1. The Byzantine Empire:
The New Rome

2. Objectives
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the Byzantine Empire and Russia from about 300 to 1000 C.E.
Explaining the establishment of Constantinople to provide political, economic, and military advantages
Identifying Justinian and his contributions
Essential Questions
Why was Constantinople established as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire
What was the influence of Justinian’s codification of Roman law on the Byzantine Empire and later legal codes
What was Justinian’s influence on the expansion of the Byzantine Empire and its economy

3. The Division of the Roman Empire
Where we left off
In 284 C.E. Diocletian became Roman emperor.
He decided that the huge Roman empire could only be ruled by splitting it into two parts.

4. The Division of the Roman Empire
From World History: Connections to Today Prentice Hall, 2003

5. Constantine
In 330 C.E. Diocletian’s successor, Constantine, rebuilt the old port of Byzantium, at the mouth of the Black Sea.
He renamed it Constantinople and made the city the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Became known as the Byzantine Empire

6. What are the advantages of building a major city here?

7. Geographic Advantages
Located on a Peninsula
Easily fortified
Strong walls secured the city
Barbarians couldn’t get through, lacked siege weapons
Provided natural safe harbors for ships
both merchant and military ships
Provided natural defense
water on three sides. (the Black and Aegean Seas)
Gave distance from Germanic invasions in Western empire

8. Economic and Political Advantages
Political/ Social
Preserved classical Greco-Roman culture
Seat of Byzantine Empire until Ottoman Empire
Economic/ Trade
Easy access to the Mediterranean Sea
Located at an important land route that linked Europe and Asia (Silk Road)
Crossroads of trade

9. The Fall of the Western Roman Empire
By 395 C.E., the Roman Empire was formally divided into two empires: East and West.
With the invasion of Germanic forces from the north, the Western Roman Empire was conquered and further divided.
This left the eastern part of the Roman empire to carry on the Greco-Roman tradition.

10. Byzantine Empire
At first, this Empire controlled only a small area around the eastern Mediterranean
During the reign of Justinian ( ), it started to recover much of the territory of the old Roman empire.

11. The Byzantine Empire Under Justinian
This map depicts the Empire at the death of Justinian I, who had reigned from 527 to 565 as sole Emperor, sometimes in concert, and sometimes in conflict, with his powerful wife Theodora.

12. The New Rome gold, silk, grain, olives and wine
The Byzantine Empire was wealthy and produced:
gold, silk, grain, olives and wine
It traded these for spices, ivory and precious stones on the Silk Road with China and India.

13. The Silk Road

14. Justinian and Theodora
Justinian ruled as an autocrat with the help of his wife, Theodora.
Ruled with absolute power
Headed church and state
They created a huge Christian empire and the empire reached its greatest size.
Reclaimed former Roman territories
Areas in Italy, Southern Spain, and North Africa

16. Justinian and Theodora
They also built
Hagia Sophia
And rebuilt the Hippodrome

17. Justinian and Theodora
Byzantine Empire had its own character
Many Byzantines spoke Greek, not Latin
To regulate society Justinian set up a panel of 10 legal experts
Combed through 400 years of Roman law and legal opinions
Codified (arranged into a clear system)
Result was a body of civil law known as Justinian’s Code

18. Justinian’s Code of Laws
Code consisted of four works
The code
Contained 5,000 laws
The Digest
Quoted and summarized opinions of Rome’s greatest legal thinkers about the laws
The Institutes
Was a textbook that told law students how to use the law
The Novellae
Presented legislation
Examples of laws
Laws were more fair to women. They could own property and raise their own children after their husbands died.
Children could choose their own marriage partners.
Slavery was legal and slaves must obey their masters.
Punishments were detailed and fit the crime
Importance
His work inspired the modern concept and, indeed, the very spelling of "justice"

19. Justinian's Achievements
Revived classical Greco-Roman culture
Improved the wealth and power of Byzantine Empire by expanding trade
Reconquered former Roman territories and doubled size of Byzantine Empire
Codified Roman law, basis of European legal systems

20. Crisis Justinian's plague Attacks
Disease that would later resemble the bubonic plague
Arrived from India on ships infested with rats
In 542 C.E. at its peak, 10,000 people died a day
Consequence
Smaller population more vulnerable to attacks
Attacks
Attacked on all sides by Barbarians and new empires
Sassanid Persians attached in 600s
Newly formed Islamic Empire attacked in 674 and 717 C.E.
Slowly shrank size of empire

21. The End of the Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine empire drew to a close in 1453 when forces from the Muslim Ottoman Empire surrounded and conquered Constantinople.
The ancient city was renamed Istanbul and became the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

22. Objectives
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the Byzantine Empire and Russia from about 300 to 1000 C.E.
Explaining the establishment of Constantinople to provide political, economic, and military advantages
Identifying Justinian and his contributions
Essential Questions
Why was Constantinople established as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire
What was the influence of Justinian’s codification of Roman law on the Byzantine Empire and later legal codes
What was Justinian’s influence on the expansion of the Byzantine Empire and its economy