Download - The Byzantine Empire (330 – 1453)
The Byzantine Empire (330 – 1453)
Chapter 9 (1 of 3)
Click here for intro video on Byzantine Empire
Rome Empire Spans Across Europe• Roman Empire had west Europe
and east Europe part• Constantinople capital of eastern
part of empire• Even had separate emperor
Mediterranean Sea
North Africa
The eastern part of the now defeated Roman Empire
became Byzantine Empire
Germanic invaders conquered Roman Empire,
but eastern part held off the invaders
Rome Falls, Byzantium Rises
The New Rome?Byzantine Empire took the mantle of the Roman Empire
While Roman culture affected Byzantines, they were influenced more by Greek culture
Example: Replaced Latin with Greek as the main language
Greek language
Latin language
Byzantines Advance Civilization in Eastern Europe
Trade increased
Merchant class lost power b/c
government controlling trade
TradeByzantine Empire
ruled by an emperor
Had huge bureaucracy of well
trained bureaucrats to help him rule (similar to dynasties of China)
Emperor
Byzantines Fended Off Many Invasions
Germanic invaders from western Europe
Sassanian Empire from the Middle East
JustinianBecame emperor
of Byzantine Empire in 533
Many people in empire against his
expansion, and this would cause problems for him
Tried to expand west to regain land and restore Roman
Empire
Wife Theodora urged him to
expand – she later became empress (showed women
could rise to power)
Justinian’s Accomplishments
1) Rebuilt Constantinople with beautiful Roman style domes (it had been destroyed during riots over high taxes)
2) Hagia Sophia – Huge new church built by Justinian, was biggest domed building in world
3) Legal Code – Justinian made a uniform set of laws for the empire (by coordinating existing Roman laws)
Click picture above for tour of the Hagia Sophia
Flavius Belisarius
Great Byzantine general for Justinian
Gained land for Byzantines
in north Africa and
Italy
Justinian’s Military FailureCouldn’t hold land he
conquered
Constant warfare hurt empire at home where it was invaded
Persians got land in Middle East, Slavic groups took land in
Balkans
War expensive, led to extremely high taxes
Balkans
Arab Attacks
Main concern for emperors after Justinian was
defending the empire from invasions
Though they lost land to the Arabs, the Byzantines were able
to hold them off
Arabs had built large navy and were constantly
invading Constantinople
While they held off the Arabs, it was very costly,
and taxes rose
Greek Fire – form of napalm used by
Byzantines to fight off Arab navy
Click image above for more on Greek fire
The Byzantine Yo-YoAfter Arab invasion was stopped,
Byzantines went through alternating times of prosperity
and weakness
Bulgaria - a Slavic kingdom in the north
Balkans that often attacked Byzantine
Empire
Arab pressure continued
Byzantine emperor who defeated Bulgaria
in 1014
He blinded over 15,000 captives
Bulgaria becomes part of Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire Shines
Despite constant invasions, Byzantine
Empire grew large and was pretty successful
For a brief time in the late 900s, Byzantine
emperor was the strongest monarch on
earth
Wonderful popular entertainment in
Constantinople that awed visitors
Constantinople was a beautiful city with
great buildings