Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

In the waning days of the Roman Empire, Emperor Diocletian enacted reforms that laid the foundation for the creation of a successor state to the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire. Diocletian believed that the empire had grown too big and too complex for a single man to administer so he divided  it into the latin speaking west and the greek speaking east with a capital city in Byzantium. Constantine took power after Diocletian in 312 CE and reunified the empire but moved the capital of the unified Roman Empire to Byzantium, renaming the city Constantinople after himself. At this point Constantinople was considered the New Rome and contemporaries simply viewed this move as a political reform. However, many historians see this and subsequent events like the loss of Constantinople's control of the western province in 395 and the final sack of Rome by Germanic tribes in 476 as the beginning of a new state in the Mediterranean world. 

Byzantine Empire

While the Roman Empire that lasted from about 27 BCE to 476 CE shared a great deal with its successor state, the Byzantine Empire (about 395 to 1453) most historians argue that the differences make the Byzantine Empire a distinct state in world history. Some important Roman traditions did survive however. Roman political institutions like the senate continued in the Byzantine world as did the basic structure and content of Roman Law. However, culturally the Byzantine Empire was distinct. The Byzantine Empire spoke Greek and was officially a Christian state for preponderance of its history. 

Byzantine Empire

In 527 the Emperor Justinian came to power. An ambitious emperor, Justinian was determined to restore the glory of the old Roman Empire. His first task was to retake the lands lost to Germanic tribes in North Africa and Western Europe. After a series of successful military campaigns much of the former territory of the Roman Empire was in the hands of Justinian. His hold on the lands in Western Europe was tenuous at best, and changed hands six times in 16 years. 

Byzantine Empire

Back in his capital of Constantinople, Justinian instituted major legal reforms that included the organization, simplification, and standardization of Roman law. This project produced Corpus Juris Civilis or Justinian's code. A law code that regulated almost all aspects of Byzantine life for the next 900 years and served as the foundation of many of the law codes of western Europe after the fall of the Byzantine Empire. 

Byzantine Empire

Justinian also completed massive infrastructure projects that transformed Constantinople into a vibrant and thriving metropolis. These included the construction of a 14 mile long city wall, public baths, aqueducts, law courts, schools, hospitals, and churches. Justinian's most significant architectural legacy was the construction of the Hagia Sophia, a massive church that symbolized the partnership between the church and state in the Byzantine world. 

Byzantine Empire

At his side during all of this was his powerful and influential wife Theodora. Born into a humble circus family, the law actually had to be changed to allow the emperor to marry someone so far below his status. Theodora was a true partner in power, she meet with foreign envoys, passed laws, built churches, and served as the emperor's backbone during the violent Nika Riots in 532. According to the historian Procopius, Justinian was ready to abandon the throne when rioters swept through the streets demanding his ouster. Procopius credits Theodora with convincing him to stay and suppress the rebellion.