Byzantine Empire

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Βασιλεία των Ῥωμαίων
Basileía ton Rhōmaíōn
Imperium Romanorum
Empire of the Romans
Eastern Roman Empire
←
330 – 1453 ↓

Flag of the late Empire[1] Imperial Emblem
(Palaiologoi)[2]
The Byzantine Empire during its greatest territorial extent under Justinian. c. 550.
Capital Constantinople¹
Language(s) Latin until the 7th century, Greek thereafter
Religion Christianity, Eastern Orthodox
Government Monarchy
Emperor
 - 306–337 Constantine the Great
 - 1449–1453 Constantine XI
Legislature Byzantine Senate
Historical era Dark-Late Middle Ages
 - Foundation of Constantinople² May 11, 330
 - East-West Schism 1054
 - Fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade 1204
 - Reconquest of Constantinople 1261
 - Fall of Constantinople May 29, 1453
Population
 - 4th cent³ est. 34,000,000 
 - 8th cent (780 AD) est. 7,000,000 
 - 11th cent³ (1025 AD) est. 12,000,000 
 - 12th cent³ (1143 AD) est. 10,000,000 
 - 13th cent (1281 AD) est. 5,000,000 
Currency Solidus, Hyperpyron
Preceded by Succeeded by
Roman Empire
Ottoman Empire
Empire of Trebizond
Despotate of Morea
Duchy of the Archipelago
Republic of Venice
Kingdom of Cyprus
Duchy of Athens
¹ Constantinople (330–1204 and 1261–1453). The capital of the Empire of Nicaea, the empire after the Fourth Crusade, was at Nicaea, present day İznik, Turkey.
² Establishment date traditionally considered to be the re-founding of Constantinople as the capital of the Roman Empire although other dates are often used
³ See Population of the Byzantine Empire for more detailed figures taken provided by McEvedy and Jones, "Atlas of world population history", 1978, as well as Angeliki E. Laiou, "The Economic History of Byzantium", 2002.

The Byzantine Empire[3] and Eastern Roman Empire are conventional names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople. It was referred to by its inhabitants and neighboring nations simply as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans (in Greek Βασιλεία των Ῥωμαίων, Basileía ton Rhōmaíōn) or Romania (Ῥωμανία, Rhōmanía). Its emperors continued the unbroken succession of Roman Emperors, preserving Greco-Roman legal and cultural traditions. To the Islamic world it was known primarily as روم‎ (Rûm "Rome").[4][5][6] Due to the linguistic, cultural, and demographic dominance of medieval Greek,[7] it was known to many of its Western European contemporaries as Imperium Graecorum, the Empire of the Greeks (see also the etymology section).

The Eastern Roman Empire's evolution from the ancient Roman Empire can be seen as a process beginning when the Emperor Constantine I transferred the capital from Nicomedia in Anatolia to the city of Byzantium, which was renamed New Rome or Constantinople, on the Bosphorus. By the 7th century, under the reign of Emperor Heraclius, whose reforms changed the nature of the Empire's military and recognized Greek as the official language, the Empire had taken on a distinct new character.

During its thousand-year existence the Empire suffered numerous setbacks and losses of territory, especially during the Roman–Persian Wars and the Byzantine–Arab Wars. Though its influence in North Africa and the Near East had declined as a result, the Byzantine Empire remained one of the most powerful economic, cultural and military forces in Europe. After a final recovery under the Komnenian dynasty in the 12th century, the Empire slipped into a long decline during the Byzantine–Ottoman Wars, culminating in the Fall of Constantinople and the remaining territories by the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century.

The Empire, a bastion of Christianity and one of the prime trade centers in the world, helped to shield Western Europe from early Muslim expansion, provided a stable gold currency for the Mediterranean region, influenced the laws, political systems and customs of much of Europe and the Middle East, and preserved much of the literary works and scientific knowledge of ancient Greece, Rome, and many other cultures.

