Basil (329-379 CE)
Patriarch of Constantinople reforms monasteries
Communal living
Hierarchical structure
Mt. Athos
No women, female animals allowed
Currently a World Heritage Site, is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries

42. The church at the Monastery of Great Lavra was the first monastery built on Mount Athos in 963.

43. Tensions between Eastern and Western Christianity
Ritual disputes
Beards on clergy
Leavened bread for Mass
Right for clergy to marry (West - yes, East - no)
Services in Latin in West, Greek in East
Theological disputes
Iconoclasm
Nature of the Trinity

44. Schism Arguments over hierarchy, jurisdiction
Autonomy of Patriarchs, or Primacy of Rome?
1054 Patriarch of Constantinople and Pope of Rome excommunicate each other
East: Orthodox Church
West: Roman Catholic

45. Social Problems in the Byzantine Empire
Generals of themes become allied with local aristocrats
Intermarry, create class of elite
Occasional rebellions vs. Imperial Rule

46. Challenges from the West
Western European economic development
Normans from Scandinavia press on Byzantine territories
Crusades of 12th-13th centuries rampage through Byzantine territory
Constantinople sacked, 1204

47. Challenges from the East
Muslim Saljuqs invade Anatolia
Threatens grain supply
Defeat Byzantine army in 1071, creates civil conflict
Period of steady decline until Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople in 1453
Renamed Istanbul

48. The Byzantine empire and its neighbors about 1100 CE

49. Influence on Slavic Cultures
Relations from 6th c. CE
Bulgaria influenced culturally, politically
Saints Cyril and Methodius
Create Cyrillic alphabet
Slavic lands develop orientation to Byzantium

50. Kievan Rus Conversion of Prince Vladimir, 989 CE
Byzantine culture influences development of Slavic cultures
Distinctively Slavic Orthodox church develops
Eventual heir to Byzantium

51. St. Sophia Cathedral

52. St. Basil's Cathedral and Spasskaya Tower of Kremlin, Red Square, Moscow

53. Kievan Russia