The Byzantine Empire

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The Byzantine Empire was established with the foundation of Constantinople, but the final separation of the eastern and western empires was not complete until the late fifth century.

With its political structure anchored in Greek tradition and a new religion stimulated by Greek philosophy, the Byzantine Empire survived a millennium of triumphs and declines until Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.

Serious overcrowding in the Greek homelands in the eighth century BC led several city-states to attempt to establish trading colonies to the east and to the west throughout the Mediterranean basin. Thus it happened that, in the year 667 BC, one Byzas of Megara, after consulting the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, founded a settlement which became known as Byzantium at the entrance of the Black Sea. The city state of Megara functioned as a sponsor to this settlement.

The location chosen proved to be extremely advantageous for purposes of trade as it was approachable by water from both the Mediterranean and Black Seas and by land from both Europe and Asia Minor. The site was also favourable for defence in that there was only a limited landward perimeter and, if Byzantium were to come under attack, it could hope for relief from the seas.

Two crises between AD 330 and 518 helped shape the Greek part of the empire. The first was the invasion by barbarian Huns, Visigoths, and Ostrogoths in the fifth century. Constantinople averted the fate of Rome, which fell to similar onslaughts, by a combination of skillful bribery and a strong army.

Thus, as the West was carved into minor kingdoms, the East remained largely intact, and the balance of power in the former Roman Empire moved conclusively to the East.

The Byzantine Empire reached its height under the Macedonian emperors of the late 9th, 10th and early 11th centuries. During these years the Empire held out against pressure from the Roman church to remove Patriarch Photios, and gained control over the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy, and all of Bulgaria as it was under the Bulgarian tsar Samuel. The cities of the empire expanded, and prosperity was able to spread across the provinces thanks to the empire's new-found security.

The population of the empire rose, and production increased, stimulating new demand while also helping to encourage trade. Culturally, this was a productive period of Byzantine history, as there was considerable growth in education and learning. Ancient texts were preserved and patiently re-copied. Byzantine art flourished, and brilliant mosaics graced the interiors of new churches, which were being built across the empire in this period.

After the sack of Constantinople in 1204, three Byzantine successor states were established. These states included the Empire of Nicaea, the Empire of Trebizond, and the Despotate of Epirus. The Byzantine Empire in 1265 (William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1911).The first state, controlled by the Palaiologan dynasty, managed to reclaim Constantinople in 1261 and defeated Epirus. This led to a short lived revival of the Eastern Roman Empire under Michael VIII, but the war-ravaged empire was ill-equipped to deal with the encircling enemies that now surrounded it.

Much of Constantinople lay in ruins; the army was desperately short of funds; Italian merchants and their ships dominated the empire's sea-lanes; the economy was in decline; the empire's ancient frontiers had been overrun; the provinces were in disarray. Michael was a remarkably successful emperor, and during his reign the empire went some way towards recovery. But his magnificent achievement did not outlast his own lifetime. Ultimately, the resources available were simply not sufficient for the task of restoring the Byzantine Empire.

Major structural reforms, of the kind conducted by the emperor Heraclius in the 7th century, may yet have saved the empire. However, the Palaiologan dynasty never produced a reforming emperor, and the empire's decline continued.

Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. In certain specific contexts, usually referring to the time before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it is also often referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire.

To its inhabitants the Empire was simply the Roman Empire and its emperors continued the unbroken succession of Roman emperors. During much of its history it was known to many of its Western contemporaries as The Empire of the Greeks due to the increasing dominance of its Greek population and distinct culture. Now most scholars acknowledge that the Byzantine Empire was the direct continuation of the Hellenistic World.