The Byzantine Empire

The Eastern Half of Rome

The Byzantine Empire• Before Rome fell it was divided in half by

Diocletian.• The Western half, Rome, collapsed in 467 CE• The Eastern half, Byzantine Empire, lasted

until 1453!• The Byzantine Empire preserved the

knowledge of Greece and Rome during the Dark Ages, and spread Christianity to Russia!

Geographic Setting

• The eastern half of the Rome after its split in the late 200s

• Capital= Constantinople

• Centered on modern day Greece and Turkey

• Bordered the Black and Mediterranean Seas

• Controlled trade between Asia and Europe

Preserving and Spreading Culture

• Controlled key trade routes linking Asia and Europe

• Blended Greece, Roman and Christian cultures

• Preserved the knowledge of ancient Greece and Rome

Justinian

Known as the “Law Maker”

Achievements

• Justinian’s Code= preserved Roman laws, basis for all European laws through 1100s

• Blended Greek, Roman and Middle Eastern styles of Architecture (Hagia Sophia), huge arching domes and tall towers

• Used mosaics to create religious icons

Orthodox Christianity

• Didn’t recognize the authority of the Roman Catholic Pope

• Believed Emperor was Jesus’s co-ruler on Earth

• Allowed priests to marry• Officially split with the Catholic Church

during the Great Schism of 1054• Spread Christianity north into Kiev and

Russia

Decline and Fall

• Lost territory to Muslims in Africa and Middle East and Catholics in Eastern Europe

• 1453 Constantinople conquered by the Ottoman Empire

Influence over Russia and Kiev

• Orthodox Christianity

• Cyrillic Alphabet

• Autocratic government (rulers called Czars (Caesars))

• Copied Byzantine art, architecture, and literary styles