Introduction
The Byzantine Empire, an empire that derived its name from “Byzantium,” an ancient Greek colony founded by Byzas, is the Eastern Roman Empire. By 330 A.D., the First Christian Roman emperor, Constantine I, chose the European side of Bosporos, a site to establish the eastern-half of the Roman Empire - “New Rome,” with a capital named after him, Constantinople. Bosporos was ideally a location that served for transporting and trading goods from Europe to Asia. However, after the establishment of the Empire, Bosporos became home to a mighty civilization that excelled in traditional art, literature, and military tactics. The Empire’s legacy survived for 1000 years after the dreadful fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 A.D. Still; unfortunately, the Empire met its end when the Ottoman army, under the rule of Mohammad Al Fateh, stormed Constantinople during the reign of Constantine XI. Through those 1000 years, the Byzantine Empire was able to rise into its Golden age with Justinian I and fall allowing a new religion to take over. In this essay, we will be looking at the factors that caused the birth and the rise of the Eastern-Roman empire all the way to its Golden Age and Glory. Then, we will be looking at the factors that led, the only organized state located west of China to survive without any interruption from ancient times until the beginning of the modern age, to fall, allowing a new religion to take over. (History.com Editors 2010)
Brief History: The Roman Empire
Known as the Eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire was born and flourished while its counterpart Western Roman Empire was crumbling and falling due to different external and internal causes. However, before this empire fall to the nomadic Germanic tribes all around Europe, this empire rose from the ashes and expanded its empire all around. To summarize that before going into the history of the Byzantine Empire, we will look at a table that provides us with what caused the rise and fall of the Western Roman Empire.
The Rise of the Byzantine Empire
One of the major factors that allowed the Byzantine empire to flourish and last for the next 11 centuries under the reign of the different emperors (Neville 2018) is its geographic location. The Byzantine Empire was able to defend itself in front of the external attacks, as Constantinople is located on the strait, with defenses challenging to breach and a small “frontier” to Europe. Moreover, the capital, Constantinople, was situated on a water-way connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, Bosporus; this location served the Empire by allowing it to trade with Asia minor. The emperors were able to excel in governing the Empire as it was known that they had a robust administrative center that was able to stabilize the internal politics of the city. In doing so, the government was able to acquire substantial wealth compared to other medieval states during this period. Those assets were the reason behind the Empire’s economic support to the military.
Influenced by the Greeks and the Romans, the multi-ethnic state, was able to preserve as much of Greek and Roman advances from the Western-Roman Empire that fell in 476 A.D. With the cultural influence the Empire flourished in literature, art, and theology. As well as, during the thirty years of Constantine’s reign, the emperor established many practices that helped the Empire to become dominant. (“The Fall Of Constantinople”)
The Golden Age of the Byzantine Empire under the reign of Justinian I
For nearly forty years, the reign of Emperor Justinian I, 527 -565 CE, held an extensive territorial expansion and military success to the Empire. Along with different benefits that allowed the Byzantine’s people to live in the Empire’s Golden Age. That age saw a new synthesis of the Greco-Roman and Christian culture at all levels of the Byzantine culture.
Justinian I was characterized by his efforts to strengthen the Empire and rebuild what was destroyed during the past years of civil unrest. Justinian wanted to return the Empire to its ancient glory. Deciding on this, Justinian chose his administrators and counselors from outside the aristocratic class. In 532 CE, the Empire went into a period of civil unrest which resulted in the burning of several important religious and imperial buildings, like Constantinople’s cathedral, the 4th Church of Hagia Sophia (the Church of the Holy Wisdom of God), Hagia Eirene (the Church of Peace), the Chalke, or Bronze, Gate to the imperial palace, and the baths of Zeuxippus. Those damages gave Justinian I the opportunity to work on the Empire’s internal (like the rules and laws, religion, trading and its connection with different empires) and external (infrastructure and buildings) structure. Justinian took a leading role in shaping various aspects of the Empire. In religion, Justinian developed the church’s policy. He was a defender of Christian Orthodoxy. In foreign policy, Justinian sought to retake regions lost to foreign invaders, especially those taken by the Germanic tribes in Italy and North Africa. Thus, he launched one of the most known aggressive military programs in medieval history.
