When Justinian became emperor in 527, he wanted to build a new Rome by incorporating the ancient Roman Empire. He made Constantinople the capital of the Byzantine Empire and kept the Roman culture along with the Greek culture for more than a thousand years. Justinian helped rebuild the Roman Empire by the many contributions he gave to the empire; he was able to rule a well-structured empire.…
In 330 CE the Roman emperor Constantine made the city of Byzantium the capital of the Roman Empire.Throughout Constantine's reign the Roman Empire was unified but soon after his death in 337 the empire was once again divided. In 476 AD the Roman Empire fell; however, Byzantine continued to survive. During 527-565 CE Justinian ruled the Byzantine Empire and was highly praised. Justinian throughout his reign attempted to reunite the Roman Empire and was greatly successful. As a result, Justinian did not develop a unique Byzantine Empire instead he recreated Rome through following Roman laws, leading similarly to previous emperors, and by continuing to have Christianity as an official religion.…
How did the Byzantine empire differ from the Western Roman Empire? The Byzantine Empire was different in many ways from the Western Roman Empire, in that the leader of the Byzantine Empire has more power, not only does he rule the kingdom, he also was head of the church. Another difference between the two empires is, wile the western empire still spoke Latin, the peoples of the Byzantine Empire spoke Greek. There were many differences between the religious practices of both empires but the largest few being that they preached in Greek, the priests in the churches could also marry unlike the Western Empire. The churches in the Byzantine Empire additionally, created large mosaics that they used to convey their image of God.…
Christianity has played a crucial role in world history since the death of Christ. From its humble beginnings along the Sea of Galilee until its solidified spread amongst Western European nations, the religion has had its fair share of conflict. Most notable would be the Crusades. An in depth look at the motivation, conflicts, and outcomes of the Crusades can be perfectly associated with the History of Jerusalem, Siege of Constantinople, and letters from Pope Innocent III. The Crusaders began as a religious mission, originally for the reinstatement of Christian presence in the Holy Land. However, as time waged on and soldiers returned glorified and rich, the intentions of future Crusaders desired wealth, not just the preservation of Roman Catholicism in the Levant. These accounts share the Western perspective directly involved with the Crusades and their missions, illustrating the struggles, as well as the successes of Christianity at that time.…
Religion played a role in the governments of the Byzantine Empire and Western Roman Empire. The emperors were highly involved with the religion and had the ability to make the rules. In the Byzantine Empire, the emperors ruled by the church and the government. The Christian idea of Iconoclasm played a huge role during this time. The laws were created by the emperors and enforced through government and religion. Similarly in the Western Roman Empire, emperors were involved in both the religion and government. They used religion to make people obey the laws. Overall, religion played a huge role in the governments of the Byzantine Empire and the Western Roman Empire.…
The decline of China and Rome both shared similar economic strife in that they were both subject to barbarian and nomadic invasions, therefore having to spend large amounts of money on frontier defense; however, they differed in that the Han Empire collapsed in part due to the high taxes imposed on the peasant class resulting in a large peasant rebellion, such as the Yellow Turbans, while in Rome tax collections was in danger of abandonment as residents of the empire were few in number and in financial difficulty. In addition, the two empires were similar socially because of large epidemics, diseases, and plagues that caused a population decrease. Also, both experienced a cultural decay in intellectual creativity and innovations. Differences appear in that China shared common culture, such as the Chinese script, while Rome was more fragmented causing a less severe fall in China than Rome. Politically, the falls of both…
According to legend, Rome was founded by twin brothers named Romulus and Remus in 753 BC who were raised by a she-wolf. The Roman Empire commenced when Augustus Caesar became the very first emperor of Rome and ended in the west when Romulus Augustulus, was ousted by a Germanic King entitled as Odoacer. The Byzantine Empire was the predominantly Greek-speaking continuation of the Roman Empire during late relic and the middle ages. Its capital was Constantinople the present day Istanbul, formerly known as Byzantium. Justinian was the creator of many cities that never existed before. The emperor Justinian developed a Byzantine Empire propelled by god-complex fueled fist of ruling, his extravagant expressions of power, and his radical and revolutionary changes in laws and ways of living.…
