The Byzantine Empire: Continuing the Roman Empire

The End of Rome but not the Empire

As you may remember from Module 2, by the late 5^th century CE, The Roman Empire was under siege by the Huns and the Gothic tribes of Northern Europe. The empire was plagued by weak leaders and as a result, found itself with a populace, and military, that lost their loyalty. The emperor decided to divide the Roman empire between his sons. In the next hundred years, the Western Empire, including the capital of Rome, fell to Gothic invaders. But the Eastern Roman Empire? It was targeted by neither the Goths nor the Huns! In fact, in the 500s, they prospered! While the people of that time would still have called themselves Roman, historians call “the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the Western Roman Empire” the Byzantine Empire, after an old name for its capital city (Byzantium) for short. The Byzantine Empire still had a lot of Roman influences in the government and the religion, but the people spoke Greek and still culturally acted Greek. While these seem like small differences at first, the Byzantine Empire would grow more independent as the centuries passed until it officially split from Rome and became one of the dominant political entities of the Middle Ages.

Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora

Mosaics depicting the Byzantine emperor Justinian and empress Theodora. Some of the first Byzantine leaders were Emperor Justinian (left) and his wife, Empress Theodora (right). While they didn’t have to worry about barbarian invaders, their rule was far from easy. Together, Justinian and Theodora dodged resentful nobles, rebellion, and plague (which killed half the world’s population in the 540s CE). Justinian focused on expansion – namely, he hoped to reclaim and reunite the Roman Empire. In some ways, he was nearly successful – by the time of his death, his empire was about three-quarters of its size before the split. He also simplified the Roman law code while adding in more rights for women and the poor.

Most importantly for his empire, he rebuilt the capital Constantinople. Constantinople stood at the intersection of several trade routes on the border between Europe and Asia. Any European Christians wishing to visit Jesus’ birthplace had to travel through Constantinople, so Justinian built a huge Christian Church called the Hagia Sophia in the mid-6^th century. The Hagia Sophia was Constantinople’s crown jewel and a major tourist attraction for European Christians.

The Byzantine Empire After Justinian

After the deaths of Justinian and Theodora, the Byzantine Empire lost land. The goal of recreating the original Roman Empire was never realized. Instead, the emperors pivoted towards wealth via trade. To protect the empire’s investments, an architect developed a secret weapon called Greek Fire that burned higher when it encountered water (kind of like a kitchen grease fire today). This protected the empire from a sea invasion. The city of Constantinople was also protected by a double set of walls that were each 15 feet thick and over 35 feet high. The walls stood strong for 1000 years.

**Byzantine Innovation**
Greek Fire	Double Walls
A painting showing a sailor using Greek Fire against another ship.	An illustration showing the double wall construction of Theodosius of Constantinople. On the outside, there was a moat, followed by a low wall, then the outer wall, and finally a large inner wall.

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