In 565 CE, Justian I died. However, by that time, the Empire bordered nearly the entire Mediterranean Sea, a size unrivaled in Byzantine history. The Empire’s conquests and territorial reorganizations paralleled the Empire’s changes in state taxation and legislation; this brought up the text that today is considered the foundation of the Western legal system, “the latter codified in the Corpus Juris Civilis (Corpus of Civil Law).” (Brooks 2009)
The Fall of the Byzantine Empire
After Justinian’s death, the Byzantine Empire went into its “Dark Age”; that will eventually cause its downfall in the 15th century to the Ottomans. By the 7th century, Justinian’s conquests fell to the Visigoths. In the east, the Empire’s territory had been lost to the Arabs between 630 AD and 660 A.D. This loss affected the Empire’s spot among its fellow cities. Moreover, the side taken by the eastern churches against the usage of icons (iconoclasm) led to the destruction of most of the Byzantine’s religious artwork, fearing they were portrayed as “heretical.”
At this time, Constantinople fell again to a Greek ruler, with this control, the Empire struggled into the 15th century while the emperors lost favor in religious officials. However, in 1395, Patriarch Anthony gave a speech to re-explain the importance of Byzantine’s Emperors. (Jarus 2013)
Back in 1261, with the rule of the Palaiologan emperors, Michael VIII, the economy Byzantine Empire was crippled, and it never regained its former stature after being one of the strongest economies. In 1369, an emperor named John V tried to ask for financial help from the west to be able to stand against the Turkish threat, but his plan did not work as he was arrested in Venice. After four years of being imprisoned, the emperor was forced to become “a vassal of the mighty Turks.”
The Empire gained its relief from the Ottoman oppression after they started paying tribute to the sultan and provide him with military support. However, this did not last a lot as the Sultan Murad II rose in 1421 and marked the end of the “final respite,” to be completed by his successor, Mehmed II, who launched a final attack on May 29, 1453. In this battle, Emperor Constantine XI died in battle, and the Byzantine empire fell to the reign of the Ottoman Empire. (History.com Editors 2010)
In that year, the Ottomans examined the Hagia Sophia, a church built around 530 CE, and the monument amazed them. They decided to turn it into a mosque by adding four minarets. Today, the city of Constantinople (now called Istanbul) is flourishing and is still literally and metaphorically regarded as a crossroads between Europe and Asia. (Jarus 2013)
Conclusion
The legacy of the Byzantine Empire was able to survive for centuries leading up to the final Ottoman conquest in 1453. During the reigns of its emperors, the Empire was known as the hub of culture, including literature, art, architecture, law, and theology. This culture was able to influence the Western Intellectual tradition significantly, as the Italian Renaissance scholars sought help from Byzantine scholars in translating Greek pagan and Christian writings. Long after its end, the Byzantine civilization was able to continue exercising its influence on countries that practiced its Eastern Orthodox religion, including Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece, among others. (History.com Editors 2010)
Work Cited
Andrews, Evan. “8 Reasons Why Rome Fell.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 14 Jan. 2014, https://www.history.com/news/8-reasons-why-rome-fell.
Brooks, Sarah. “The Byzantine State under Justinian I (Justinian the Great).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/just/hd_just.htm (originally published October 2001, last revised April 2009)
History.com Editors. “Byzantine Empire.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 24 Aug. 2010, https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-middle-east/byzantine-empire.
Jarus , Owen. “History of the Byzantine Empire (Byzantium).” LiveScience, Purch, 21 Dec. 2013, https://www.livescience.com/42158-history-of-the-byzantine-empire.html.
Neville, Leonora. “The Rise and Fall of the Byzantine Empire - Leonora Neville.” TED, TED-Ed, 9 Apr. 2018, https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-byzantine-empire-leonora-neville.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Roman Empire.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Nov. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/place/Roman-Empire.
“The Fall Of Constantinople.” The Fall Of Constantinople, https://thefallofconstantiople.weebly.com/.
Ricketts, Colin. “The Growth of the Roman Empire Explained.” History Hit, History Hit, 15 May 2019, https://www.historyhit.com/the-growth-of-the-roman-empire-explained/.
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