Etymology

Byzantine Empire Timeline
667 BC The ancient city of Byzantium (the future Constantinople and future Istanbul) is founded.
27 BC The rise of the Roman Empire.
c. 235 – 284 The "crisis of the 3rd century".
292 The reforms of Diocletian ("The Tetrarchy")
330 Constantine makes Byzantium into his capital, which is renamed "Constantinople" (The City of Constantine). It would remain the capital of the Byzantine Empire, with a half-century exception, for over a thousand years.
395 The Empire is permanently split into eastern and western halves, following on the death of Theodosius I.
527 Justinian I is crowned "emperor".
April 7, 529 The Codex Justinianus is promulgated.
532–537
The Emperor, Justinian, builds the church of Hagia Sophia
533–554 Justinian's generals reconquer North Africa and Italy from the Vandals and the Ostrogoths.
568 The Lombard invasion results in the loss of most of Italy.
634–641 The Arab armies conquer the Levant and Egypt. In the following decades, they take most of North Africa (and later conquer Sicily as well).
697 The Byzantine city of Carthage in North Africa (capital of the Exarchate of Africa) falls to the Arab invasion.
730–787 and 813–843 The Iconoclasm controversies result in the loss of most of the Empire's remaining Italian territories, aside from some of the territories of the Mezzogiorno.
843–1025 The Macedonian dynasty is established and the Empire experiences a military and territorial revival. Byzantine scholars record and preserve many of the remaining ancient Greek and Roman texts.
960–1042 The Byzantine Empire deals a string of defeats upon the forces of the Abassid and Fatimid Caliphate, reconquering parts of Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine.
1002–1018 The Emperor, Basil II, campaigns annually against the Bulgars, with the object of annihilating the Bulgar state.
1014 The Bulgarian army is completely defeated at the Battle of Kleidon (Basil II becomes known as The Bulgar Slayer).
1018 Bulgaria surrenders and is annexed to the empire. The whole of the Balkans is incorporated into the Byzantine Empire, with the Danube as the new Imperial frontier to the north.
1025 With the death of Basil II, the zenith of the Empire's power is passed and the long decline of the Byzantine Empire begins.
1054 The Schism (split between Church in Rome and the Church in Constantinople).
1071 The Emperor, Romanos IV, is defeated by the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Manzikert, losing his position in most of Asia Minor. In the same year, the last Byzantine outpost in Italy (Bari) is conquered by the Normans.
1081 The Komnenos dynasty is established by Alexios I and Byzantium becomes involved in the Crusades. Economic prosperity generates new wealth; literature and the arts reach new heights. In Anatolia, the Turks become established.
1091 The Imperial armies defeat the Pechenegs at the Battle of Levounion.
1097 The recapture of Nicaea from the Turks by the Byzantine armies and the First Crusaders.
1097-1176 The Byzantine armies recapture the coasts of Asia Minor from the Turks, and push east towards central Anatolia. The Crusader Principality of Antioch becomes a Byzantine protectorate.
1122 The Byzantines defeat the Pechenegs at the Battle of Beroia.
1167 The Byzantine armies win a decisive victory over the Hungarians at the Battle of Sirmium and Hungary subsequently becomes a Byzantine client state.
1176; Byzantine-Seljuk Wars: Manuel I Komnenos is defeated at the Battle of Myriokephalon, attempts to capture Konya, the capital of the Seljuk Turks are abandoned after the destruction of his siege equipment. Within a year Manuel recovers the situation status quo ante bellum.
1180 With the death of the Emperor, Manuel I Komnenos, the decline of the Empire recommences.
1185 A successful rebellion is organized in Bulgaria and other lands are lost in the Balkans.
1204 Constantinople is conquered by Crusaders, attempting to establish a Latin Empire.
1261 Constantinople is reconquered by the Emperor of Nicaea, Michael VIII Palaiologos.
1326 The city of Prusa in Asia Minor falls to the Ottoman Turks.
1331 The city of Nicaea, capital of the Empire only 100 years previously, falls to the Ottoman Turks.
1453 The Ottoman Turks conquer Constantinople, and with the death of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the Byzantine Empire comes to an end, marking final destruction of the Roman Empire.

The term "Byzantine Empire" is an invention of historians and was never used during the Empire's lifetime. The Empire's name in Greek was Basileia ton Rhōmaiōn (Greek: Βασιλεία των Ῥωμαίων) — "The Empire of the Romans" — a translation of the Latin name of the Roman Empire (Latin: Imperium Romanōrum); or just Rhōmania (Greek: Ῥωμανία).