After The Hagia Sophia was destroyed for the second time Justinian set out to make a new church in Constantinople, This proved that Justinian was a pure and great catholic Emperor Doing this made Justinian look great in the eyes of the common people and the church (Strayer 4). Making the common people happy is crucial to any great emperor and Justinian is no exception. Construction of the Hagia Sophia was a brilliant political move made by Justinian and was crucial to gaining support from the Byzantine…
Who would have thought that the eastern half of the Roman Empire would last 1,000 years than the western half? In 476 CE, the western half of the Roman Empire was taken over and destroyed by enemies. The Eastern Roman Empire lasted for another 1000 years under the name of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Constantine made the city of Byzantium the capital of the Roman Empire. When emperor Justinian reigned, the Byzantine Empire was in its golden times. Justinian was considered the greatest ruler of the Byzantines because he flourished the Empire by reconquering much of the former Roman Empire territories in Italy and Africa. Justinian greatest contribution was his codification of the Roman laws which fortified the Byzantine Empire; additionally,…
After Basil II died, “it was followed by a period of decline during which in its foreign policy Byzantium lived on the prestige won in the previous age and at home gave free play to all the forces making for disintegration.” According to Ostrogorsky, the “breathing space was not spent in conservation and consolidation,” but it was a nice break time, although the empire had some “heroic achievements” and had a peace time. According to Ostrogorsky, “the ineffective successors of Basil II were not capable of carrying on the struggle against the feudal magnets.” “The economic and social structure of the Empire underwent a radical change.” “The landed aristocracy had won the game and the only question which remained was which particular section…
Empress Theodora, wife of Justinian the Great, was one of the most powerful women ever known to Byzantine history. She rose from the humblest of beginnings to become one of the most influential and great of individuals. As Justinian wrote in one of his laws, she was “our most pious consort given us by God.” As a result of her reverence for God, she understood how to rule the empire in such a way that reflected who she had been given authority from. She sought to shape the reforms of Justinian and to defend the rights of women, as well as to back Justinian up in every way possible, which is evident in the role she played in saving Justinian’s empire during the Nika Revolt. Because of the way she handled political affairs in Justinian’s empire, it can be said that she, being a very powerful and influential individual, ruled the Empire rather than Justinian.…
The Mediterranean world also influenced the people of Constantinople. In addition the Byzantine Empire held people with values and morals from all over. During the time of the Byzantine Empire there were many changes made to religions. Emperor Justinian constructed the Church of Sophia to enhance Constantinople. The emperor had power over the church, his wife Theodora advised him on his control.…
Byzantine Empire : As the first Christian Emperor of Rome, Constantine claimed to have divine favor for his rule. He defined Christian practices and intervened in theological disputes. This policy came to be known as "caesaropapism", whereby the emperor ruled as both secular lord and religious leader. This tendency to exalt Byzantine emperors as absolute rulers of both state and church was reinforced by the appearance of Justinian in the 6th century. He was an energetic, capable ruler with an energetic, capable wife called Theodora, a very religious Christian.…
Take notes on each of these events. You will need to know these for the Unit 4 Exam and the Final exam! When you complete the assignment, you only have to do it for 4 events.…
The Byzantine Empire’s government was a dynastic monarchy, although occasionally an usurper would seize the throne. They called their ruler the basileus (a Greek word meaning emperor). Christianity was the official religion. Religion was closely tied to the government, as the basileus was often believed to be god’s representative on Earth and religious leaders had a lot of power. The emperor was in fact crowned by the Patriarch of the church. The Byzantine Empire was divided into sections called themes, each one governed by a military leader called a strategos. People were organized into rigid social classes, and seldom did someone move up a social class. Lower classes were divided into clan-like groups called systems. Each system had a representative…