The Byzantine Empire How did it all even begin? Most people know how the Middle Ages began, with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, but why did it even fall and if only the Western Roman Empire fell, what happened to the Eastern Roman Empire? How did the Western Roman Empire even form in the first place? Well, it all starts with, of course, the famous Roman Empire. During this period of the great Roman Empire, the empire was under the rule of the emperor Trajan, and as soon as he died, much of the territory, especially in Mesopotamia, was lost and conquered by other empires and kingdoms. It soon became clear that the empire just got too big and too diverse. What they decided to do about it was to split the empire into two, the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire was soon invaded by other countries, but the Eastern Roman Empire continued to flourish as the Byzantine Empire for about 1100 years. How did the empire function? The government of the Byzantine Empire was dominated by the emperor but there were still many other important officials who assisted the emperor in operating finances, judiciary, military, and bureaucracy of a huge territory. There were no …show more content…
The reasons it fell are pretty common in my opinion when looking at how an empire starts to decline and just disappears. Over the time, the empire’s military strength started to decline. It did not help that Byzantines faced many powerful enemies including the Arabs, Seljuk Turks, Slavs and Ottoman Turks. There were internal conflicts and continuous territory losses, the empire’s final blow was when the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 was successful. The empire’s capital fell to the Ottoman Turks, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is known as Istanbul and it is an important city located in
the economy of the Byzantine Empire had begun to decline and would never recover. Recognizing the situation in 1369, Emperor John V fruitlessly pursued economic aid from other Western civilizations. As the economic situation of Constantinople continued to decline they became a vassal state (much like a colony) to the Turks. As a result, they were required to pay taxes and tribute to the Ottoman Empire. They were also required to provide military support to the Ottoman Empire. After many years of
Byzantine vs Abbasid During the postclassical era many great empires arose. Two of the most powerful and influential groups of the time were the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate. Both the Abbasids and the Byzantines were places where important cultural hubs existed and where trade flourished throughout the whole empire. Even though culture was present in each area, the cultures were not the same and there were separate religious beliefs and practices; for example the Byzantine
“Economic Factors in the Decline of the Byzantine Empire” In this article taken from The Journal of Economic History, Peter Charanis discusses the factors that economically affected the decline of the Byzantine Empire. His discussion is based on the fact that past scholars, such as English historian Edward Gibbon who wrote The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, thought the Byzantine Empire was in a constant state of decline throughout its existence, but he disagrees. He says that
The Byzantine Empire was the successor of the Roman Empire during the time period of Late Antiquity and the Medieval Ages. The Byzantine Empire was also called Eastern Roman Empire, so this proves that it was a continuation of the Roman Empire, but they were speaking Greek, and did not forget about the Greek tradition. According to Browning, the physicians during the Byzantine Empire like Oreibasios, who was “the Emperor Julian’s physician and friend”, use the scientific and old version of Greek
Justinian’s Code was created by the Byzantine emperor, Justinian. He created it as an updated version of the Twelve Tables. When these laws were created, they worked much better than the Roman Law. These laws created many restrictions for those of different religion. Justinian thought they were unacceptable and only allowed Christianity. What is the source and the basis of the Justinian’s law code? Justinian’s Code was based on the original twelve tables. These were all of the laws in Roman Law
start of the post-classical era two empires existed that were among the first wave of post-classical empires. They were the Byzantine Empire and the Persian Sassanid Empire. They Byzantine Empire was known to be a continuation of the Roman Empire that lasted for one-thousand years. Although this sounds like an achievement the one-thousand year Byzantine Empire was not as great as it is expected to be. The Sassanid Empire that lied just east of the Byzantine Empire, or in present day Iran was also
Last but not least, the crusades led to the decline of the Byzantine Empire by demolishing their economy. The Annales Herbipolenses demonstrates the Christians were so desperate for help, they took any and every person to fight, they did not require any person to be skilled. The crusades weakened the economy making people want to fight due to how poor they lived their lives especially those who held low social status such as serfs or peasants. The need for monetary support in the West left them vulnerable
began to decline due to internal power struggles and external invasions. Despite the challenges they faced they realized they needed to re-establish political and social order in order to rise once again. During this process some reinstituted a strong centralized authority while others formed regional kingdoms that lacked centralization. Regardless of which method they took they all proved to thrive into prominent empires. The variation in social and political factors amongst the Byzantine Empire, the
01.07 Collapse of an Empire Travel Journal 1. What was Justinian I’s role in the decline of the Byzantine Empire? First, his constant wars and the rebuilding of Constantinople after the Nika Riot caused serious financial problems for the empire. The reconstruction of the Hagia Sophia alone cost about 320,000 pounds of gold. Second, Justinian left the Byzantine army scattered across the empire. Many units were occupied fighting fierce nomads. One of these groups, a Germanic barbarian tribe called
trace its roots to the Medieval period in the remnants of the Roman Empire. Although the decedents of the once great empire and their subsequent learning systems (Byzantine and European) produced highly intellectual minds and prolific writings in the fields of theology, philosophy and more, only one of these regions intellectual structures grew to greatness and prestige that are now some of the world’s greatest colleges. How did these civilizations differ in the way education was handled and viewed
Week 5 Reading Guide Chapter 8 1. How did the Roman Republic differ from Athenian democracy? In what ways did the Roman Republics governing framework respond to the political needs of the Romans? How did Rome use citizenship as a tool of governance? -The Roman Republic people had a lot less power than the Athenian Democracy, But, it was supported by practices and principles. Rome could not have a direct democracy like Athens because it was so much larger. -The Roman Republic treated all
After reading the text book about the Roman Empire. I found that the Roman Empire was divided into two parts. The Western half, ruled by Rome, fell to the tribal Germanic peoples in the 5th century. The Eastern half, known as the Byzantine Empire, until it began to decline in power, the Byzantine Empire was one of the leading civilizations in the world. The first Christian emperor became sole ruler of the Roman Empire. He set up his colony of Byzantium. The city, renamed Constantinople after its
There were changes to the Mediterranean World, but also continuities from the Roman Empire in 100 CE, to the Abbasid Empire in 800 Ce, to Feudal Europe in 1000 CE. Christianity and Islam, architecture, and the status of women all changed, even though some parts of them remained the same. Christianity and Islam developed and spread. New architectural advancements were added to the already existing Roman innovations, and the status of women improved overall. Christianity and Islam became the dominant
Balkan area. The Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires were the ones that for diverse reasons left a more lasting impression in this area. To be more specific, by means of architecture, the province of Plovdiv, Bulgaria is the perfect example on how these three empires left
The Roman empire started to fall in about 476 CE. Three civilizations were created after the Roman empire in the Mediterranean world. Those three civilizations were Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, Islam and Western Europe civilization. All these civilizations became enemies of the Roman empire. The three civilizations created their own religions, social and political views which shaped the civilizations to be how they were in the middle ages.All three civilizations had their own religions