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Science and Technology of the Byzantine Empire

Vienna Dioscurides (515 CE)

• Byzantine as a political entity– Eastern Roman Empire– app. 324 CE to 1453– greatest extent during 6th

century– Emperor Justinian I (482-

565 CE)• “restoration of Empire”• rewriting of Roman law• architectural advancements

• Byzantine decline– Crusades

• 4th Crusade (1204)– Islamic conquests– Slavs

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Agriculture• main source of

wealth for Byzantine

• some examples• Olive Oil

production• large variety of

manual tools for tilling land

• can’t make easy generalizations

• why?– Long, p. 12

Byzantine Urban Infrastructure

• > 900 small cities in Mediterranean

• most cities were walled• inherited from Roman times– strict regulations on urban

life• manufacturing activities

separated from residential areas

– Aqueducts & cisterns• what was the relationship

between the two?• most urban life was strictly

regulated

Ayasoluk Castle

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Byzantine Architecture• Hagia Sophia– built 532-537 CE– great cathedral of

Constantinople– one of the largest domed

buildings in the world• Combined Roman ideas

with new innovations• made of stone, brick and

lime mortars– sophisticated brick-making

craft• design and construction

happened simultaneously

• Use of “pendentive”

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• Greek Fire• incendiary weapon used

by Byzantine Empire• Callinicus (of

Heliopolis)• used in naval battles• fire floated on water• was a closely guarded

state secret• secrecy: more important

for science or technology?

• science = knowledge shared, published

• technology = crafts, usually kept secret• especially military

technology• papyrophilic vs.

papyrophobic• knowledge of Greek fire

since lost

Byzantine Medicine• invention of the in-patient

hospital– church-sponsored– formal education of doctors

• primarily a center of medical technology, not science– what does that mean?

• inherited Greek thought (Galen, Hippocrates)– produced many textbooks– Paul of Aegina: Medical

Compendium in Seven Books (late 7th Century)

• focus on veterinary medicine– why?

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Summation of Byzantine Science & Technology• Mixed legacy• Inherited some Greco-Roman knowledge– Some if was challenged• e.g. Philoponus (6th century): critic of Aristotlean

thought• but remained firmly in Christian mold

• Also destroyed, abandoned, or rejected much of Greco-Roman legacy– why?

• Technical innovations in service of maintaining borders– compare with Romans

• Culture of compilation, not innovation